Creating selections

You can create a selection when you want to isolate part of an image. For example, you can use a selection to adjust or retouch one area of a photo, or to copy a portion of a photo and paste it into another photo. The way you make a selection depends on whether you are working on a raster layer or a vector layer.

The following selection tools can be used to create raster selections:

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Selection tool

— lets you create a selection of a specific shape, such as a rectangle, square, ellipse, circle, or star

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Freehand Selection tool

— lets you create a selection around the edges of an object, such as petals of a flower or fingers on a hand. You can make four types of selections with the Freehand tool:

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Edge Seeker — finds the edges between two areas with color differences when you click on the edges of irregularly shaped areas

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Freehand — lets you quickly select an area by dragging

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Point to Point — lets you draw straight lines between points to create a selection with straight edges

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Smart Edge — automatically finds the edges of irregularly shaped areas when you click along the edges

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Magic Wand tool

— makes a selection based on the color, hue, brightness, or opacity of an object. This tool is designed to select an area that has distinctly different pixels than those in other areas of an image — for example, a pink rose surrounded by green leaves, or a dark area in an otherwise bright image.

The selection tools can also be used on vector layers to create selections from vector objects. For example, if you copy a selection and paste it as a new image, it is copied to a raster layer as individual pixels rather than as a vector object.

For information about vector text, see Applying text.

You can create a selection by using a Selection tool shape (left), by creating a freehand selection (center), or by using the Magic Wand tool to select specific areas of color or opacity (right).

You can make a selection with one tool and then switch to another tool to add to or subtract from the selection. For more information, see Modifying selections.

You can also use the Paint tool to create a selection. For more information, see Working with brushes.

You can use text selections to apply effects to text; for example, when you create a text selection on a solid-color layer and then delete the selection, the letters appear transparent and outlined with the layer’s solid color.

By creating a raster selection on a vector object, you can use raster-only tools and commands to edit the vector object.

You can create a selection from a mask, which lets you omit the masked (black) areas and select the non-masked (non-black) areas. The selection is clipped to the canvas. For more information, see Working with masks.

To create a selection by using the Selection tool

Edit workspace

On the Tools toolbar, choose the Selection tool

Check the settings of the following controls on the Tool Options palette, and modify them if necessary:

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Selection Type — specifies the shape of the selection area

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Mode — specifies whether to replace, add, or remove an existing selection. Replace is the default setting.

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Feather — softens the edges of a selection by specifying a fade width (0 to 200 pixels)

•

Anti-alias — applies a smooth edge to a selection by making the pixels along its edges semitransparent

Drag to make the selection.

As you drag, a border indicates the selection. When you finish dragging, the selection’s border becomes a selection marquee.


You can also
Create a selection of a specific size	On the Tool Options palette, click the Custom Selection button . In the Custom Selection dialog box, specify the selection position, in pixels, for the left, top, right, and bottom edges.
Replace an existing selection by placing a rectangular selection around it	Choose the Selection tool, and click the Current selection button .
Create a rectangular selection around all nontransparent areas of the current layer	Click the Layer opaque button .
Create a rectangular selection around all nontransparent areas of all layers within the image	Click the Merged opaque button .

After you create a selection, changes to the settings on the Tool Options palette apply to the next action, not to the current selection. You can modify the options for the current selection by choosing Selections

Modify and choosing a command from the menu.

To create a selection by using the Freehand Selection tool

Edit workspace

On the Tools toolbar, choose the Freehand Selection tool

On the Tool Options palette, choose one of the following from the Selection Type drop-list:

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Edge Seeker

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Freehand

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Point to Point

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Smart Edge

Check the settings of the following controls on the Tool Options palette, and modify them if necessary:

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Feather — softens the edges of a selection by specifying a fade width (0 to 200 pixels)

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Smoothing — specifies the amount of smoothing to apply to the selection border

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Anti-alias — applies a smooth edge to a selection by making pixels semitransparent

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Use all layers — searches for an edge in all layers of the selected area. This option is available when you use the Edge Seeker or the Smart Edge selection type on multilayer images.

Depending on the selection type you chose, perform a task from the following table.


To	Do the following
Make a Freehand selection	Drag to select an image area.
Make an Edge Seeker selection	Click precisely along the edge of the area you want to select, and double-click or right-click to complete the selection.
Make a Smart Edge selection	Click along the edge of the area that you want to select, ensuring that the rectangular cursor encloses the edge. Double-click or right-click to complete the selection.
Make a Point to Point selection	Click around the area you want to select, and double-click or right-click to complete the selection.

When making an Edge Seeker selection, you can set the distance used to search for an edge by typing a value in the Range control on the Tool Options palette.

You can increase the accuracy of Edge Seeker and Smart Edge selections by clicking more frequently along the edge you are following.

You can delete a previous point by pressing Delete.

To create a selection by using the Magic Wand tool

Edit workspace

On the Tools toolbar, choose the Magic Wand tool

On the Tool Options palette, choose a Match mode option:

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None — selects all pixels

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RGB Value — selects pixels that match the red, green, and blue values of the pixel you click

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Color — selects pixels that match the shading variations of the pixel you click

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Brightness — selects pixels that match the perceptual lightness value of the pixel you click

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Perceptual — selects pixels that match the perceptual shading variation and lightness of the pixel you click

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Traditional — selects pixels that match red, green, and blue values, with a bias toward lightness variations. This match mode is therefore more discriminating than the RGB Value match mode.

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All Opaque — selects all pixels that are not completely invisible (that is, having an opacity value of 1 or greater). Choosing this option disables the Tolerance control.

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Opacity — selects pixels that match the opacity value of the pixel you click.

Check the settings of the following controls on the Tool Options palette, and modify them if necessary:

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Tolerance — controls how closely the selected pixels match the pixel you click in the image. At low settings, only similar pixels are chosen; at high settings, a wider range of pixels is selected.

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Feather — softens the edges of a selection by specifying a fade width (0 to 200 pixels)

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Use all layers — searches for matching pixels across all layers in the image

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Contiguous — selects only pixels that connect to the pixel you click

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Anti-alias — produces a smooth-edged selection by partially filling in pixels along the edge, making them semitransparent. You can use this option inside or outside the selection marquee.

Click the image area that contains the pixels you want to match.

The selection marquee surrounds all matching pixels.

You can change the number of pixels you select by undoing the selection, adjusting the Tolerance setting, and making a new selection.

To create a selection by using a Painting tool

Edit workspace

Choose Selections

Edit Selection.

A selection layer is added to the Layers palette.

Select a painting tool from the Tools toolbar.

Choose settings for the painting tool on the Tool Options palette and the Brush Variance palette.

Paint on the image.

A ruby-colored overlay displays the brush strokes. The selection changes according to the following:

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Painting with white adds to the selection.

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Painting with black subtracts from the selection.

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Painting with shades of gray adds to or subtracts from the selection, depending on the level of gray.

Choose Selections

Edit Selection.

The selection marquee surrounds the selected area.

You can also click the Edit Selection button

on the Layers palette instead of choosing Selections

Edit Selection.

To create a selection by using the Text tool

Edit workspace

On the Tools toolbar, choose the Text tool

On the Tool Options palette, choose Selection from the Create as drop-list to create a selection shaped like the text.

Click where you want to start the text selection.

Set the text formatting controls, and type the text.

Click the Apply changes button

To create a raster selection from a vector object

Edit workspace

On the Tools toolbar, choose the Pick tool

, and select one or more vector objects.

Choose Selections

From Vector Object.

A selection marquee surrounds each vector object.

After you create a raster selection from a vector object, you can copy and paste the selection as needed. The original vector objects remain unchanged.

To select all pixels in a layer or an image

Edit workspace

•

Choose Selections

Select All.

A selection marquee appears around the layer on the canvas.

You can also select all pixels in a layer or an image by pressing Ctrl + A.

To select all non-masked areas

Edit workspace

On the Layers palette, select the mask layer.

Choose Selections

From Mask.

The selection marquee surrounds the non-masked areas.

If you saved a mask to an alpha channel, you can load it as a selection by choosing Selections

Load from Alpha Channel.