Photoshop Elements /
Selection Tools /
Selection Tools Flow Chart /
Mechanical Selection Tools /
Lasso Tool Family
1 - Three Members
The Lasso Tool Family has three members.
Lasso tool
The Lasso tool is used for the free-hand drawing of a selection.
Magnetic Lasso tool
The Magnetic Lasso tool has both magical and mechanical qualities.
The selected area must have a tonal or color difference from
the rest of the photograph.
You move the cursor near the edge of the selection, Photoshop
Elements jumps the selection border to the edge.
Polygonal Lasso tool
The Polygonal Lasso tool is used when the area to be selected
consists of multiple straight edges.
2 - Zoom Tool
Use the Zoom tool to enlarge your photograph to fill the screen
with the area to be selected.
3 - 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.
4 - Lasso Family Tools
Select the Lasso tool, Magnetic Lasso tool, or the Polygonal
Lasso tool.
5 - 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
6 - Options Bar Settings
Set the option bar settings.
Icons
The first icon of the foursome, New selection, should be selected.
Feather
Feathering makes the edge of a selection gradually fade to transparent.
If you select feathering in the options bar, before you make
a selection, the feathering can't be changed.
Instead, go to Select > Feathering, after you've made a selection.
Go to Select > Feathering.
Anti-alias
Anti-alias smoothes the jaggedness of the pixel corners from
the edges of curved selections by averaging the colors of the pixels
at the edge of a selection.
It should normally be selected.
The following options are displayed only when you're using the
Magnetic Lasso tool.
Width
What It Does
The Width value determines how much of the photograph the Magnetic
Lasso tool can see.
For example, at a setting of 3 px, the tool is examining a 6
px diameter circle.
Press the Caps Lock key to change the cursor to a brush, showing
the width that you're using.
Which Value?
If the edge is high contrast, set a wide width.
If the edge has little contrast, use a narrow width.
How to Change the Value While Making a Selection
You can change the Width setting by pressing the [ and ] keys.
Edge Contrast
What It Does
The Edge Contrast percentage determines how much contrast an
edge needs for Photoshop Elements to consider it to be an edge.
Which Value?
If you enter a higher percentage, Photoshop Elements will only
find edges with lots of contrast.
If you enter a lower percentage, Photoshop Elements will find
edges with less contrast.
How to Change the Value
While Making a Selection
Use the < and > keys to change the Edge Contrast setting.
Frequency
What It Does
As you move the cursor, the Magnetic Lasso tool places fastening
points, black dots, along the edge.
Which Value?
If the edge is irregular, use a higher value.
How to Change the Value
While Making a Selection
To reduce the frequency value, press ; key.
To increase the rate, press the ' key.
7 - Make the Selection
Lasso Tool
Click, hold, and drag free-hand.
To add a straight line segment, press Alt, release the mouse,
and click where you want the line to end.
Selection Closing Method
You have to close the selection.
That is, link the end of the selection back to the beginning
of the selection.
Release the mouse, and a straight segment is drawn back to the
starting point.
Magnetic Lasso Tool
As described, the selected area must have a tonal or color difference
from the rest of the photograph.
Click, hold, and drag the cursor near the edge of the selection.
Photoshop Elements will jump the selection border to the edge.
Fastening points, black dots, are placed along the selection
border.
Corners & Curves
When you encounter a corner or a curve, the Magnetic Lasso tool
may become confused.
Help it along.
Click when you encounter a corner or a curve.
A fastening point, a black dot, will be placed at the position
where you clicked.
Backtracking
The Magnetic Lasso tool may veer off.
To backtrack, press Backspace or Delete as you move the cursor
backwards.
Selection Closing Methods
You have to close the selection.
That is, link the end of the selection back to the beginning
of the selection.
Do one of the following.
• Position the cursor over the starting point (a small circle
will appear next to the cursor) and click.
• To draw the final segment back to the starting point, double
click or press Enter.
• To draw a straight line back to the starting point, hold Alt
and double click.
Polygonal Lasso Tool
The Polygonal Lasso tool is used when the area to be selected
consists of multiple straight edges.
Click at the beginning of the first edge, at the end of that
edge, and continue this process for each edge.
Backtracking
The Polygonal Lasso tool may veer off.
To backtrack, press Backspace or Delete as you move the cursor
backwards.
Trivia
Press Shift to move the line being drawn to the closest 45° angle.
Mixed: Edges & Curves
You can switch back-and-forth between the Lasso and Polygonal
Lasso 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).
8 - 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.
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, hold, and drag 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, hold, and drag on the areas that you would like
to subtract from the selection.
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.
9 - Invert the Selection
As described above, you can
invert a selection.
10 - Feather the Selection
Feathering makes the edge of a selection gradually fade to transparent.
Go to Select > Feathering.
11 - 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).
12 - Move a Selection
If you need to move the selection border, or the area that's
been selected, go to
Moving
Selections.
13 - 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.
15 - 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.
16 - Tutorials
The tutorial,
Eye
Makeover / 2 - Eye Whitening, uses the Magnetic Lasso tool.
