Tip #3677 - Photoshop's Selection Tool
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Photoshop's
Selection Tool
The selection tool
(Rectangular Marquee) is one of the most important tools in Adobe Photoshop.
However, most people don’t realize that it can be used for much
more than drawing a rectangle, square or a circle. In this article, we
will review some new techniques that you can use with this tool.
Now, most of you probably
already know how to use this tool. You click on any area in the canvas,
you drag your mouse and the desirable shape is formed. But, if you notice,
there’s bar at the top that gives you a few more options. Those
options are Normal, Fixed Aspect Ratio and Fixed Size.
The Normal option
is the one we use the most. It lets you draw any shape of any size and
proportion, whereas the Fixed Aspect Ratio option is more precise. You
can enter the ratio you want in the width and height fields, which will
enable the selection to be in the ratio proportionate to the values you
specified. Say for example, you specified the width to be 100 and the
height to be 200. Now, whatever shape you drag it to will always be proportionate
to this value, like 100,200 or 200,400, etc. You will not be able to draw,
say a 500,500.
The fixed size option
is even more specific. You specify the value in the width and the height
field and click on the canvas. From there, you will see a selection of
the exact same size that you specified. For instance, if you specified
the width as 400 and the height as 500, the selection you'll get after
clicking will be exactly 400,500. You can’t modify that.
The selection tool
can also be used in conjunction with the Alt and Shift keys to get even
more options. The general rule is that the Alt key is used for subtraction
and the Shift key for addition. Let’s see some examples that will
help you understand this a little better.
Say you want to draw
an L shape. Go ahead and draw a vertical rectangle. Now, press Shift
and you will see a little plus sign next to the selection tool.
While you keep holding down the Shift key, draw a horizontal rectangle
adjacent to the vertical one and bingo, you have an L shape.
Similarly, say you
want to make a rectangular D shape. Go ahead and make a regular rectangle,
but without holding down any keys. Now, with the selection tool selected,
press Alt and you will see a little minus sign next to
the crosshair. With the Alt key still held down, make a smaller rectangle
inside the one you drew earlier and voila, you have a D shape.
Selecting the appropriate
button on the top left corner can also do the addition and subtraction.
This cool trick can
also be used on layers, especially overlapping layers. To select everything
on a layer, go to the layer’s palette and hit Ctrl + a Left
Click on the layer. The whole layer will then be selected.
Now, if there’s
a second layer under it and you want to subtract the overlapping portion
of that second layer, just press Ctrl + Alt and left
click that second layer. The part of the second layer that was under your
original layer is now subtracted from the selection.
So, what if you want
to add that second layer to the original selection? Yep, you guessed it.
Press and hold down Ctrl + Shift and left click that
layer. You will then see both the layers being selected.
With the first layer
selected and using Ctrl + Click, what if you use Ctrl
+ Alt + Shift + Left Click the second layer? Go ahead and try
it, you will be surprised!
There’s one
more thing that I find very handy. It’s the ability to inverse a
selection on a layer. If you select an object on a layer or the whole
layer itself and press Ctrl + Shift + I, it will invert
the selection. Try it out. It can come in very handy in a lot of situations.
The last thing I’d
like to talk about is the Select menu, which is right
on top on the menu bar. This menu has a few very handy options that I’d
like to bring to everyone’s attention. Look under the Select,
Modify menu and you will see four options. I’ll
explain them one by one.
Border:
This one is rather self-explanatory. It lets you draw a border around
your selection.
Smooth: This
function smoothes (rounds up) the corner of your selection, based on the
radius value that you enter. Try different values to see what kind of
different effects it gives you.
Expand: With
this function, you expand the boundary of your selection that is proportional
to the value you specified. Think concentric circles.
Contract:
This one is the exact opposite of expand. This contracts the
selection by the amount of the value you specified. Simple enough, right?
There’s one
more option in the Select menu and that is Select, Feather.
This one is a bit tough to explain. You have to do it to understand it.
So, go ahead and mess around with this a bit. You will find yourself using
this a lot if you like these kinds of effects. Also, remember that if
you have made a complex selection and would like to use it for another
document, you should save it. Go to Select, Save
Selection to save it and similarly, go to Select,
Load Selection to load it up.
So, there you have
it. You didn’t think you could do so much with just a little selection
tool, did you? Well, now that you know the tricks, what are you waiting
for? Fire up your Photoshop and put that "Do Not Disturb" sign
on the door. Have fun!
~ Yogesh Bakshi
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