How to Select Photos in GIMP
GIMP is a free, open source image editing software that has many of the features of Adobe Photoshop. One way you might want to edit a photo is by selecting a portion of it, and copying it into a different image, or single out the selection portion and apply special effect to only that portion of the image. GIMP gives you six different tools for this purpose.
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Instructions
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Use the Rectangle Selection tool to draw a rectangle over any part of the photo. Drag the corners around until you have the selection in just the right location. Then you can copy the selection and paste it into a new image.
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Use the Ellipse Selection tool the same way as the Rectangle Selection tool, except that it draws an ellipse. It draws a perfect circle if you hold down the "Shift" key while you drag. You can give your selection a softer look by clicking to put an "X" in the box next to "Feather Edges" in the options at the bottom of the toolbar. Set the width of the feathered area using the slider labelled "Radius."
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Use the Free Selection tool, also called the Lasso tool because it looks like a lasso, to draw around the area you want to select. Draw all the way around and back to the beginning by dragging your cursor. or you can click to make points that will be connected with straight lines. When you are back to the beginning, double-click and then copy your selection.
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Use the Fuzzy Selection tool, also called the Magic Wand, to select an area filled with the same color. This is good for a photo with a black background, or if you have a picture of a person in a green shirt and you want the shirt to be a different color. Click within the colored area and the selection boundary will appear. If you get a lot of boundary lines within the colored area, it means the program sees it as several shades. You can often fix that by dragging the "Threshold" slider in the options section of the toolbar: the higher the numbers, the more similar colors it will include in the selection. Once you've made the selection, copy or cut it, or fill it with a different color using the Paint Bucket tool, as desired.
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Use the Select by Color tool (this one looks like a small hand pointing toward three squares filled with different colors) to select areas in the photo that are filled with the same color. This is much like the Fuzzy Selection tool except if will find any area that has the same color in the whole image, not just one single area. Click inside any area that contains the color, and use the Threshold slider the same way as above.
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Use the Scissors Selection tool when you've tried the others but they won't work due to the complexity of your image. If you want to select a person or object, and both the object and the background contain several colors, the scissors tool might be the best choice. Click along the boundary between the object and the background, going all the way around until you get back to the beginning. Then you can click anywhere to add another point or drag an existing point, refining the selection. Press the "Enter" key when you are satisfied and it converts the outline to a selection.
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Tips & Warnings
If you are working on a photo, the best choice is to copy the selection and select "Paste as New Image" from the "Edit" menu. Or you can select "Add Alpha Channel" from the "Layers" menu so you can delete areas of the photo and they will show a transparent area behind them.
