Choose a layer.

Choose the Rectangular Marquee or Elliptical Marquee tool (M or Shift-M). Or to create the thinnest possible selection, choose the Single Row Marquee or Single Column Marquee tool.

Optional: To specify the exact dimensions of the selection, with the Rectangular or Elliptical Marquee tool highlighted, choose Fixed Size from the Style pop-up menu on the options bar , then enter Width and Height values. Remember though, you’re counting pixels based on the file’s resolution, not the monitor’s resolution, so the same Fixed Size marquee will appear larger in a low-resolution file than in a high-resolution file.

To specify the width-to-height ratio of the selection (3-to-1, for example), choose Constrained Aspect Ratio from the Style pop-up menu, then enter Width and Height values. Enter the same value in both fields to create a circle or a square.

Optional: To soften the edges of the selection before it’s created, enter a Feather value above zero on the options bar . The Anti-aliased option can be checked on or off for the Elliptical Marquee tool.

If you specified Fixed Size values (or are using the Single Row or Single Column tool), click on the image. For any other Style, drag diagonally –. A marquee will appear. To create a square or a circular selection for the Normal Style, start dragging, then finish the marquee with Shift held down.

Drag diagonally to create a rectangular selection...

...or an elliptical selection.

Hold down the spacebar to move the marquee while drawing it. To move the marquee after releasing the mouse, drag inside it.

Choose a layer.

Choose the Lasso tool (L or Shift-L).

Optional: Enter a Feather value above zero on the Lasso tool options bar to soften the edges of the selection.

Drag around an area of the layer . When you release the mouse, the open ends of the selection will join automatically.

A curved Lasso tool selection

Choose a layer.

Choose the Polygon Lasso tool (L or Shift-L).

To create straight sides, click to create points . To join the open ends of the selection, click on the starting point (a small circle will appear next to the pointer). Or Ctrl-click/Cmd-click or double-click anywhere on the image to have the selection close automatically.

A straight-edged Polygon Lasso tool selection

Alt-drag/Option-drag to create a curved segment as you draw a polygonal selection. Release Alt/Option to resume drawing straight sides.

Choose a layer.

Choose the Magic Wand tool (W).

Check Contiguous on the Magic Wand tool options bar to limit the selection to areas that are connected to the first pixel you click on, or uncheck this option to select noncontiguous areas.

The Magic Wand tool options bar

On the Magic Wand options bar, check Use All Layers to sample from colors in all the currently displayed layers in order to create the selection. Only pixels on the current layer can be edited, but you can apply changes within the same selected area through successive layers.

or

Uncheck Use All Layers to sample colors only on the current layer.

Also, check Anti-aliased, if desired, for a smoother selection edge.

Click on a shade or color in the image window.

Do any of these optional steps:

To enlarge the selection based on the current Tolerance setting on the Magic Wand options bar, choose Select > Grow as many times as you like (use a low Tolerance). You can also access this command by right-clicking/Ctrl-clicking in the image window.

To select additional, noncontiguous areas of similar color or shade based on the current Tolerance setting on the Magic Wand tool options bar, choose Select > Similar. You can also access this command by right-clicking/Ctrl-clicking in the image window.

To change the range of shades or colors within which the Magic Wand tool selects, enter a Tolerance value (0–255) on the Magic Wand tool options bar, then click on the image again. For example, at a Tolerance of 32, the Magic Wand will select within a range of 16 shades below and 16 shades above the shade it’s clicked on. Enter 0 to select only one color or shade.

To gradually expand or narrow the range of shades or colors the Magic Wand tool selects, modify the Tolerance value between clicks. The higher the Tolerance, the broader the range of colors the wand selects.

A selection created using the Magic Wand with a Tolerance of 10

A selection created using the Magic Wand with a Tolerance of 40: At a higher Tolerance, more pixels are selected.

Choose the Magnetic Lasso tool (L or Shift-L).

Optional: Change any of the tool’s options bar settings. See “Magnetic Lasso tool options bar” on the next page.

Click to establish a fastening point. Move the mouse, with or without pressing the mouse button, along the edge of the shape that you want to select . As you move or drag the mouse, the selection line will snap to the edge of the shape. The temporary points that appear will disappear when you close the selection.

Move the mouse slowly around a shape.

If the selection line starts to follow adjacent shapes that you don’t want to select, click on the edge of the shape that you do want to select to add a fastening point manually, then continue to move or drag to complete the selection.

To close the selection line:

After closing the selection

Double-click anywhere over the shape.

or

Click the starting point (a small circle will appear next to the Magnetic Lasso tool pointer).

or

Press Enter/Return.

or

Ctrl-click/Cmd-click.

or

Alt-double-click/Option-double-click to close with a straight segment.

Choose a layer to be edited using the selection.

Choose a layer. The Color Range command samples colors from all the currently visible layers, but only the current layer will be available for editing. You can limit the selection range by creating a selection first.

Choose Select > Color Range.

Choose from the Select pop-up menu. You can limit the selection to a preset color range (e.g., Reds, Yellows), to a luminosity range (Highlights, Midtones, or Shadows), or to Sampled Colors (shades or colors you’ll click on with the Color Range eyedropper). The Out of Gamut option can only be used on an image that’s in Lab Color or RGB Color mode. If you choose a preset color range, and the image contains only light saturations of that color, an alert box will warn you that the selection marquee will be present but invisible.

Choose a Selection Preview option for previewing selection areas on the image.

To preview the selection, click the Selection button; to redisplay the whole image, click the Image button. Or hold down Ctrl/Cmd with either option chosen to toggle between the two. If the image extends beyond the edges of the image window, use the Image option; the entire image will be displayed in the preview box to facilitate sampling.

If you chose Sampled Colors in step 3, click or drag in the preview box or in the image window with the eyedropper cursor to sample colors in the image.

Optional: Move the Fuzziness slider to the right to expand the range of colors or shades selected, or move it to the left to narrow the range.

Optional: If you chose Sampled Colors for step 3, Shift-click in the image window or in the preview box to add more colors or shades to the selection; Alt-click/Option-click to remove colors or shades from the selection. Or click the “+” or “-” eyedropper icon button in the Color Range dialog box, then click on the image or in the preview box without holding down Shift or Alt/Option.

Click OK.

Choose a layer.

Choose the Rectangular or Elliptical Marquee tool (M or Shift-M).

Drag to create a selection or choose Select > Select All (Ctrl-A/Cmd-A).

Alt-drag/Option-drag a smaller selection inside the first selection . To subtract from a selection using another method, see page 106. See also .

A frame selection created using the Rectangular Marquee tool

Here’s another option. The Marquee tool was used to select the center area, then Select > Inverse was used to reverse the selected and nonselected areas and cause the outer area to become selected. (We used the Levels command to screen back the selected area.)

Create a selection.

Choose Select > Modify > Border.

Enter the desired Width (1–200) of the border in pixels .

Enter a Width in the Border Selection dialog box.

Click OK. The new selection will evenly straddle the edge of the original selection .

A border selection

Optional: To aid in positioning the marquee, choose View > Show > Grid or drag a guide or guides from the horizontal or vertical ruler. Also, turn on View > Snap To > Guides and/or View > Snap To > Grid.

Choose any selection tool.

Drag inside the selection . Hold down Shift after you start dragging to constrain movement to a multiple of 45°.

Moving a marquee

or

Press any arrow key to move the marquee one pixel at a time.

With any selection tool chosen, right-click/Control-click on the image and choose Transform Selection from the context menu.

or

With any tool chosen, choose Select > Transform Selection.

Follow the instructions on pages 138–140 to flip, rotate, scale, etc. –.

Scaling a selection marquee

The marquee is enlarged—not its contents.

With a selection present, choose a selection tool.

Click the Intersect with selection button on the options bar , then create a new selection that overlaps the current selection –. (To bypass the button, Alt-Shift-drag/Option-Shift-drag.)

A circular selection is drawn over an existing selection with Alt/Option and Shift held down.

For a multi-layer image, choose a pixel layer, and unselect the Lock: transparent pixels button, if necessary. The vignette you create is going to appear to fade into the layer or layers below it.

For an image with a Background only, choose a Background color (see pages 179–182) for the area around the vignette.

Choose the Rectangular Marquee or Elliptical Marquee tool (M or Shift-M), or the Lasso tool (L or Shift-L).

Enter 15 or 20 px in the Feather field on the options bar. Alternatively, you can feather the selection after it’s created (after step 4) using Select > Feather.

Create a selection .

First create a feathered-edge selection.

With the selection tool still chosen, right-click/Ctrl-click on the image and choose Select Inverse.

Press Backspace/Delete.

Right-click/Ctrl-click on the image and choose Deselect –.

The vignette

The original image (Peter’s relatives—no kidding)

The vignette

For this image, we applied the Glass filter after step 5.

Note: For safety’s sake, work on a copy of the image—or at least on a duplicate layer. You could also make a snapshot of the original image.

Choose the layer from which you want to extract imagery.

Choose Filter > Extract (Ctrl-Alt-X/Cmd-Option-X). A full-screen, resizable dialog box will open.

You’ll use the Edge Highlighter to mask the object border first, and then click on the interior with the Fill tool to define the fill.

Choose the Edge Highlighter tool from the toolbox in the dialog box (B) .

Tools and tool shortcuts in the Extract dialog box

and

In the Tool Options area , enter or choose a Brush Size in pixels for the marker. The sharper the edge of the object you’re going to extract, the smaller the brush you can use. Use a large brush if the shape has wide, choppy edges.

and

Choose Red, Green, or Blue as the Highlight color for the mask. Or choose Other and choose a color from the Color Picker.

Optional: If you’re going to trace a crisp-edged shape (e.g., a geometric shape), check Smart Highlighting. The highlight will be the minimum width necessary to cover the edge of the shape, regardless of the current brush size.

Drag around the border of the area of the image you want to extract. Complete the loop to make a closed shape. Drag right along the object’s border so as to catch any frizz or fringe. You don’t need to drag along the edge of the canvas area if the imagery extends that far.

Optional: Raise the Extraction: Smooth value to eliminate extraneous pixels.

Choose the Fill (second) tool (G) from the toolbox in the dialog box.

and

Choose Red, Green, or Blue as the Fill color for the mask. Or choose Other and choose a color from the Color Picker.

and

Click on the area of the image that you want to extract. (Click again to un-fill.)

Note: To extract pixels of one color, instead of using the Fill tool, check Force Foreground, choose the Eyedropper tool in the dialog box (I), then click a color in the preview window. Or click the Color swatch and choose a color from the Color Picker.

Use the Eraser tool (E) from the dialog box if you need to unmask any masked areas. Choose a Brush Size for the Eraser in the Tool Options area of the dialog box.

Click Preview, then in the Preview area of the dialog box, do any of the following:

Check Show Highlight and/or Show Fill.

Choose Show: Extracted to toggle to the extracted image view; choose Original to toggle back to the original image.

Choose Display: None to display the background as transparent; choose Black Matte, Gray Matte, or White Matte to display the extracted shape on a background of black, gray, or white, respectively; choose Other to choose a custom color; or choose Mask to display the discarded area as black and the protected area as white.

To refine the mask further, do any of the following:

Use the Cleanup tool (C) to gradually subtract opacity. (Alt-drag/Option-drag to restore opacity.)

Use the Edge Touchup tool (T) to gradually sharpen edges.

Change the Smooth value.

Click OK. If you want to restore lost areas now, use the History Brush tool – (see pages 160–161). Or to erase further by hand, use the Background Eraser (see pages 228–229).

After extracting (chimp not in the mist)