Photoshop Elements /
Selection Tools /
Selection Tools Flow Chart /
Magic Selection Tools /
Magic Wand Tool
To use the Magic Wand tool, do the following.
1 - Zoom Tool
Use the Zoom tool to enlarge your photograph to fill the screen
with the area to be selected.
2 - Hand Tool
If you need to shift the image of your photograph around the
screen, press and hold the spacebar.
The Hand tool is "on" as long as you hold the spacebar down.
Click on the image, hold, and drag it around.
3 - Magic Wand Tool
Select the Magic Wand tool.
4 - Select the Wrong Area?
Look at the area to be selected, and compare it to area around
it.
Which area will be easier to select?
Let's say you want to select the monument, below, from the blue
sky.
If you use the Magic Wand tool, and click on the monument, the
resulting selection is messy.
See the left-hand photograph below.
If you click of the sky instead, the selection is much cleaner,
as seen in the right-hand photograph.
But, the sky is selected, and you want the monument.
Go to Select > Invert, or Shift + Ctrl + i, to change the selection
from the sky to the monument.
Monument Selected - Messy
Sky Selected - Cleaner
5 - Options Bar Settings
Set the option bar settings.
Icons
The first icon of the foursome, New selection, should be selected.
Tolerance
The Tolerance setting determines how wide of a swath of color
to select.
Smaller amount; less selected.
Larger amount; more selected.
For a more detailed explanation, go to
Magic
Wand Tool & Tolerance.
Anti-alias
Anti-alias smoothes the jaggedness of the pixel corners from
the edges of selections by averaging the colors of the pixels at
the edge of a selection.
It should normally be selected.
Contiguous
If Contiguous is selected, only the area that you click on will
be selected.
If there are separate areas on the photograph that have the same
range of tone or color, they won't be selected.
If you want to select all the areas that have the same range
of tone or color, deselect Contiguous.
In both examples below, the letter Y was clicked on.
When Contiguous was selected, only the Y was selected.
When Contiguous was deselected, clicking on the Y also selected
other areas with same range of color.
Contiguous - Selected
Contiguous - Deselected
Sample All Layers
Select Sample All Layers if you have layers with differing content,
such as a collage.
6 - Make the Selection
Click on the area that you want to select.
Too Little Contrast to Make a Selection?
The edge (border) of the area that you're selecting has to have
a lighter tone or color, on one side, and a darker tone or color,
on the other side.
You can increase the contrast temporarily by using a Levels adjustment
layer.
Use the middle slider to increase the contrast.
You can also use a Threshold adjustment layer.
Go to
Shadows or Highlights Selections for an example.
After you've finished making the selection, delete the Levels
adjustment layer or the Threshold adjustment layer.
The selection will probably need to be refined.
7 - Refine the Selection
Look for Strays
Sometimes it's hard to see everything that's been selected—or
hasn't been selected.
You can use the Selection Brush tool to look for "strays."
Go to
Look for Strays with the Selection Brush Tool.
Three Methods
Use one of the methods below to refine the selection.
Method #1 - Change the Tolerance
• Delete the selection.
Go to Select > Deselect, press Ctrl + d, or press Esc, to delete
the selection.
• Choose another Tolerance setting.
Smaller amount; less selected.
Larger amount; more selected.
For a detailed discussion of Tolerance, go to
Magic
Wand Tool & Tolerance.
Method #2 - Options Bar Icons
Add to Selection
To add more area to the selection, go to the options bar and
select the Add to Selection icon.
It's the second icon in the foursome.
Then, click on the areas that you would like to add to the selection.
Subtract from Selection
To subtract an area from the selection, go to the options bar
and select the Subtract from Selection icon.
It's the third icon in the foursome.
Then, click on the areas that you would like to subtract from
the selection.
Method #3 - Selection Brush Mop
You may have to use the Selection Brush tool as a mop to refine
your selection further.
Go to
Selection
Brush Mop.
Modify Commands
You can use the four modify operations to refine your selection.
Go to Select > Modify, and select one of the commands.
Border Command
The Border command creates a border, feathered on both sides,
around the original selection border.
You can enter the size of the border, and can change its color.
You can also do this by going to Edit > Stroke.
Smooth Command
The Smooth command is based on the color of the selection.
The command searches outside the edge of the selection for pixels
that are the same color as those just inside the edge of the selection.
The range of the search is defined by how many pixels you enter
in Sample Radius.
Expand & Contract Commands
The Expand and Contract commands change the selection by the
number of pixels you enter.
Grow & Similar Commands
The Grow command selects more adjacent pixels.
The Similar command selects more pixels throughout the photograph,
not just adjacent ones.
Go to Select > Grow, or Select > Similar.
Defringe
This command is performed after you've made the selection, and
placed it on a new layer.
To place a selection on a new layer, go to Layer > New > Layer
via Copy, or press Ctrl + j.
Or, by moving it to another photograph, the selection is placed
an a new layer.
If the edge of your selection has a fringe of unwanted pixels,
you can remove them.
For example, let's say you selected a red apple from the top
of a green picnic table.
Some of the green pixels of the picnic table may be present at
the edge of the selection.
When you moved the apple to a blue bowl, this halo of green pixels
are evident against the blue of the bowl.
Use Defringe to change the color of the green pixels to red,
the color of the selection, the apple.
Go to Enhance > Adjust Color > Defringe Layer.
8 - Invert the Selection
You can invert a selection.
Go to Select > Invert, or Shift + Ctrl + i.
The selected area becomes the non-selected area.
9 - Feather the Selection
Feathering makes the edge of a selection gradually fade to transparent.
Go to Select > Feathering.
10 - Copy the Selection to a New Layer
Before making a change to the selection, you may want to copy
it to a new layer.
By doing so, you can reduce the opacity of the layer, erase parts
of it, and so forth.
To copy a selection to a new layer, press Ctrl + j.
To make changes to the selection on its new layer, make sure
the new layer is active (highlighted).
11 - Move a Selection
If you need to move the selection border, or the area that's
been selected, go to
Moving
Selections.
12 - Hide a Selection
If the marching ants of a selection are distracting, press Ctrl
+ h to hide the selection.
Press Ctrl + h, again, to make the selection reappear.
A hidden, and forgotten selection, may create havoc later.
If a tool isn't working the way it should be, and you've been
working with a selection, check to make sure the selection isn't
hidden.
Just press Ctrl + h, to check.
If you no longer need the selection, save it if you wish (see
below).
Then, press Esc or Ctrl + d, to deselect.
You can sometimes reselect the selection.
Go to Select > Reselect, or press Shift + Ctrl + d.
14 - Save the Selection
If you may need the selection again, you can save it along with
the PSD file of the photograph.
You can't save a selection with a JPEG file of your photograph.
Go to
Saving
Selections.
15 - Tutorials
Here are some tutorials that use the Magic Wand tool.
Drawing
Retouching
/ Glare on the Face
