Adobe Photoshop CS2

Selecting an Area

Photoshop has multiple selection tools to accommodate the different types of selections. All of these tools are found in the Toolbox.

This document contains information on:

Selecting with the Marquee Tools
Selecting with the Lasso Tools
Selecting with the Magic Wand Tool
Saving a Selection
Loading a Selection
Deselecting an Area

Selecting with the Marquee Tools

Marquee Tools make rectangular, elliptical, and single row or single column selections. The Marquee Tools are found in the uppermost left corner of the Toolbox.

To recognize this tool, look for one of these buttons:

From the Toolbox, select and hold the Marquee Tool
The hidden Marquee Tools appear.
Select one of the tools
HINT: You can switch between the Rectangular Marquee Tool and the Elliptical Marquee Tool by pressing [Shift] + [M].
To select an area, click and drag the the crosshair pointer to surround your desired selection
HINTS:
To obtain a perfect square or circle, press and hold [Shift] before clicking and dragging the mouse.
To keep the proportions of the shape, press and hold [Shift] after clicking the mouse.
To finish the selection, release the mouse button
NOTE: The selected area is now surrounded by animated dashes.
HINT: If your selection is not quite right, press [Ctrl] + [D] and repeat steps 2-4.
Complete the desired action (e.g., copy, add color)
NOTE: The area remains selected.
To prevent inadvertent changes to the selected area, when complete, deselect the area

Selecting with the Lasso Tools

Lasso Tools make free-hand selections of irregularly shaped areas, with or without straight edges. When working with these tools, the pointer takes the shape of the tool. To make the selection process more precise, you can convert it to a crosshair pointer by pressing [Caps Lock].

HINT: You can switch between the Lasso Tools by pressing [Shift] + [L].

Making Free Hand Selections

Selecting with the Lasso Tool is similar to drawing a line around an area with a pen.

NOTE: The method used is click and drag. When you release the mouse button, the selection is completed.

From the Toolbox, select Lasso Tool
Click and drag around the contours/border of the area you want to select
HINT: If the pointer is not in the form of a lasso, press [Caps Lock]
Release the mouse button
The point at which you release will be connected with the beginning point to enclose the area.
NOTE: The selected area is now surrounded by animated dashes.
HINT: If your selection is not quite right, press [Ctrl] + [D] and repeat steps 2-3.
Complete the desired action (e.g., copy, add color)
The area remains selected.
To prevent inadvertent changes to the selected area, when complete, deselect the area

Making Straight-Edged Selections

The Polygonal Lasso Tool allows you to select oddly shaped areas of an image. You can use this tool if you want to select a triangular or other polygonal area of an image.

From the Toolbox, select the Polygonal Lasso Tool
NOTE: The Polygonal Lasso tool is a hidden lasso tool. Click and hold the lasso toolbutton on the Toolbox to select the lasso tool of your choice, e.g., the Polygonal Lasso Tool.
Position the polygonal lasso pointer where you want to start selecting and click the mouse
HINT: If the pointer is not in the form of a polygonal lasso, press [Caps Lock]
Move to the next corner of the area you want to select and click
HINT: To ensure a straight line selection, press [Shift] before clicking.
A line and an anchor point appear.
Repeat step 3 until the desired area is selected
To finish the selection, double click on the last point
OR
Move the pointer to the starting point of the selection and click
NOTE: The last point you double clicked will connect to the first point you created.
HINT: If your selection is not quite right, press [Ctrl] + [D] and repeat steps 2-5.
The selected area is now surrounded by animated dashes.
Complete the desired action (e.g., copy, add color)
The area remains selected.
To prevent inadvertent changes to the selected area, when complete, deselect the area

Making a Combination of Free Hand and Straight-Edged Selections

The Magnetic Lasso Tool allows you to make free hand and straight-edged selections. This tool is helpful if you need to select a circular, oval, or irregularly shaped area. The Magnetic Lasso works by detecting differences in color pixels between the area that is being selected and what surrounds it. Therefore, it works best when the color difference is significant.

From the Toolbox, select the Magnetic Lasso Tool
NOTE: The Magnetic Lasso tool is a hidden lasso tool. Click and hold the lasso toolbutton on the Toolbox to select the lasso tool of your choice, e.g., the Magnetic Lasso Tool.
Position the lasso pointer where you want to start selecting and click to set the first Fastening Point
HINT: If the pointer is not in the form of a magnetic lasso, press [Caps Lock]
NOTE: Fastening Points anchor your selection border in place.
To draw a freehand selection, move the mouse along the edge of the area you want to select
It automatically draws a moveable line that "clings" to areas of similar color between Fastening Points.
To add a straight-edge selection,
1. Release the mouse button
2. Press [Alt] + click at the starting point of the straight-edge selection
  This sets the Fastening Point for the start.
3. Release [Alt] and the mouse button
4. Move the mouse to the endpoint of the straight edge
5. Click the mouse button
  This sets the Fastening Point at the end of the straight-edge selection. Your cursor returns to the Magnetic Lasso and you can resume freehand selection.
If the border does not automatically snap to the desired edge, click the mouse button once to add a Fastening Point manually
To erase recently drawn segments and Fastening Points, press [Delete]
To finish the selection, double click on the last point
OR
Move the pointer to the starting point of the selection and click
NOTE: The last point you double clicked will connect to the first point you created.
HINT: If your selection is not quite right, press [Ctrl] + [D] and repeat steps 2-6.
Complete the desired action (e.g., copy or add color)
To prevent inadvertent changes to the selected area, when complete, deselect the area

Selecting with the Magic Wand Tool

The Magic Wand Tool selects areas of similar colors. To increase or decrease the range of colors selected, you can adjust the Tolerance, or color range, of the Magic Wand Tool.

To adjust the Tolerance:

Select the Magic Wand Tool
From the Objects toolbar, in the Tolerance text box, specify a value

NOTE: Low levels of Tolerance result in a smaller selection area. High levels of Tolerance result in a larger selection area.

To select an area:

From the Toolbox, select the Magic Wand Tool
In your image, click a spot within the area that you want to select
Similar colors around the area where you clicked are selected.
OPTIONAL: Enlarge or reduce the selected area:
a. To add to the selected area, press [Shift] while clicking areas not included in the original selection
b. To subtract from the selected area, press [Alt] while clicking areas you want to exclude
Complete the desired action (e.g., copy, add color)
The area remains selected.
To prevent inadvertent changes to the selected area, when complete, deselect the area

Saving a Selection

Focusing on a particular area of an image is done using the selection tools; however, many times you need to work with different areas at different times. Photoshop allows you to save selection areas to make re-selecting these areas more efficient.

Select the desired area
From the Select menu, select Save Selection...
The Save Selection dialog box appears.
In the Name text box, type a name for the selection
NOTE: A Channel is how Photoshop saves the selection information. You can view your saved channels by clicking on the Channels tab next to the Layers tab in the Layers palette.
Click OK

Loading a Selection

In order to work with a saved selection, it needs to be loaded.

From the Select menu, select Load Selection...
The Load Selection dialog box appears.
From the Channel pull-down list, choose the desired selection
Click OK
The selection is loaded.

Deselecting an Area

To prevent inadvertent changes to a selected area, you should deselect it.

WARNING: If you have not saved the selection, you will need to re-select the area in order to work with it again. For information on saving selections, see Saving a Selection.

From the Select menu, select Deselect
OR
Press [Ctrl] + [D]