Paint Bucket Tool

Paint Bucket Tool

The Paint Bucket Tool is the fastest method for quickly filling a shape with color in Photoshop.

When to use

The Paint Bucket is useful any time you want to fill a selection or shape with a solid color.

Instructions

Using the Paint Bucket Tool with Raster Shapes

• Add a New Layer to the Layers Palette.
• Press 'M' to select your Rectangular Marquee Tool and click and drag to create a wide rectangle shape. 
• Press 'G' to switch to the Paint Bucket Tool.
• Click on the foreground color found at the bottom of the toolbar and use the Color Picker to change it to orange.
• Click inside of your shape with the Paint Bucket Tool and fill the rectangle with your solid orange color.
• Press Command/Ctrl + D on the keyboard to deselect the shape.

Using the Paint Bucket Tool with Vector Shapes

• Add a New Layer to the Layers Palette.
• Switch to the Custom Shape Tool and choose a flower from the preset folder.
• Click and drag to create the flower shape and hold the Shift Key and Spacebar Keys to scale the shape up proportionally while positioning it in the center of your canvas.
• Open the Paths Panel and hold the Command/Ctrl Key before clicking on the small thumbnail icon for the shape path.
• You should now see the 'marching ants' around your shape, indicating that the selection is active.
• Add a New Layer above the shape layer in your Layers Palette.
• Switch to the Paint Bucket Tool (G) and change your foreground color to a contrasting color.
• Click inside the selection to fill the shape with a solid color. 
• You have now filled the selection with a solid color on a New Layer above the original shape. 

Hints & tips

• The Paint Bucket Tool (G) can't be used to fill a vector shape or path with solid color.
• You can Command/Ctrl-click on a layer thumbnail icon to make a selection from the layer and then fill it with color on a New Layer above. 
• If no selections are active when using the Paint Bucket Tool (G) you will fill the entire layer with your foreground color.