Selecting Areas Based on Color

You can select areas of a photo that have a similar color using a special selection tool called the Magic Wand Tool. This tool is particularly useful if you want to change the colors of objects in a photo. You can also use this tool to select objects that you want to remove from a photo, like telephone lines. You will typically use this tool with the Color Picker Tool and the Bucket Tool.

To Use the Magic Wand Tool:

In the Toolbar, under Select, select the Magic Wand Tool, then click a color in the photo. All pixels of that color are selected. If you want to select several shades of a color, increase the Tolerance value in the Properties bar. If the Tolerance is zero (0) the Magic Wand Tool selects only pixels in the photo that are precisely the same color. As you increase the Tolerance, the Magic Wand Tool selects pixels with similar shades of the same color.

To Cancel the Magic Wand Tool:

Press Esc to cancel any previous selection.

To Select a Color in One Area of a Photo:

1. Clear the Select Color Throughout Image option in the Properties bar.
2. Click a colored pixel in the desired area. Only the pixels around that point are selected.