Expanding, Reducing, and Smoothing Selections

Do not worry if you selected an area that is too small, too large, or jagged. You can easily expand, reduce, and smooth existing selections.

Expanding an Existing Selection

There are several methods that you can use to expand an existing selection.

To Expand an Existing Selection:

• Press and hold the Shift key as you click and drag from the existing selection outwards.
• Click Image | Selection | Expand. Enter the number of pixels by which you would like to expand the selection then click OK.

To Expand an Existing Magic Wand Tool Selection:

1. To add pixels of a similar color, click Image | Selection | Add Similar.
2. To add pixels that are adjacent to the selected pixels, click Image | Selection | Grow.

Reducing an Existing Selection

There are two ways to reduce an existing selection:

• Press and hold the Ctrl key as you click and drag from the existing selection inwards.
• Click Image | Selection | Contract. Enter the number of pixels by which you would like to reduce the selection then click OK.

Smoothing an Existing Selection

If you are using any of the lasso tools, you may have trouble creating a smooth selection around an object or subject in a photo. There are two ways to smooth the existing selection:

• Click Image | Selection | Smoothen. Enter the number of pixels by which you would like to smooth the selection, then click OK.

• Click Image | Selection | Feather. Enter the number of pixels by which you would like to smooth the selection, then click OK.