Photoshop Elements /

Moving Selections

What Exactly Are You Going to Move?

There are four choices below.

Click the one that fits what you need to do.

Border Only

Do you want to move just the marching-ants border of a selection . . .

. . . around a photograph?

. . . to another photograph?

Entire Selection

Do you want to move the entire selection (border and the insides) . . .

. . . around a photograph?

. . . to another photograph?

Move the Border of a Selection

Around a Photograph

Move It a Lot

1) Make sure a selection tool is selected, but not the Selection Brush tool.

2) In the options bar, make sure New selection is selected.

3) Click inside the selection border, hold, and drag the selection border.

Selection Brush Tool Anomaly

To move a selection border made with the Selection Brush tool:

1) Select another selection tool.

2) Select New selection in the options bar.

3) Click inside the selection border, hold, and drag the selection border.

Move It a Little

You can fine-tune the position the selection border with the arrow keys.

Each press moves the selection border by one pixel.

If you press and hold Shift, the selection border will move in 10-pixel increments.

Move the Border of a Selection

to Another Photograph

Drag It to the Photo Bin Method

1) Make sure a selection tool is selected, but not the Selection Brush tool.

2) In the options bar, make sure New selection is selected.

3) Click inside the selection border, hold, and drag the selection border onto the thumbnail of the destination photograph located in the Photo Bin at the bottom of the screen.

Tile & Drag It to the Image Method

1) Make sure a selection tool is selected, but not the Selection Brush tool.

2) Go to Window > Images > Tile.

Or, click the Automatically Tile Windows icon in the upper-right corner of the screen.

All of your photographs now appear on the screen.

3) Click inside the selection border, hold, and drag the selection border onto the destination photograph.

Selection Brush Tool Anomaly

The Selection Brush tool doesn't have the New Selection choice in the options bar.

To move a selection border made with the Selection Brush tool:

1) Select another selection tool.

2) Move the selection border using either method above.

Move an Entire Selection

Around a Photograph

Move Tool Method

1) Select the Move tool.

A blank area will be left behind unless you press and hold Alt.

You may not notice the blank area.

If so, that's because it's being filled in by a layer below.

2) Click inside the selection border, hold, and drag the entire selection.

Move an Entire Selection to

Another Photograph

Ctrl + c Method

1) Press Ctrl + c to copy the selection.

2) Go to the destination photograph, and press Ctrl + v to paste the selection to a new layer.

Drag It to the Photo Bin Method

1) Select the Move tool.

As mentioned, if you move the selection with the Move tool, a blank area will be left behind unless you press and hold Alt.

2) Click inside the selection border, hold, and drag the selection onto the thumbnail of the destination photograph located in the Photo Bin at the bottom of the screen.

Tile & Drag It to the Image Method

1) Select the Move tool.

As mentioned, if you move the selection with the Move tool, a blank area will be left behind unless you press and hold Alt.

2) Go to Window > Images > Tile.

Or, click the Automatically Tile Windows icon in the upper-right corner of the screen.

3) Click inside the selection border, hold, and drag the selection onto the destination photograph.

X, C, & V Commands

Ctrl + x

Press Ctrl + x to cut the entire selection from the photograph.

A blank area (transparent, denoted by a checker-board pattern) will appear where the selection was located.

Ctrl + c

Press Ctrl + c to copy the entire selection from the photograph.

The copy is on the clipboard, and can be pasted elsewhere.

Ctrl + v

The Ctrl + v command pastes the selection to a new layer.