Use the Rectangular Marquee tool.
• Click, hold, and drag to make the rectangle.
Use the Rectangular Marquee tool.
• Press and hold Shift.
• Then, click, hold, and drag to make the square.
Use the Elliptical Marquee tool.
• Click, hold, and drag to make the oval.
• The Cookie Cutter tool may be used as well.
Use the the Elliptical Marquee tool.
• Press and hold Shift.
• Then, click, hold, and drag to make the circle.
Multiple Straight Edges
Use the Polygonal Lasso tool.
• Click at the beginning of the first edge, at the end of that edge,
and continue this process for each edge.
• Press Backspace or Delete to backtrack.
• Press Shift to move the line being drawn to the closest 45° angle.
Selection Closing Methods
1) Position the cursor over the starting point (a small circle will
appear next to the cursor) and click.
2) To draw a straight line back to the starting point, double click
or hold Ctrl and click.
Use the Lasso tool.
• Click and draw free-hand.
• To add to the selection, release the mouse.
If the pointer doesn't now have a +, press Shift.
Drag to make a shape on the area you wish to add.
• To subtract from the selection, release the mouse.
If the pointer doesn't now have a -, press Alt.
Drag to make a shape on the area you wish to subtract.
• You can also switch between add and subtract with buttons in the
options bar.
• To add a straight line segment, press Alt, release the mouse, and
click where you want the line to end.
Selection Closing Method
Release the mouse, and a straight segment is drawn back to the starting
point.
Mixed: Edges & Curves
Use both the Lasso and Polygonal Lasso tools.
• You can switch back-and-forth between the two tools.
When using the Lasso tool, for curves, you can switch to the Polygonal
Lasso tool, for straight edges.
Press Alt (with the mouse still clicked) to change from the Lasso
tool to the Polygonal tool.
Then release the mouse, and click at the end of the straight edge.
To go back to the Lasso tool, release Alt (with the mouse still clicked).
Use the Magnetic Lasso tool.
• Requirement: The area around the selection must be a different
tone/color from the selection area.
• As you drag the pointer near the edge of the selection, the selection
border snaps to the edge automatically.
• You can also click repeatedly as you drag the pointer.
• Press Backspace or Delete to backtrack.
Options Bar Choices
• Width is the "corridor" that the tool is scanning looking for edges.
If the edge is high contrast, set a wide width.
If the edge has little contrast, use a narrow width.
• The Edge Contrast value determines how much contrast is required
to create the selection.
Use higher percentages for high-contrast photographs, and lower percentages
for low-contrast photographs.
• Frequency establishes the spacing between the fastening points.
If the edge is irregular, use a higher value.
Selection Closing Methods
1) Position the cursor over the starting point (a small circle will
appear next to the cursor) and click.
2) To draw the final segment back to the starting point, double click
or press Enter.
3) To draw a straight line back to the starting point, hold Alt and
double click.
Same-colored Area
Use the Magic Wand tool.
• Requirement: The area of the selection must be a similar color.
• Increase tolerance in the options bar to select more.
Decrease the value to select less.
Go to
Tolerance Explained.
• Add additional areas of the same color by pressing Shift and click
on the area to be added.
To subtract areas that were selected, press Alt and click on the
area to be removed.
• Often, you'll want to make sure Contiguous is checked in the options
bar.
When checked, the area selected is only the area adjacent to the
sampled area.
In the example here, part of the arrow on the parking sign was selected,
along with all of the letters, when Contiguous was NOT checked.
To prevent this, Contiguous was selected.
Then, Shift was pressed and held as each letter in the restaurant
sign was clicked on.
Use the Selection Brush tool.
• Click, hold, and drag to "paint" where you want the selection.
• Press Alt to brush away unwanted portions of the selection, as
seen in the first photograph to the right.
Or, you can switch between the Add to selection and Subtract from
selection buttons in the options bar.
• Use smaller brushes in corners and the like.
Press [ or ] to change the brush size.
• There's a Mode box in the options bar.
You can choose Selection or Mask.
In Selection, your selection is shown with the marching ants outline.
In Mask mode, the parts of your photograph that are not selected
are red, allowing you to see the selected area only.
• You can use the selection brush tool to fine tune selections made
with the other selections tools.
The Easiest? Sometimes
Use the Magic Selection Brush tool.
• Requirement: The area of the selection must have a color different
from the background.
• Click, hold, and drag to "paint" where you want the selection.
A red brush mark will appear.
• Press Alt to brush away unwanted portions of the selection, as
seen in the first photograph to the right.
A blue brush mark will appear.
• You can also switch between the Indicate Foreground and Indicate
Background buttons in the options bar to add or subtract from the selection.
• Use smaller brushes in corners and the like.
Press [ or ] to change the brush size.
