PHOTOSHOP TUTORIAL: SELECTION SECRETS

Written by Trevor Morris ( tmorris@fundy.net | http://user.fundy.net/morris/ )

Mastering selections is undoubtedly one of the most essential and powerful aspects of Photoshop.
Below are some extremely useful (and not very well-known) selection techniques: once you learn them,
you will wonder how you ever got by without them!
Here are a couple of notes before you begin:
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I tend to prefer hotkeys (e.g. [Ctrl+D] ), but I have provided equivalent alternatives (e.g. Select
Deselect - which denotes a menu command) wherever possible
Mac users: Ctrl = , Alt = Option (e.g. Ctrl+Alt+D =
Option D), and right-click = Option click
You may download this tutorial as a printable Acrobat document (
) from the downloads section
(below)

MOVING SELECTIONS (WHILE CREATING THEM)

Did you know that you can move a selection even while you are in the process of creating it? The
technique illustrated below is invaluable for creating precise shape selections.
1. Use the Elliptical Marquee tool [M] (use [Shift+M] to cycle) to draw an approximate
selection (and hold the Shift key down as well to maintain a perfect circle). Don't
worry about where you start the selection
2. With the left mouse button (and Shift key) held down, hold the Space Bar and
(use the mouse to) position the selection over the desired region
3. Let go of the Space Bar (but not the mouse button (or the Shift key)) and
continue sizing the selection to encompass the region of interest
4. Repeat Steps 2 - 3 until the entire object is contained within the selection (without
ever letting go of the left mouse button (and Shift key))
5. Finally, let go of the mouse button (and the Shift key)
Note: Even though this tip uses the Elliptical Marquee tool, it works for all of the rest of the Marquee
tools [Shift+M].

INTERSECTING SELECTIONS
You probably knew that you could add to the current selection by holding down the Shift key, and
subtract from the current selection by using the Alt key. But, did you know that you could intersect
selections by using both the Shift and Alt keys together?
There are several applications for this very useful technique, but for the purposes of this example, we
will keep it simple. After all, the point here is to learn, not to confuse you ;-).

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1. Use the Elliptical Marquee tool [M] (use [Shift+M] to cycle) to

draw a horizontal oval (then let go of the mouse button)
2. Now, with both the Shift and Alt keys held down, draw a
vertical oval which intersects with the first selection (sort of
like a rounded plus sign)
3. Let go of the mouse button (first), then the Shift and Alt keys.
You should be left with the portion of your selection which
both ovals had in common - a kind of picture tube shape (or
television screen)

Here are a couple of great applications for this useful technique:

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Try creating two overlapping shapes on two separate layers. Ctrl+click one of the layers (via its
thumbnail in the Layers palette [F7] (Window Show Layers), to load its transparency mask); then
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+click on the other layer. You will end up with a selection which represents the
intersection of the two layers
Assume you have a layer containing many objects, like a type layer containing lots of words, and
you want to isolate a single word. Ctrl+click on the type layer, but instead of subtracting all the
words you don't want in your selection, use an intersecting selection to choose only the word you
do want

SELECTIONS BY SUBTRACTION
This selection tip is unique in that it is a somewhat "backward" way of isolating an object: however, not
only is it quick and easy, but it also works great on complex objects (provided that they appear on a
relatively consistent color background). To illustrate this technique, we will use the smiley-face from the
first tip (above), simply because it's so darn adorable ;-).
1. Use the Rectangular Marquee tool [M] (use [Shift+M] to cycle) to draw a
selection which is well outside the boundaries of the object you wish to isolate
2. Choose the Magic Wand tool [W] and press Enter (Return) to display the
Options palette (Window Show Options). Confirm these settings: Tolerance =
0, Anti-aliased = On, Use All layers = On, Contiguous = On. Now, with the Alt
key held down (subtraction mode), click on the background - inside of your
selection, but outside of your object
3. Float the selection onto a separate layer [Ctrl+J] (Layer New Layer Via
Copy)
If the results are not as good as you had hoped for, try playing with the Tolerance value (particularly if
your background is not a uniform color), or turn the Anti-aliased option on / off. With the right
combination (and a little practice), you can quickly and easily pick a complex object off of a purple
background and use it on a yellow one!

CENTERING WITH SELECTIONS

Here is another really easy selection tip which can be very useful. Let's say that you have copied an
image to the clipboard and you want to center in a specific place on your canvas. The following simple
steps explain how this can be accomplished using selections.

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1. Copy some pixels (from any image) to the clipboard using the Copy command
[Ctrl+C] (Edit Copy)
2. Use the Marquee tool [M] (use [Shift+M] to cycle) to draw a selection
3. Select Paste [Ctrl+V] (Edit Paste). The contents of the clipboard will be
pasted into the center of the selection (even if the image to be pasted is larger
than the selection)
Here are some more really great application for this simple technique:
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Let's say you have an image that contains a television screen or computer monitor (on its own
layer). To center the contents of the clipboard onto the screen, simply Ctrl+click on the screen's
layer (via its thumbnail in the Layers palette - to load its transparency mask), and select Paste
[Ctrl+V] (Edit Paste)
To have an image pasted into the center of the entire canvas, press Ctrl+A (Select All) to select
the entire canvas, followed by Ctrl+V (Edit Paste)

I hope that you find these techniques useful and easy to follow. To learn more about selections, be sure
to check out Selection Secrets 2! Feel free to send me any comments you have about this tutorial.

DOWNLOADS
The table below contains all of the downloads associated with this tutorial.
File Name

Version Size

Type Description

SelectionSecrets.pdf 21/02/01 43KB PDF Adobe Acrobat document (printable version of this
tutorial)
Note: Mac users may need to Option click on the above link. PC users may need to right-click on the
above link and select Save Target As...
Note: To read the PDF document, you will have to install Abode Acrobat Reader.

Copyright 2000-2001, T.Morris ( tmorris@fundy.net )

Website: GFXTM ( http://user.fundy.net/morris/ )
Last modified: 21/02/01

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