5 Selections
This chapter will review some of the various selection tools and additional options to make selections found in Photoshop that were not covered in the previous chapters. There are many ways to make selections and some were covered in the previous chapters on Masking, where you will also find how to Save and Load Selections, and Generative AI with advanced machine learning to make selections quickly.
A selection is the area of an image that you define for manipulation of any kind that allows you to isolate one or more parts of an image. By selecting specific areas, you can edit and apply effects and filters to portions of your image while leaving the unselected areas untouched or masked.
You can make a selection with various selection tools, commands, and the Select and Mask workspace in Photoshop. When you make a selection, marching ants appear around the selection area, but you can’t touch areas outside the selection border until you deselect the selection CMD / CTRL + D.
Basic Selection Tools
These tools are found in the Toolbar and are used to directly make shape or freehand selections in an image. The shortcut letter is listed to the right of each tool, and by default, require the Shift key with the shortcut key to toggle between the tools. You can disable the required Shift key in the Preferences [Photoshop (Mac) / Edit (PC) > Preferences > Use Shift Key for Tool Switch] by removing the checkmark.
Marquee Tools [M]: The Rectangular, Elliptical, Single Row and Single Column Marquee Tools are used to make basic rectangular or elliptical shaped selections. You must click + drag to use the Rectangle and Elliptical tools, but only need a single-click to add a Single Row or Single Column selection.
Marquee Tool Shortcuts:
Shift + drag: Constrain all sides to create a perfect circle or square.
OPT / ALT + drag: Creates a rectangle or ellipse from the center out.
OPT / ALT + Shift + drag: Creates a perfect circle or square from the center out.
Shift: Adds to current selection.
OPT / ALT: Subtracts from current selection.
Shift + OPT / ALT: Intersect with Selection.
Lasso Tools [L]:
The Lasso Tool allows for freehand selections.
The Polygonal Lasso Tool makes selections of straight lines.
The Magnetic Lasso Tool snaps the selection border to the edges of the defined areas in the image. The Magnetic Lasso tool is not available for 32‑bits-per-channel images.
Lasso Tool Shortcuts:
OPT / ALT: Temporarily changes the Lasso Tool to the Polygonal Lasso or the Polygonal to the Lasso Tool. Release the shortcut key to return to the original selection tool
Shift: Adds to current selection.
OPT / ALT: Subtracts from current selection.
Shift + OPT / ALT: Intersect with Selection.
Object / Quick Selection and Magic Wand Tools:
The Object Selection Tool simplifies making object or region selections such as people, animals, buildings, skies, etc. You can use the tool to draw a rectangle around an object or let the Object Selection tool automatically de