# Creating dashed lines in photoshop
**URL:** https://forum.kirupa.com/t/creating-dashed-lines-in-photoshop/52271
**Category:** design
**Created:** [May 21, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/creating-dashed-lines-in-photoshop/52271 "2004-05-21T17:26:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@mlk](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/mlk)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/creating-dashed-lines-in-photoshop/52271/1 "2004-05-21T17:26:50Z")
## PS7
Awright I have been asked this before on other forums and know this has come up a few times here so here’s a workaround to create _dashed_ lines in photoshop (a fairly similar way was used to do dotted lines on this thread: [http://www.kirupaforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24449&highlight=dotted+lines](http://www.kirupaforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24449&highlight=dotted+lines) )
So, it will look best with shapes but you can draw freehand dashed lines with this technique, which uses the brush options.
Open up your brush options, select a nice brush (for example size 19 on a 1024x768x72dpi canvas will work alright)
Make sure your brush has the hardness to maximum and spacing to minimum (so it looks like a line) - you can do that by clicking ‘brush tip shape’
Now go and check ‘dual brush’ option. Click on it to modify the dual brush options…
For the dual brush, make sure you use the maximum ‘hardness’ and ‘count’ (which goes to a max 16 on PS7). The ‘diameter’ of the dual brush will change the length of the strokes, and the ‘spacing’ will change the space between each stroke…
(It might also work with a very hard square brush shape, I haven’t tried)
Now it will look good when you stroke paths, and when you draw it might look jaggy if you’re hesitant (if you paint using quick, long strokes it will look nice)
Make sure to check other options to get the best out of this. (and mind that it isn’t perfect as you can see below, especially for closing the line)
cheers,
mlk :cons:
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### Author:  [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2004, 3:35pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/creating-dashed-lines-in-photoshop/52271/2 "2004-07-24T15:35:45Z")
have you made that a proper tutorial yet, mlk? would you be interested in doing it?
edit:: woohoo 4000 post!
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### Author:  [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/creating-dashed-lines-in-photoshop/52271/3 "2004-07-24T16:18:06Z")
hehe it’s sortof a tutorial… I’m currently finish an 11 page one on a hot topic for the beginning of august, so there’s plenty to do…
If you care to do it though i’d be glad !
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### Author:  [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/creating-dashed-lines-in-photoshop/52271/4 "2004-07-24T21:57:56Z")
I really hate PS for not having a dotted line tool…FW finally got one.
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### Author:  [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/creating-dashed-lines-in-photoshop/52271/5 "2004-07-25T02:13:15Z")
**mlk**
check your pm.
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### Author:  [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2004, 3:54am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/creating-dashed-lines-in-photoshop/52271/6 "2004-07-25T03:54:52Z")
great!