How to Use the Rounded Rectangle Tool in Photoshop

Finding the Rounded Rectangle Tool

The Rounded Rectangle Tool is nested under the Rectangle Tool, and the shortcut is U. If U lands you on the wrong shape tool, hold Shift and press U again to cycle through the nested tools; that Shift trick works for every nested tool in the toolbar. Aaron also opens with a quick tip: a stray graphic on the sample image disappears in one stroke with the Spot Healing Brush set to Content-Aware and Sample All Layers.

Rounded Rectangle Tool Shape, Fill, and Stroke

In the options bar choose Shape, then click and drag to draw. Fill and Stroke live both in the options bar and in the Properties panel: pick a solid color, a gradient, or a pattern for either, set the stroke width, and choose a solid, dashed, or dotted line. Most of the time you’ll want a solid fill with no stroke. You can type an exact width and height, or press Ctrl/Cmd + T to transform by hand.

Corner Radius in the Properties Panel

The Rounded Rectangle Tool corner controls are the whole point of the tool. Drag or type a value in any corner field of the Properties panel and all four corners round together while the chain-link icon is on; push it far enough and the rectangle becomes a pill. Click the chain link off and each corner gets its own radius, so you can round two corners and leave the others sharp.

New Layer vs. Combine Shapes

With New Layer selected, every Rounded Rectangle Tool rectangle you draw lands on its own shape layer, which Aaron prefers because each one stays movable and recolorable. The alternative modes work like selections: Combine, Subtract, Intersect, and Exclude Overlapping Shapes merge new rectangles into the existing shape layer.

Why Vector Corners Matter

Press Ctrl/Cmd + T and stretch a shape-mode rectangle any way you like: the corners keep the exact same radius. That’s the difference between Shape and Pixels. A Pixels rectangle is just painted onto the layer with the radius you set beforehand, so scaling it distorts the corners. Path mode gives you a rounded-rectangle path you can right-click and turn into a selection.

Build a Play Button on a Phone Screen

Draw a shape with the Rounded Rectangle Tool, fill it deep red, then grab the Polygon Tool, set Sides to 3, and hold Shift while dragging to snap the triangle upright. Fill it white with no stroke, size it with Ctrl/Cmd + T, Shift-click both layers and align them vertically and horizontally with the Move Tool, then Ctrl/Cmd + G to group. Rotate the group to match the phone, Ctrl/Cmd-drag a corner handle to push it into perspective, and press Enter. The whole thing stays editable as a group.

Quick Reference

• U for the shape tools; Shift + U cycles to the Rounded Rectangle Tool.
• Shape mode keeps corners round when you scale; Pixels mode does not.
• Properties panel sets the radius; unlink the chain to round corners individually.
• New Layer keeps every shape separate and editable.
• Ctrl / Cmd + drag a transform handle to put a shape in perspective.