Inverting and clearing selections

Sometimes, the easiest way to make a complicated selection is to select the part of the image that you don’t want and then invert the selection. For example, in a picture of a person against a solid-color background, you can select the background and then invert the selection, so that the person is selected instead of the background.

By selecting a solid background (left) and inverting the selection, you can isolate a complex, multicolored foreground (right).

You can also clear a selection, which removes the selection marquee and integrates the selection back into the image. After clearing the selection, you can resume your editing of the entire image.

To invert a selection

Edit workspace

•

Choose Selections

Invert.

The selection marquee now encloses the previously unselected image area and excludes the previously selected image area.

To clear a selection

Edit workspace

•

Choose Selections

Select None.

If you deselect a floating selection, the selection is defloated and placed in the underlying layer if the layer is a raster layer. If the underlying layer is a vector layer or an Art Media layer, a new raster layer is created, and the selection is defloated to it.

You can also clear a selection by right-clicking in the image outside the selection marquee or by pressing Ctrl + D.