That bar actually provides access to another great selection too, the Select Subject option. It is, of course, possible to change the sensitivity of the selection based on the size of the brush on the options bar at the top of the screen. So, unlike the magic wand, which might select areas of similar skin tone when clicking on a face, the quick select tool may determine that the entire face-including eyes and hair-should be included in the selection. But the quick selection tool also acts a little bit like a magnetic lasso in that it effectively finds contrasty edges and determines whether they should be included in the selection based as much on shape and contrast as tonal value. The quick selection tool shares a space on the toolbar with the magic wand, and it functions similarly in that it automatically selects similar pixels. Don’t be afraid to use a lower tolerance to select a smaller area with each click, using the shift-click approach to combine multiple magic wand clicks into the overall selection. Trial and error helps to establish ideal settings and they change every time. A smaller number means Photoshop will only select adjacent pixels nearly identical to the point clicked, while a higher number widens the tolerance and makes the selection faster-though sometimes less accurate. With the magic wand tool active, clicking on the options bar at the top of the screen will allow you to adjust the tolerance (or sensitivity) of the selection. With a portrait on a seamless background, for instance, using the magic wand makes selecting the background as easy as one click-though it usually takes a few since rarely are image elements all precisely the same tonal value. The magic wand selection tool is perfect for situations in which large areas of similar tone need to be isolated-whether they’re part of the subject or the background. In this way, the magnetic lasso tool is incredibly useful for separating a subject from a background when there’s edge definition between the two. The magnetic lasso tool is freehand as well, but the tool searches for edges of contrast near where the selection is being drawn and assumes that edge is where the selection should be made. The tool really excels when straight lines or fine control of selections are needed in a way that the pure freehand nature of the basic lasso would fall short. There’s no limit to the number of clicks you can do with the polygonal lasso tool, so it’s possible to create smooth curves and rounded shapes as long as those clicks are close together. With the polygonal lasso tool, the first click sets a point and the second click will establish a second point and draw a straight line between them. But under the plain old lasso tool on the toolbar you’ll find the polygonal lasso and the magnetic lasso tools, which is where things really get interesting. The selection starts when you click, then continues as you drag to draw the selection, and when you release the click Photoshop automatically connects the last point to the first to select everything inside. The basic lasso tool is totally freehand. The lasso tool is a click-and-drag method of manually drawing selections on an image. The marquee tools are most useful when straight-line selections or perfect circles and symmetrical rounded shapes are needed. Both are indicated by + and – icons adjacent to the marquee tool’s cursor. With these and the other Photoshop selection tools below, after a selection is made, holding the shift key and using the tool again adds to a selection, while holding the option key subtracts. Option-shift-clicking will center a constrained circular selection. With the elliptical marquee tool selected, clicking and dragging makes an oval shape, shift-clicking will constrain it to a circle and option clicking centers it. Click and hold on the marquee tool on the toolbar to find the elliptical marquee option below. Simple! Hold the shift key and constrain it to a square option click to center on the area clicked, and option-shift-click and the centered selection will be a square. Select the rectangular marquee, then click and drag to form a rectangular selection. Perhaps the simplest Photoshop selection tools are the rectangular and elliptical marquee tools. Here’s a rundown of our favorite Photoshop selection tools and what sets each of them apart. The better the selection, the better the result, so which selection tools you choose really matters when precision is important. And in many cases, all those special effects start with selections-choosing which pixels a given effect will apply to. From complex composites to unbelievable photorealistic art, Photoshop makes anything possible. As most every photographer surely knows, Photoshop image editing software is capable of doing incredible things.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |