Using Selections

Use selections to isolate an area of a photo in order to apply edits or filters to only that area, rather than the whole photo. Selection tools are enabled from the toolbar.

 

There are six Selection tools, each for selecting an area of a photo in a unique way:

• Brush selection tool,
• Polygon selection tool,
• Rectangle selection tool,
• Ellipse selection tool,
• Lasso selection tool, and
• Magic Wand selection tool.

 

The controls available for each Selection tool change depending on the selected tool.

 

Selection tools can be used with the following Edit tools:

• Repair: Skin Tune, Chromatic Aberration
• Add: Vignette, Special Effects, Tilt-Shift, Drawing tools, Grain
• Exposure/Lighting: Exposure, Levels, Auto Levels, Tone Curves, Light EQ™, Dehaze, Dodge and Burn
• Color: White Balance, Color EQ, Color Balance, Convert to Black and White, Split Tone
• Detail: Sharpen, Blur, Noise, Clarity, Detail Brush

 

Selection Tools

Lasso		Click the left mouse button and drag the cursor to draw around the area to select. While drawing, a line appears showing drawn areas. Release the mouse, the end of the line automatically joins to the start of the line to complete the selection. The entire selection animates with a marching ants treatment.
Magic Wand		Click any area of an image and all of the pixels of the same color are included in the selection. Choose whether to select only the same color pixels that are actually touching the clicked pixel, or select all the pixels in the photo that are similar. Increase the threshold to include more pixels in the selection. The lower the threshold, the more similar a pixel has to be to the one clicked in order to be included. The greater the threshold, the more different a pixel can be and still be in the selection.
Rectangle		Click and drag either a rectangle that begins at the point of first click and ends where the mouse is released.
Ellipse		Click and drag either an ellipse that begins at the point of first click and ends where the mouse is released.
Polygon		Click any area of the image to begin the selection. As the mouse is moved, the selection will follow the cursor. To change the direction of the selection line, click the left mouse button. Double-click to complete the selection.
Brush		Use the Brush selection tool to target a selection based on color, brightness, or a combination of both color and brightness. Select "Color", "Brightness", or "Magic" from the drop-down menu in the context bar to define the selection. Then, align the center of the brush with the color, brightness, or combination to be targeted, and begin brushing. Increase the Tolerance slider to include a wider range of pixels in the selection. The lower the Tolerance slider value, the more similar a pixel has to be to the one clicked in order to be included. You can erase the selection by right-clicking.

Overlay Options

The visual representation of a selection, known as an overlay, can be customized to find a visualization best suited to the selection task.

To customize the selection overlay:

1. Select from the main menu Select | Overlay Options....
2. In the Overlay Options dialog, select one of the following overlay options:

Marching Ants	This option outlines the selection with animated dashes.
Selection Highlighted	This option highlights the selection area in the color selected from the drop-down menu. Customize the transparency of the color overlay by adjusting the Opacity slider.
Selection Exposed	This option highlights the non-selected area of an image in the color selected from the drop-down menu. Customize the transparency of the non-selected area by adjusting the Opacity slider.

3. Click OK.

Using the Selection Tools

To use the Lasso:

1. Select the Lasso button from the toolbar.
2. On the image, click and hold down the left mouse button, then draw around the area to select.
3. Release the mouse button to complete the selection.



4. To clear the selection, click anywhere on the unselected part of the image (for the Lasso , Rectangle, or Ellipse selection).
5. To add to an existing selection, hold down Shift, or click the Add to selection icon in the Tool Properties bar above the image, then draw a shape that includes any part of the original selection line.

After releasing the mouse, the original selection expands to include the outer edge of the addition.



6. To add to an existing selection, hold down Shift, or click the Add to selection icon in the Tool Properties bar above the image, and draw around any part of the image.

As long as the original selection is avoided, several separate additions can be added to an original selection.



7. To subtract from a selection, hold down Ctrl, or click the Subtract from selection icon in the Tool Properties bar above the image, and draw a shape that includes part of the original selection, or encircles it completely.
8. To apply edits or effects to the outside areas of the image, select from the main menu Select | Inverse to reverse the selected area.

Inverse selection includes all of the area outside of the initial selection.

Preview the selection mask by holding down the Preview button.

Editing tools or special effects can be applied to the selection.

 

To use the Magic Wand:

1. Select the Magic Wand button in the toolbar.
2. Click any color in the image.
3. Do any of the following:
   • In the Tool Properties bar above the image, slide the Threshold slider to adjust the number of pixels to be included or excluded. The Threshold slider sets how similar a pixel needs to be to the one originally clicked in order to be included in the selection.
   • In the Tool Properties bar above the image, enable the Connected checkbox to include only pixels touching the initially clicked pixel.
   • Hold down Shift and click around the selection to include more pixels.
   • Hold down Ctrl and click around the selection to remove pixels from the selection.
4. From the Wand type drop-down list in the Tool Properties bar, select one of the following:
   • Brightness: Selects pixels similar in brightness to the clicked area of the image.
   • Color: Selects pixels similar in hue and brightness to the clicked area of the image.

   Color is generally the best option for the Magic Wand tool.

   • RGB: Selects pixels with a red, green, and blue combination similar to the clicked area of the image

Preview the selection mask by holding down the Preview button.

Editing tools or special effects can be applied to the selection.

 

To use the Rectangle or Ellipse selection tool:

1. Select either the Rectangle or Ellipse button from the toolbar. or
2. Click and drag to draw the selection on the image.
3. Do any of the following:
   • To add to an existing selection, hold down Shift, or click the Add to selection icon in the Tool Properties bar above the image, then draw a shape that includes any part of the original selection line. After releasing the mouse, the original selection expands to include the outer edge of the addition.
   • To add multiple areas to a selection, hold down Shift, or click the Add to selection icon in the Tool Properties bar above the image, and draw around any part of the image.
   • To subtract from a selection, hold down Ctrl, or click the Subtract from selection icon in the Tool Properties bar above the image, and draw a shape that includes part of the original selection, or encircles it completely.

Preview the selection mask by holding down the Preview button.

Editing tools or special effects can be applied to the selection.

 

To use the Polygon selection tool:

1. Select the Polygon button from the toolbar.
2. Click anywhere on the image to start a selection.
3. Click again to change the direction of the selection line.
4. Double-click to complete the selection.
5. Do any of the following:
   • To add to an existing selection, hold down Shift, or click the Add to selection icon in the Tool Properties bar above the image, then draw a shape that includes any part of the original selection line. After releasing the mouse, the original selection expands to include the outer edge of the addition.
   • To add multiple areas to a selection, hold down Shift, or click the Add to selection icon in the Tool Properties bar above the image, and draw around any part of the image.
   • To subtract from a selection, hold down Ctrl, or click the Subtract from selection icon in the Tool Properties bar above the image, and draw a shape that includes part of the original selection, or encircles it completely.

Preview the selection mask by holding down the Preview button.

Editing tools or special effects can be applied to the selection.

 

To use the Brush selection tool:

1. Select the Brush Selection button from the toolbar.
2. In the Tool Properties bar above the image, select an option from the Smart Brushing drop-down list:

Color	Selects pixels based on how similar they are to the color value of the pixel in the center of the brush, depending on the Tolerance setting.
Brightness	Selects pixels based on how similar they are to the brightness value of the pixel in the center of the brush, depending on the Tolerance setting.
Magic	Selects pixels based on how similar they are to the combination of the color and brightness values in the center of the brush, depending on the Tolerance setting.

3. Adjust the Tolerance slider to increase or decrease the range of pixels selected.
4. Place the cursor over the desired color or brightness, and click and/or drag on the image to create a selection.

To remove areas from the selection, right-click and drag over the area to deselect.

To use the brush as a regular selection tool, hold down Shift while brushing.

You can select an editing tool or a special effect to apply to the selection.

Right-click a slider to reset to the default value.

Combining the Tools

Selection tools can be used separately or in combination. For example, use the Magic Wand to select most of a particular color, then switch to the Lasso to add to, or subtract from, the selection. Or, use the Rectangle selection to select a large general area, then refine it using the Lasso.

To combine selection tools:

1. Select a tool from the toolbar and perform a selection on the image.
2. Select a second tool from the toolbar.
3. Click the Add to selection icon.
4. Perform additional selections on the image.

Saving selections as presets:

Save customized settings as a preset for future use. After making a selection, select from the main menu Select | Save Selection....

To use a previously saved selection, select from the main menu Select | Load Selection....

To delete a saved selection, select from the main menu Select | Manage Selections....

To cut and paste selections:

1. Make a selection on an image.
2. Do one of the following:
   • Press Ctrl + C.
   • Select Edit | Copy from the main menu.
3. Do one of the following:
   • Press Ctrl + P.
   • Select Edit | Paste from the main menu.

The selection pastes onto a new layer above the selected (active) layer in the Layer Editor pane.

To delete selected pixels:

1. Make a selection on the image.
2. Select from the main menu Select | Delete Selected Pixels, or press Alt + Delete.

To retrieve deleted pixels, use the Undo button.

To create a layer mask from a selection:

See Layer Masks.

To add or subtract a mask from a selection:

See Layer Masks.

To intersect a mask with a selection:

See Layer Masks.

Targeting Selections

Selections can be targeted to specific color tones and brightness values, as well as skin tones.

To select pixels by color or tone:

1. Select from the main menu Select | Luminance/Color Range....
2. In the Luminance/Color Range dialog, configure the settings as described below.
3. Press OK. Your targeted color(s) or tone(s) will be selected.

Pixel Targeting Dialog

Presets	Select a saved preset from the drop-down list, or click the Save icon to save the settings as a new preset.
Luminance Range	The Luminance Range sliders target tones of brightness for selection.
Color Range	The Color Range wheel targets specific colors for selection.
Smoothness	Refines skin by suppressing texture detail.
Skin Targeting	The Skin Targeting slider is used to specifically target skin tones for selection. To target skin tones, move the slider to the right to values between 0 and 100, depending on the desired intensity. When moving the Skin Targeting slider, all other colors (except for skin tones) are excluded and cannot be altered. To exclude unwanted skin tones from the selection, move the slider to the left to values between 0 and -100.

Luminosity Selection

Create a selection based on the brightness in the image. The brighter a pixel is, the stronger the selection will be on that pixel.

To select pixels by brightness:

Select from the main menu Select | Luminosity Selection.

Subject Selection

Isolates and selects the subject from the image's background.

To select an image subject:

Select from the main menu Select | Select Subject.

See also:

• Edits and Effects
• Smart Eraser
• Drawing Tools