How to Make Selections in Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop includes a variety of tools that help you select the precise areas of an image or photograph to which you want to apply transformations. The program's marquee tools allow you to make selections in specific shapes or single-pixel rows and columns. The lasso tools allow you to make selections freehand, point by point or according to defined object borders in your image. The automatic selection tools use color properties of your image to generate smart selections.
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Instructions
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Marquee Tools
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Choose the shape selection tool you want to use from the tools panel at the left of the Photoshop window.
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Choose a style (normal, fixed size or fixed ratio) for the marquee selection from the tool options panel at the top of the Photoshop window. Normal mode allows you to create a freehand selection. Fixed size and ratio allow you to input figures into the width and height fields next to the "Style" drop-down menu to create a fixed selection that can be moved around your canvas.
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Click and drag around the area of your canvas that you want to select. Click and drag inside of the crawling borders of the selection to move it around the canvas.
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Add to, subtract from or intersect two or more additional selections by changing the selection mode (there are four mode icons) at the far left of the tool options panel on top of the Photoshop window. Click and drag as in the prior to apply a selection in the chosen mode.
Lasso Tools
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Select the lasso tool you want to use from the tools panel.
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Click, hold down the mouse and drag around the part of your image you want to select until you reach the origin of the selection with the Lasso Tool. When you release the mouse, the selection will close automatically.
If you're using the Polygonal Lasso Tool, click and release to create an origin point for your selection, and then click additional points to create corners for the selection. Click around the area you want to select until you again reach the origin point, indicated by a small circle next to your cursor. Click the origin point while the circle is showing to complete and create the selection.
For the Magnetic Lasso Tool, click and release to create an origin and then move your cursor around the object or area you want to select. Keep the cursor close to the edges of your desired selection area; the magnetic lasso recognizes natural edges in an image and creates a precise selection. Move the cursor around back to the origin point. A circle will appear next to the cursor. Click to close and create the selection.
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Move the selection by clicking and dragging within the crawling borders. Add, subtract or intersect further selections by switching the selection mode in the tool options panel as outlined in the final step of the prior section.
Automatic Selection Tools
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Choose the "Quick Selection Tool" or "Magic Wand Tool" from the tools panel.
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Set a brush size and choose whether you want the tool to sample all layers in the tool options panel if you are using the Quick Selection Tool. A larger brush size results in a larger selection area. Set a color tolerance and check other desired options in the tool options panel if you are using the Magic Wand Tool.
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Click and drag all over the desired selection area if you're using the Quick Selection Tool. Click and release a specific color area to select it if you chose the Magic Wand Tool. Choose a mode in the tool options panel to add to or adjust your selection.
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Tips & Warnings
Because different images have different color and size properties, you may need to play with the settings in the tool options panel for each selection tool to achieve the proper selection.
