Pencil Tool
Draw hard-edged pixel-perfect lines with no anti-aliasing, ideal for pixel art and precise outlines.
Shortcut: BBeginner4 min readQuick Reference
Pencil Tool
Adobe PhotoshopLeft toolbar — Brush group (paintbrush icon)
Best Used For
- ▸Create digital artwork and illustrations from scratch
- ▸Add textures, shading, and color to designs
- ▸Apply masks and selective color adjustments
Key Settings
The Pencil Tool is similar to the Brush Tool but creates hard-edged, aliased strokes with no anti-aliasing or softness. Every pixel is either fully opaque or fully transparent, making it the perfect choice for pixel art, precise line art, and digital illustrations that require crisp, sharp edges.
Unlike the Brush Tool, the Pencil Tool does not support soft edges or blending — every stroke has 100% hardness by default. This constraint makes it ideal for creating clean, retro-style graphics and detailed pixel work.
Where to Find It
The Pencil Tool is nested under the Brush Tool in the toolbar. Click and hold the Brush icon to reveal the flyout menu, then select Pencil Tool. Press Shift+B to cycle from Brush to Pencil.
How to Use
- Select the Pencil Tool: Press Shift+B until the Pencil Tool is active, or select it from the toolbar flyout.
- Set the foreground color: Choose a color from the Color Picker for your strokes.
- Adjust pencil size: Use the [ and ] keys to set the pencil tip size in pixels.
- Draw on the canvas: Click and drag to draw hard-edged lines. Each pixel is either colored or not — no partial transparency.
- Hold Shift for straight lines: Click a starting point, hold Shift, and click an end point to draw a perfectly straight line between them.
Settings & Options
- Size: The diameter of the pencil tip in pixels.
- Opacity: Unlike the Brush Tool, the Pencil Tool only supports 100% opacity per pixel. Lower opacity settings may blend unevenly.
- Auto-Erase: When enabled, if you paint over an area containing the foreground color, it automatically paints with the background color instead — useful for pixel art corrections.
Pro Tips
- Use the Pencil Tool with a grid overlay (View > Show > Grid) for precise pixel art creation — each grid cell can represent one pixel.
- Enable Auto-Erase to quickly toggle between drawing and erasing the same color — perfect for cleaning up pixel art edges.
- Zoom to 800% or higher for detailed pixel-level editing, and use the single-pixel pencil tip (size 1) for maximum control.
Common Mistakes
- Using the Pencil for organic painting: The Pencil Tool cannot produce soft or blended strokes. Use the Brush Tool for any work that requires gradients, soft edges, or opacity variation.
- Anti-aliasing confusion: Unlike other drawing tools, the Pencil Tool intentionally creates jagged edges. If you want smooth lines, switch to the Brush Tool instead.