Shaped Selections: The icon looks like a dotted box. Click and hold the icon for more shapes, which allow you to cover any basic item. The Lasso Tools: You have a lot of options here, each of which requires you click the mouse, then trace out the object with your mouse. Clicking again creates an anchor point, then complete the shape to end the selection. Quick Selection: The icon looks like a paintbrush with a circular dotted line around the brush. This shape automatically creates selections following the edges of shapes in the image. Magic Wand: Hidden behind Quick Selection, or vice versa, click and hold on the “Quick Selection” button to find it. The Wand selects all pixels in a similar color range to the place you just clicked. Pen Tool: Icon looks like a regular fountain pen. This is the most powerful tool you’ve got, but also the most time consuming to use. The pen tool creates “paths” with anchor points that can b be adjusted on the fly, giving you more control than basic selections.
To remove an area from your selection, hold the Alt or ⌥ Opt keys and click.
Use the “Free Form Pen,” found by clicking and holding the pen icon, to work with curved lines.
Change the tolerance to make the Wand more or less precise. A high number (75-100) selects more diverse pixels while a number under ten is much more specific in selections. [2] X Research source
Use “Select” → “Expand” to expand the selection by 5-10 pixels to every side. Click “Edit” → “Fill” to open the Fill Window. Select “Content Aware” from the drop-down menu at the top of the window. Hit “Okay” to fill your item in. Re-use the feature to get new effects, changing the opacity as necessary. Every time you use Content Aware Fills, the computer selects pixels randomly – so keep trying until it looks good. [3] X Research source
Layer Via Copy: Duplicates the selection, then creates a copy of it right on top of the original. The background image is not affected at all. Layer Via Cut: Removes the image from the background, turning the selection into a new, unique layer. The background image will have a hole in it. [4] X Research source
Select the area you want to remove. In the layers menu, click “Add a Mask. " It is at the very bottom and looks like a rectangle with a circle in it. Click on the black and white thumbnail that appears. You can now use the Paintbrush or Pencil to revise the selection by drawing over the layer mask– anything black is “erased. " Draw over the mask in white to make the image “reappear. “[5] X Research source
