Select a shape in Photoshop. Five Ways to Quickly Select in Photoshop
One of the main problems when creating a photo montage is certainly the high-quality selection of an object in one photograph and transferring it to another image. And if there are objects containing hair or animal fur, then the problem is even greater, since not all Photoshop users know how to correctly select such an object.
In this lesson on working with photoshop We will show you a simple way to separate an object from a background that has an almost uniform background with slight color transitions. It would seem nothing complicated, you can apply " Magic wand"(W) or " Quick selection"
(W), but the task is complicated by the fact that the color of the cut-out object very much matches the background color and, as you understand, this is the problem of selecting an object in the image. The technique outlined in this lesson, of course, does not claim to be universal, but in some cases it can greatly help you. So how to select an object in photoshop?
Let's open the original image. How easy it is to notice a girl's hair is close in color to the background color. What's the best way to highlight them?
Let's create a duplicate layer - Ctrl+J.
Now our task is to select the girl along the contour. Let's go to "".
In the window of the same name, first of all, click on the middle icon depicting an eyedropper with a plus sign (make it active). Then we add a background around the girl right in the window preview color range, and then move the “Scatter” slider in one direction or another so that the result is White background and a "black" girl. This, of course, is ideal; regardless of the color range settings, you will be left with black spots on white and vice versa, white spots on black. You can see my result in the screenshot below. Click "Ok".
The selection we created in the previous step is loaded. As you can see, it is far from ideal.
In the "Layers" palette, click on the third icon from the left and a layer mask will be loaded onto the top layer in accordance with the previously created selection.
To see the layer mask itself directly, we must hold down the Alt key and click on the thumbnail of the mask itself. We will only work with her.
Our task is to make the background absolutely white, and the silhouette of the girl absolutely black. I select the "Brush" tool (B), the foreground color is white, the default brush settings and I paint over the black spots on the background around the girl (I highlighted them in yellow). Please note that I am not moving close to the girl's outline; we will process these places in a different way.
After painting the background with white, set the brush blending mode to “Overlay” and “walk” the brush along the contour of the girl. At the same time, you will notice that the contour will be leveled, the black spots on the white background located next to the contour will disappear, and the black color of the girl herself will practically not suffer.
This is what I got after working with a brush. You see that the background around the girl has become white and the contour (from the background side) is aligned.
Again, change the blending mode of the brush to “Normal”, but set the foreground color to black. We outline the girl’s figure in black, but do not get close to her contours.
As you probably already guessed, the next step is to switch the brush blending mode to “Overlay” and work with the brush inside the girl, along her contour. Thus, we did what we set out to do - create a clear black and white mask.
Now hold down the Alt key and click on the layer mask (a color image girls), then hold down the Ctrl key and click on the same mask again (load a selection) and invert the selection - Shift+Ctrl+I.
Left-click on the thumbnail of the top layer (with the mask), i.e. Make the layer itself active, not the mask. Press the key combination Ctrl+J - the selection will be copied to new layer.
We remove the two bottom layers by simply dragging them onto the trash can icon (far right icon).
We get a girl separated from the background. You and I answered the question: “?”.
Compare the before and after picture of the girl photo processing in photoshop.
In this article I will tell you in detail everything you need to know about selection in photoshop. This is one of the key features on the basis of which the entire work of the program is built.
The name speaks for itself. That is, we draw a certain frame around the object that we want to highlight. Frame not graphic element, it is not visible in the image - in fact, this is the simplest auxiliary tool for working in the program.
The functionality of Photoshop is divided into how and what form draw this frame and what can be done with the part that we highlighted in the image. As you may have guessed, there will be many options.
Many commands and tools of the program are dedicated to selection, for example, a separate independent menu on:
As you can see, this menu contains an abundance of commands that determine the same functionality. In addition, there are special tools: ; And . In other control panel menu tabs, for example, Editing, There are commands that work primarily in conjunction with selection, for example, or tool. It is also closely related and duplicates many Photoshop commands, for example, . And if you create a selection and click on it right click mouse, then another one will appear large menu actions.
All this suggests that selection in Photoshop is a serious and important function, which is an integral part of the program, significantly expanding the capabilities of image processing.
I'll explain with an example. Let's say a frame is created in the middle of the document. Applying inversion, we get a selection of what was previously outside this frame (colored in gray):
The next three items are in the menu, but do not cause the “marching ants” to appear. Instead they tell you to select all layers:
5. All layers
Use this command (combination Ctrl+Alt+A) if you want to select all the layers in the document (so that, for example, you can move several of them at the same time).
6. Deselect Layers
This command does the exact opposite of the previous one: it deselects all layers in the palette.
7. Similar Layers
Select this command if you want to select all layers of the same type. For example, let's say you want to change the font on all text layers in a document. Select the text layer and then choose this command. Photoshop will select all of your text layers so you can change them all at once.
Selection tools
The most important and central methods of selection are the following tools:
1. Rectangular and oval areas
Perhaps they are in first place in popularity for solving this kind of problem. Learn more about these tools.
In short, the names speak for themselves: rectangular area creates frames with right corners, which, by the way, cannot be made rounded; A oval area- creates circles.
2. Quick selection
3. Outline
Team Editing - Stroke allows you to create a frame around your image or any object. To do this, you need to create a dotted selection frame. Then, using the command, settings will appear for what color and size you want the stroke to be.
4. Move, copy and paste
The framed fragment can be moved around the document or even dragged to a new one. To do this, after highlighting, select . Now move the fragment as you need.
The Ctrl+C key combination will allow you to copy a fragment into Photoshop memory, and the Ctrl+V key combination will paste it. In this case, this fragment will appear on a new layer. You can copy in one document and then paste it in another.
5. Resize selected areas or transform them
6. Use selection as layer mask
Everything is similar here. First create a selection, then apply the command. As a result, the mask will be applied only to the selected fragment of the image, and not to the entire image as usual.
The most important property of all listed:
When you create a selection, the program protects areas outside of it; all your manipulations with the image affect only the selected area.
If you notice an error in the text, select it and press Ctrl + Enter. Thank you!
In this tutorial for beginners we will look at how to select an area in Photoshop CS5 simple geometric shape using the rectangular and oval selection tools.
For fast work with simple shapes, the editor provides convenient .
Rectangular selection
As already mentioned in, one of the tools for working with rectangular shapes is the “Rectangular Marquee”. In Photoshop CS5 it is located on the left, at the top of the toolbar. To activate the tool, simply click on the icon. An options bar will appear at the top, allowing you to make settings: When the “Style” parameter is set to “Normal”, the selection of the rectangular area will be performed arbitrarily, as you stretch it.
Change the style to “Fixed Ratio” and two windows will appear next to each other.
You can specify the ratio of width to height in them. If you enter the number 3 in the width column and leave the height as 1, then the sides will maintain their proportions: the width will be 3 times the height.
And the next style is “Fixed Size”:
Here the numbers are given exact dimensions selection frames. Between them is a button with arrows - it swaps the width and height values.
Selection mode buttons
Now let’s “go through” the mode buttons in relation to the existing selection:
The number 1 indicates the “New Selection” button. When it is pressed, with each subsequent selection the previous one, which was made earlier, is removed.
Under the number 2 is “Add to Selection”. Activate it and a new selection will be added to the existing selection. The boundaries of intersection will be erased. The same result is obtained by the button under the number 1 with the Shift key held down:
The number 3 is above the Subtruct from Selection button. If you select it, then each subsequent selection will remove from the existing part the part that falls under the intersection. Button 1 with the Alt key held down will give the same result:
And the last, 4th button is “Intersect with Selection”. In this case, Photoshop CS5 will leave the area where the shapes intersect, automatically removing everything else. Button #1 with the Alt + Shift keys held down will do the same:
I think it’s clear how to select an area in Photoshop CS5. But there is only one button left on the panel - “ ” (Refine Edge). It works with any selection tools, so there is a separate article about it.
Oval Marquee Tool
Selection tool " Oval area"(The Elliptical Marquee) in Photoshop CS5 is identical to its fellow "Rectangular Marquee" with the difference that it denotes round rather than rectangular shapes. But they work the same way and are in the same group. To activate the Oval area, open the drop-down window of this group and click on the oval icon. You can call the drop-down window by left-clicking on the small black arrow in the lower right corner of the group or by right-clicking on the Rectangular Area icon.
Depending on the installed settings, you can switch between rectangular and oval areas using the M key or the combination Shift+M.
1. As already written, an equilateral square and an even circle are obtained if you press and hold while working Shift key.
2. It is very convenient, especially for round shapes, to create selections from the center. To do this, click the mouse in the center of the shape while holding down the Alt key and drag until required sizes. As soon as you hold down Alt, the point indicated by the click turns into the central one, and a selection is created around it. When finished, release the mouse button and then the key.
If you want to select an even square or circle from the center, use the Shift+Alt combination instead of the Alt key.
The most frequent operation in Photoshop, this is the selection of objects to replace the background or transfer to another photo. In Photoshop there is great amount selection methods that can be combined with each other to achieve a better result.
From this lesson, you will learn how to select a method for a given specific situation and select objects in Photoshop as efficiently and quickly as possible.
Good highlighting starts with the right choice tool. The very first group of buttons in the toolbar is dedicated to selecting objects.
The arrow in the lower right corner means there are additional variations of these tools. If you click and hold the mouse button on one of them, a list of additional tools opens.
At the beginning there are simple selection shapes “Rectangular area”, “Oval area” and stripes one pixel thick. Most often, the first two are used.
Holding down the SHIFT key while drawing produces a clean square or circle.
Regular Lasso(Lasso Tool) draws a line along the trajectory of the mouse. As a rule, it is quite difficult to hit the edge of an object with the mouse, so this tool is suitable for rough selection when precision is not important.
(Polygonal Lasso Tool) draws a selection using straight lines. Suitable for highlighting objects with right angles. For example, boxes, buildings, pencils.
Double-clicking closes the selection, so be careful.
(Magnetic Lasso Tool) works in automatic mode. Just weigh on the edge of the object, the computer will recognize its shape and the line will be “magnetized” to the edge of the object.
If the line is not laid out correctly, press backspace key on the keyboard to remove the last links and lay the line along the new course. Also, this button works with the rectangular selection tool.
(Magic Wand Tool) automatically recognizes spots of the same color and selects them.
Magic wand suitable for items lying on plain background, one click on the background will recognize it and highlight it.
The sensitivity of the magic wand (tolerance) is adjusted in the options panel. The higher the value, the more the wand “sees”. Sensitivity that is too low will leave a white halo, as in the picture above, and sensitivity that is too high will capture the edges of the object.
(Quick Selection Tool), works in a similar way, but more effectively selects multi-colored objects. The tool lives up to its name and indeed selects an object faster than all others.
Select the optimal brush diameter and draw inside the object. The brush will grab it in parts, trying to guess the boundaries of the object.
Even if the Quick Selection Tool has grabbed the excess, holding down the ALT key allows you to remove pieces of the selection back.
Absolutely all of the above tools can be combined with each other. It is this technique that allows you to achieve High Quality discharge.
- Hold SHIFT adds the next selection to the existing one.
- Hold ALT subtracts the new selection from the old one.
When working with lasso tools, you can always modify an existing selection by adding a new one or subtracting from an old one.
In addition, each new selection can have its own shading. This allows you to select an item with blurred edges, as in the picture above.
The feathering value can be set before drawing (in the options bar, as in the picture above), or after drawing by pressing SHIFT+F6 (or right-click - Feather).
How to quickly select an object in Photoshop
TO quick ways selections include all of the above automatic tools, and especially the Quick Selection tool. Additional functions, will also help you cope with a difficult task.
Color Range
If the picture contains several objects of the same tone, use - Highlight/Color Range... This function, unlike the "magic wand", allows you to capture all elements at once and see how the sensitivity setting affects the selection.
Press the pipette onto desired area and adjust the "Scatter" so that your subject has maximum contrast to the background.
Improved automatic selection
However, it is important to understand that the speed of selection always affects the quality. If you want to make it as simple as possible and save time, make an automatic selection, for example with the magic wand tool.
And then, manually refine what the tool could not correctly recognize by holding down the SHIFT or ALT keys to add or subtract pieces.
Quick mask
TO high-speed methods secretions can be treated with a quick mask. Take a black brush and go to quick mask mode (Q key). Paint the desired area with the brush, changing the size and hardness of the edges. Drawing gray shades allows you to get a translucent selection.
In the "Quick Mask" mode, you can use not only brushes, but also lasso tools by filling them with black.
When you click on the quick mask icon again, you will have a selection that you will need to invert (CTRL+SHIFT+I).
Selecting with a layer mask
This method is not related to the selection tools, but has a huge advantage over the previous one in that it makes it possible to easily edit the selection as you work, add parts of the shape and remove them. Therefore, I decided to talk about him too.
Drag your image onto another background without cutting it out so that it is the second layer. Click on the layer mask icon.
Painting on the layer with black will hide the image, and painting with white will show it again. You can paint over areas using either a brush of varying softness or lasso tools.
Another advantage of this application method is the ability to make translucent selections, for example, by painting with a gray brush. It is much more convenient to paint with brushes on a layer mask; using pressure on the handle, you can adjust the transparency, and the strokes are much more accurate.
Video tutorial: 4 ways to make selections in Photoshop
How to select a complex object in Photoshop
TO complex objects discharge, often involving hair or objects with big amount small parts. Such objects are very difficult or even impossible to identify with standard tools.
If the edges of an object are blurred, automatic tools may not be able to cope, and a manual line may not be straight. In this case, it is better to use Pen tool Tool, about which, we'll talk below.
Two ways to highlight hair
Levels. Create a new layer and set it to black and white (CTRL+SHIFT+U). Click - Image/Correction/Levels... Adjust the side sliders so that the person's hair is in maximum contrast to the background, as shown in the image below.
Paint over the light parts of the girl with a black brush to create a solid silhouette without gaps, as in the screenshot below.
Now, select the black silhouette with the “Color Range” described above, and the second layer can be deleted.
Edge refinement. For example, let's take a photo of a horse's mane. Select the body with the Quick Selection Tool or any other convenient tool. For precise selection of the mane, click - Select/Refine Edge...
Now you need to run a brush-like tool along the edge of the mane. And expose optimal parameters settings. It is possible to see the quality of the selection on a black and white background. This is especially convenient when transferring an object to another background; you can see mistakes in advance (for example, a colored halo) and correct them.
If you erase too much or not evenly, go over the mane again while holding ALT key on keyboard.
If the selection captures part of the background along the edge, for example, a white halo around an object. Click - Select/Modify/Compress...
In the window that opens, set the number of pixels by which your selection should be reduced. The same can be done for extensions selection area.
Border creates a selection only along the border of the object to the thickness specified in the settings. This function is convenient to use when drawing shapes.
Smoothing rounds up sharp corners discharge, making it more rounded.
Blurs the edges of a selection.
Selection with the Pen tool
Pen Tool ( Pen Tool) allows you to make precise selections of objects with rounded and sharp corners. Take the Pen and click on the edge of the selection if you press and hold left button mouse, you can get a curved line.
A short click creates sharp corners, and holding allows you to bend rounded lines without errors. As you draw, you can edit the line using the following keys:
- Holding CTRL allows you to move anchor points and change the angle of curvature.
- Holding ALT adds anchor points and allows you to make sharp corners
- Holding SHIFT makes the curvature at angles that are multiples of 45°.
When your pen drawing is ready, close it, right-click on it and select "Select Area..."
The resulting selection can be used in your work, and vector outline delete.
Video lesson: selecting a complex object
How to move a selected object
As a rule, an object is isolated for transfer to another image or for editing separately from the background. There are several ways to transfer an image to a different background:
The easiest way to transfer is to copy (CTRL+C and CTRL+V). Or click - Edit/Copy. And on the other image - Insert. The selection is imported as a new layer.
There is another way. Using the Move Tool, simply drag the object onto another image and release it.
And finally, the most The right way, press - Layer/New/Copy to new layer...
How to resize a selected object in Photoshop
Almost always, after transferring a selected image to another background, it needs to be scaled. You can make the image as small as you like, but if the size is already small, then when stretched it will be blurry and in a lower resolution. In this case, it is better to reduce the background rather than the main object.
Click - Editing/Transforming/Scaling...(or CTRL+T). A frame will appear around the object.
Be sure to drag the corner while holding SHIFT on the keyboard, otherwise the proportions of the layer will be distorted and the seagull will be flattened.
Also, it is possible to rotate the layer, distort, deform, flip horizontally and vertically.
How to save a selected object in Photoshop
Once you've got the selection you need, it wouldn't hurt to save it right away, just in case. Click - Select/Save selected area...
Now the selection has been saved and can be loaded again or added to an existing one at any time.
The saved selection area will only be saved in Photoshop format(PSD) If you save your image as a JPEG, all highlight information will be deleted.
How to delete a selected object in Photoshop
You can remove a selected object from a photo by simply clicking DELETE key or by filling the selected area with the background color.
As you can see in the image above, painting the image with the background color does not desired result, so this can only be solved with retouching tools. Such as the “stamp” and the “healing brush”.
For example, if you want to completely remove a person from a photo, you need to restore the background underneath using retouching tools. Sometimes photography allows you to do this.
Such an operation requires certain skills in using retouching tools and a certain amount of time, just as it is all done manually. Take the Clone Stamp Tool, hold down ALT, click on a sample of a similar background that goes under the person and click on the person.
The border running along the legs must be drawn separately, transferring similar pieces with a stamp.
If the background is uniform, select the area using any of the above-described selection tools with feathering and move it to the place of the person.
Video tutorial: removing an object in Photoshop
It remains to put into practice several methods for better memorization. If the information was useful to you, write about it in the comments to the article.
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Selection tools are the most used tools Photoshop programs. Not a single operation is complete without selecting objects: be it a small edit of a section of a picture, or cutting out an object when editing photographs and images.
Photoshop offers a whole arsenal of selection tools, to put it simply: “for all occasions.” But for successful work it is necessary to understand the purpose individual instruments for their effective use in various situations.
“Brevity is the sister of talent,” so we will analyze the selection tools as illustrated and concise as possible, but omitting only minor details.
And the "Area" tools
The tools of the “Area” group are designed to select rectangular and oval areas of arbitrary or given size, as well as vertical and horizontal line, 1px wide:
Select the “Rectangular Area” tool and, holding the left mouse button in any corner of the intended rectangle, drag the cursor to the opposite corner:
Fig.1. Tools of the "Area" group: 1 - Rectangular area; 2 — Area with clipping;
3 - Oval area; 4 - Horizontal line;
5 - New selection, Add to selection (Subtract from selection),
Intersection with the selected one;
6 - Edge shading; 7 — Set the proportions or size of the selection;
8 — Manually specified width and height of the selection.
If you press the Shift key, you get a square. Similarly for the “Oval Area” tool - then we get a round selection area (Fig. 1-3).
But the Shift key will help not only with this. If there is already a selection, then by pressing Shift you can add a new selection to the previous one. Or several.
The figure shows a selected rectangular area with a rectangular clipping (Fig. 1-2), which is easy to make. We just use the “Subtract from Selection” button (Fig. 1-5) before selecting the clipping area. In the same way, you can add selected areas using “Add to Selection”; or get the intersection of two regions.
Another important point: You can set proportions for the selection area, or explicitly specify the size (Fig. 1-7). After that, enter the width and height values in the fields (Fig. 1-8).
And Lasso tools
Slightly more complex are the Lasso tools, which are used to create freehand selection areas. But they also have more potential:
Having selected the Lasso tool, hold down the left mouse button at the starting point and, without releasing it, outline the desired area in the image, returning to the beginning. If you release the button without completing the path, Photoshop will do it itself, connecting the last and starting points in a straight line, as shown in the illustration:
It is possible to set some smoothing of the “clumsiness” of the selection line.
The Straight Line Lasso tool selects a random area using line segments. In this case, you do not need to hold down the mouse button; each click will create a new segment of the selection outline:
Double-clicking will close the selection outline to the starting point in a straight line.
The Magnetic Lasso tool is more precise for tracing and cutting out objects. The selection outline automatically snaps to the edge of an object when the cursor passes near it. And the nodes that appear on the selection line will allow you to correct it:
The Magnetic Lasso tool is good for everyone, if not for one thing. It only correctly detects the edge of an object when the object contrasts well with the rest of the image. If we take our unfinished example, the “Magnetic Lasso” grabbed the shadow of the car in some places, which had to be corrected by adjusting the nodes.
And the Quick Selection tools
The next two tools are even more advanced and are suitable for quick selection, they are often used to create collages:
The Quick Selection tool creates a selection using brushes that come in a variety of shapes. But in the example, standard round brushes were used (Fig. 2-4). With each brush click, the selection area expands, capturing the outline of the object. When selecting, do not go beyond the boundaries of the object.
It took much less time to allocate the car than in the previous example:
Fig.2. Quick Selection Tool: 1 - New selection, Add to selection (Subtract from selection);
2 — Brush settings; 3 — Setting the hardness and size of the brush;
4 — Brush pointer (cursor).
A “huge” brush was used, and to highlight small details, the brush needs to be reduced by pressing the button (Fig. 2-2). And in the window that opens (Fig. 2-3) set the size. Here you can reduce the rigidity, i.e. soften the pressure of the brush.
But even here, not everything went smoothly. Part of the shadow was captured, which I removed from the selection with literally two clicks of the brush. Just first I clicked the “Subtract from Selection” icon (Fig. 2-1).
And a tip: if the image has a small resolution, then it will be useful to zoom in on the document. This will add convenience when highlighting small details. This maneuver will also be useful when working with other selection tools.
And now “The Magic Wand”. The tool is used to select areas of the same color and those close to it. To merge selected areas, click the Add to Selection icon (Figure 3-1) or hold down the Shift key.
To select a pink elephant, 5 clicks are made: body, ears, eyes. To highlight the white claws and tail, I zoomed in on the document and clicked on them:
Fig.3. Magic Wand Tool: 1 - New selection, Add to selection (Subtract from selection),
Intersection with the selected one;
2 — Color range tolerance from 0 to 256;
3 — Smoothing selection boundaries;
4 - Adjacent pixels (for highlighting
areas of the same color throughout the document).
The “Magic Wand” worked brilliantly, but this is only true for objects with small color variations. It is worth working with the color range tolerance (Fig. 3-2) - these are the colors that Photoshop “equalized” to given color. A larger tolerance value will expand color range allocated areas.
Conclusion: “Magic Wand” is ideal for lightning-fast selection of single-color areas of an image.
And the Move tool
This tool is not a selection tool, but it works closely with them. With its help, selection areas can be easily moved to any place in the image.