Photoshop Elements /

Selection Tools /

The Magic Wand tool has a Tolerance box in the options bar.

You can enter brightness values from 0 to 255.

If you enter a low number, the tool will select less.

If you enter a higher number, the tool will select more.

Let's say you want to select the sky in a photograph.

You click on the sky with the Magic Wand tool.

Here's the color of the sky at the point where you clicked.

This color is composed of the colors below.

Let's say the tolerance was set to 50.

Photoshop Elements searches for colors that are 50 brightness values above and below the above values.

Download the step wedge below, and open it in Photoshop Elements.

Using the Magic Wand tool at different tolerance settings.

Click on the gray in the middle.

You'll see how more or less tones are selected depending on the tolerance value.

Step Wedge

To select a single color, do the following.

1) Make sure the Eyedropper tool is set to Point Sample in the options bar.

2) In the Magic Wand tool options bar, set the tolerance to 0 and deselect Anti-aliased.

The size of the area that the Magic Wand tool samples is determined by the Point Sample setting in the options bar of the Eyedropper tool.

Select the Eyedropper tool.

Make sure Point Sample is selected in the Sample Size box.

If you don't, you'll be selecting an average of a range of colors, rather than selecting a single color.