Photoshop Feathering Selections

You can use the Feather option to control the degree to which the edge of a selection is softened or faded. Feathering a selection creates a transition boundary between the selection and the surrounding pixels, which can cause a loss of detail.

1. Select one of the Lasso Tools, or the Elliptical Marquee selection tool. The Options Bar updates according to the too you select.



2. In the Options Bar, set a Feather value, e.g.10. you can set a value from 1 to 250 pixels. The amount you set depends on the effect you want to achieve. Use higher values on high resolution images.

3. Create a selection using either the Marquee or Lasso tool. When you move the selection you will see the feathered edge around the selection and also where you move the selection from.



4. Alternatively, using any of the selection tools, you can make a selection and then choose Select > Feather. Enter a value in the Feather Radius box.



Creating a vignette
You can use the feathering option to create a vignette effect – a soft, fading edge to an image.

1. Before you begin, make sure your background colour is set to white (see the ‘Defining Colours’). Then set a Feather value in the Options Bar for the selection tool you are using.



2. Next, create a selection, which can be a regular or irregular shape.



3. Choose select > Inverse this reverses the selection – selecting all the pixels that were previously not selected.





4. Press Delete (Mac) or Backspace (Windows) to delete the area surrounding your selection, leaving a feathered edge.

Adobe Magic Wand Tool

The magic Wand tool selects continuous areas of color in an image, based on a Tolerance setting. Low Tolerance settings create very limited selections of color. Higher settings select a wider range of pixels. The tool is good for selecting consistently coloured areas.

1. Before creating a selection using the Magic Wand tool, check the Tolerance setting. Double-click the Magic Wand tool to display the Magic Wand Options Bar if it is not showing, or choose Window > Show Options to show the Options Bar. Enter a Tolerance value from 0-255. If you set a tolerance value of 255, you will select every pixel in the image.



2. Click on th image to select pixels of similar colour value. All adjacent pixels that are within the Tolerance range are selected. Adjust the default setting of 32 as necessary to make the selection your require.

3. Deselect the Contiguous option to select pixels throughout the image that fall within the Tolerance setting. The result is similar to using the Similar command (see the Grow and Similar Commands).

4. To deselect a selection marquee when the Magic Wind tool is selected, click inside the selection marquee. If you click outside the selection marquee, you will create another selection based around the pixel where you clicked.



Hot Tips –
• To add to a selection using the Magic Wand tool, hold down Shift, then click on an unselected part of the image.
• Typically, you will fine-tune Magic Wand selections using a combination of the other selections tools. Together with the Grow and Similar commands

Beware –
• You cannot use the Magic Wand tool in Bitmap mode.

Adobe Lasso Tools

You can use the Lasso tool to make freeform selections by clicking and dragging. It is a useful tool for selecting irregular areas and for quickly adding to or subtracting from selections made with the Magic Wand tool.



Select the Lasso tool. Set Feather and Anti-aliased options. Position your cursor on the image. The cursor changes to the lasso cursor. Click and drag around the part of the image you want to select. Make sure your cursor comes back to the start point. If you release before reaching the start point. Photoshop completes the selection with a straight line. A dotted marquee defines the selected area.



Polygon Lasso Tool
The Polygon Lasso tool creates a freeform selection with straight line segments.


Select the Polygon Lasso tool. Position your cursor on the image, then click; move the cursor, then click …. And so on, until you have defined the area you want to select. Click back at the start point to completed the selection. Alternatively, you can double-click to close the selection marquee.

The Magnetic Lasso Tool
The Magnetic Lasso tool is most useful when you want to select an object or an area of the image which contrasts strongly with the area surrounding it.



1. Select the Magnetic Lasso tool. Click on the edge of the object you want to select to place the first fastening point. Either, move the cursor along the edge of the object, or click and drag along the edge to draw a freehand segment. as you move along the edge of the object, the ‘active’ segment of the selection border snaps to the most clearly defined edge in the image near the cursor. Fastering points are added automatically, at intervals, as you drag.

2. To close the selection border, position your cursor on the start point, (s small circle at the cursor indicates that you are on the start point) then click. Alternatively, double-click, or press the Enter/Return key. Photoshop creates a segment from the point you have reached to the start point of the selection border. To close the selection border with a straight line segment, hold down Alt and double-click.



Lasso Width

The Magnetic Lasso tool detects edges only within the specified distance from the pointer. Enter a value between 1-40.

Frequency

This setting determines the rate at which fasterning points are set. Enter a value between 0-100. The higher the value you set, the more frequently fastening points are placed.

Edge Contrast

Enter a value between 1-100%. This value determines how sensitive the Magnetic Lasso tool is tool is to edges in the image. Higher values select edges that contrast strongly with their background. Lower values select edges that have smaller amounts of contrast.



Hot Tip –
1. Hold down Shift, then click and drag around an area to add it to the selection. Hold down Alt, then click and drag around an area to remove it from the selection.
2. When you return to the start point with the Polygon Lasso tool, a small circle appears at the bottom right of the cursor to indicate that you can close the selection by clicking once.
3. Click on the edge of the shape if you need to add a fastening point manually.
4. If the object you are trying to select has high contrast (i.e., well defined edges) use higher Lasso Width and Edge Contrast settings. For objects with less well defined edges, use lower Lasso Width and Edge Contrast settings.
Beware –
If you have a feather amount set in the Lasso options Bar. You will not end up with sharp corners on the selection
Don’t Forget –
A fastening point anchors the Selection Border in place as you create the selection, fastening points disappear when you close the selection border. The Magnetic Lasso tool adds fastening points at intervals to the selection border to another the segments.

Adobe Photoshop Moving Selections

You can use the Selection tools to reposition a selection border, but you must use the Move tool if you want to move pixels from one location to another.

1. Make a selection. Select the Move tool, then position your cursor inside the Marquee selection border. Click and drag to move the selection.



When you move pixels on the Background layer, the area from which the pixels are moved is filed with the current background colour. As long as the selection border remains selected, you can continue to move the pixels. Whilst the selection is active, the pixels in the selection ‘float’ above the underlying pixels, without replacing them.

2. To ‘defloat’ the pixels so that they replace the underlying pixels, choose Select > Deselect if you have the Move tool or Magic Wand tool selected. If you used Command/Ctrl with a Marquee or Lasso tool selected, click outside the selection marquee. As soon as you deselect, the pixels on the Background layer that were undemeath the floating selection – the underlying pixels – are completely replaced by the pixels in the floating selection.

3. To move a selection and make a copy of it at the same time, hold down Alt before you drag with the Move tool. The cursor turns into a double – headed arrow, indicating that you are copying the selection.

4. You can turn a ‘floating’ selection into a layer by choosing Layer > New > Layer Via Cut/Layer Via Copy. (See Layers info)

Adobe Marquee Tool Options

You can use the Marquee Options Bar to make changes to the way in which the Marquee tools work.

1. Select the Rectangular or Elliptical Marquee tool. Make sure the New Selection button is selected in the Options Bar.









2. Use the Style pop-up to create settings for making proportional selections, or selections of a fixed size. If you select Fixed Size, enter the values you require in the Width and Height entry fields.

3. The Anti-aliased option is an important control when using bitmap applications such as Photoshop. Select Anti-aliased to create a slightly blurred, soft edge around the selection and the pixels that surround the selection. Using Anti-aliased helps avoid creating unwanted jagged edges.

4. Use the Feather entry field to create a soft, feathered edge. (See on Feathering Selections)

Adobe Marquee Selection Tools

The Marquee selection tools allow you to drag with the mouse to make selections. You can make rectangular or elliptical selections by choosing the appropriate tool.

1. To make a rectangular or oval selection, choose the Rectangular or Elliptical Marquee tool.

2. Position your cursor on the image, then click and drag to define the area you want to select. When you release the cursor you will see a dotted rectangular or oval marquee defining the area of the selection.


3. You can reposition the selection marquee if you need to. Make sure the Marquee tool is still selected, position your cursor inside the selection marquee (the cursor changes shape), then click and drag. You can move selection marquees with any of the Selection tools.

4. With the Marquee tool selected, you can deselect a selection by clicking inside or outside the selection marquee. Alternatively, you can choose Select > Deselect (Command/Ctrl + D.

Adobe Photoshop Selection Tools

One of the most important techniques when using Photoshop is making selections. When you make a selection, you are selecting an area of the image to which you want to make changes, and isolating the remainder of the image so that it is not affected by changes. A selection is indicated on-screen by a selection marquee – sometimes referred to as the ‘marching ants’ border.

Covers
The Marquee Selection Tools
Marquee Options
Moving Selections
The Lasso Tools
The Magic Wand Tool
Feathering Selections
Modifying Selections
The Grow and Similar Commands
Pasting into Selections
The Defringe Command
Filling a Selection
Copying and Pasting Selections
Transforming Selections

The Patch Tool

The Patch tool allows you to disguise problems and flaws in an image by cloning or copying pixels from another, similar part of the image. The Patch tool attempts to match the texture and shading of the pixels that are copied or sampled to the source pixels the pixels you are patching over.



1. Select the Patch tool. Select Source in the Options Bar. Drag in the image to select the area of pixels you want to patch over.



2. Still working with the Patch tool, position your cursor inside the Patch selection, then drag the selection area onto the area of the image from which you want to copy pixels.

3. Release the mouse button. The original patch selection is repaired with pixels sampled from the area you released on.

4. Alternatively, select Destination in the Options Bar to reverse the way in which the tool works. Use the Patch tool to select the area of pixels you want to use to make the repair. Drag the Patch selection onto the area of pixels you want to repair. Release the mouse to copy the initial selection area over the flaw.

Adobe Healing Brush Tool

Use the Healing Brush tool to correct flaws and imperfections in an image. The Healing Brush is similar to the Clone Stamp tool in the way it works, but it also matches the texture, luminosity and shading of the sampled pixels to the pixels in the area you want to ‘heal’. This usually produces a ,ore seamless result than the Clone Stamp tool.

1. To ‘heal’ an imperfection, select the Healing Brush tool. Use the Brush Preset Picker to choose a brush size. Select a blending mode if required. Use Replace mode to preserve the texture, noise and any film grain at the edges of the brush strokes. Leave the Source option set to Sampled to use pixels from within the image.



2. Select Aligned in the Options Bar (see the Adobe Clone Stamp Tool).

3. Position your cursor on an area of the image that you want to sample from in order to repair the imperfection. Hold down Alt, then click the left mouse button. This sets the sample area of pixels.



4. Release the Alt key. Move your cursor over the area you want to repair. Click, or press and drag to repair the area. When you click or drag the mouse the (+) indicates the area of the image you are sampling pixels from.