Interesting selection methods in Photoshop. Selecting objects

Photography in Photoshop. We need to separate the girl from background. First, let's take a closer look at the photo:

1. The photo has good lights and slight color variation.
2. In the photo we have a person, which means it will be difficult to highlight the hair.
3. You can use the Pen tool (

Now let's get to work. Go to the channel palette and select the “Blue” channel.

The reason I chose the blue channel is that it provides the most contrast from the model to the background compared to the other channels.

Step 2
We are in the blue channel. The first thing we need to do is increase the contrast as much as possible. To do this, make a copy of the “Blue” channel and in the copy go to the Brightness/Contrast menu (

Then go to the Levels menu (

You will get this result:

Step 3
Select a tool Quick selection(Quick Selection Tool) (W), set the brush size to 2 pixels and set the value to Auto-Enhance. Make a selection as shown below:

Also use the cut and add selection functions. When you're done, don't worry about getting into the hair area.
Fill the selection with black:

Deselect (Ctrl+D) and if you have light areas on the body, use a black brush to paint over them.

Step 4
We need to get rid of the gray area around the girl. Use the Quick Selection Tool (W) to select the girl, make an Invert selection (

We created a selection so that we wouldn't accidentally erase the girl.

Step 5
We're done with the mask, so go to the Layers palette, go to Select>Load Selection and set it up like this:

You will get a selection like this:

Press Ctrl+J to copy the selection to new layer. Then create a new layer between the copied selection and the background layer and fill it with white.

Step 6
We can adjust the image a little. Apply the Smart Sharpening filter

Also create several adjustment layers on top of the others:

Levels (

Instructions

Use the Marquee group tools to quickly select objects that have a regular elliptical or rectangular shape. Activate the Elliptical Marquee Tool or Rectangular Marquee Tool. Move the mouse cursor to one of the corners of the image fragment that you want to select. Click left button. Move the cursor to create a selection area the right size. Release the mouse button.

Adjust the pops this area selection, if necessary. From the menu, select Select and Transform Selection. Move the mouse around the edges of the displayed frame to achieve desired result. Double-click inside the selection area to commit your changes.

To quickly select an object filled with one color or a group of similar colors, as well as a single object located on a uniform background, use the Magic Wand Tool. Activate it using the toolbar button. Set the appropriate value for the Tolerance parameter in the panel at the top. Click inside an object or a uniform background. If the background was processed, invert the selection by pressing Ctrl+Shift+I or selecting Select and Inverse from the menu.

Use the Quick Selection Tool to use the smart selection mechanism. After activating the tool, select the appropriate brush by clicking on the Brush control located in top panel. While holding down the left mouse button, drag the cursor over different areas of the selected image fragment. Spread the selection over the entire object.

Use the tools Lasso group for quick, but not always accurate selection complex objects. Use the Lasso Tool if you want to create a rough selection. Simply circle the desired area with the mouse cursor along the contour while holding down the left key. Using the Polygonal Lasso Tool, select fragments bounded by straight lines. The Magnetic Lasso Tool is the most “smart” in this group. It automatically recognizes the boundaries of heterogeneous image fragments. It can be used, for example, to highlight the outline of a face in a photograph.

Start using quick mask to highlight objects or groups of objects of complex shape. Activate the mask by pressing the Q key or the Edit in Quick Mask Mode button on the toolbar. Set the Foreground color to black. Select the Paint Bucket Tool. Click anywhere on the image. Activate brush tool. Configure its operation parameters using the top panel controls. Install white foreground.

How to select and copy selected image, text, picture, background, layer, color, object and area in Photoshop.

Selection is the most common operation that is performed in Adobe Photoshop extremely often. Without a selection, you cannot copy an object. Selection allows you to change a specific area of ​​an image. Need this operation and in many other cases. This lesson will focus specifically on selection. You will learn how to select a piece of a picture, text, color and other elements.

How to select an area in Photoshop?

This lesson will try to answer your question: how to select an area in Photoshop and exactly that simple action The first part of the lesson will be devoted. First you should know that Adobe program Photoshop is replete with tools designed to select certain objects. The simplest one is the “Magic Wand”. It will allow you to select in one click any shape consisting of one color.

An equally simple tool is called “Quick Selection”. It serves to highlight slightly more complex figures. When activating it, you need to click on the object with the left mouse button until dotted line will not run clearly along its contour. If an extraneous area is accidentally selected, click on it while holding down the Alt key.

How to highlight in Photoshop?

There are other ways to make selections in Photoshop—the graphic editor has three tools included in the “Lasso” group. The first one is designed to highlight any area you select. In this case, you must circle this area yourself, as if with a pencil. Most often it is impossible to act exactly in this case, so this tool is used extremely rarely. Usually, owners of graphics tablets work with the help of Lasso.

The other two tools from this group are already used much more often. The Straight Line Lasso also allows you to select any area of ​​the image. But this time the selected area will be in the form of an even polygon. However, the third tool is even more popular. We are talking about the “Magnetic Lasso”. It is easy for them to highlight contrasting objects. In this case, the selection is made along their contour. You just need to move the mouse cursor along the contour, the selection line will automatically be magnetized to it. When the last marker connects with the first, a dotted line will run along the contour, which indicates the correct selection.

How to select an object in Photoshop?

Now you understand how to select an object in Photoshop. But sometimes such complex actions are not required. Sometimes you just need to select a rectangular area of ​​the image. A separate group of tools is used for this. But first, let's imagine that we need to select the entire image. To accomplish this, you could use the Rectangular Marquee tool and drag your mouse from one corner of the image to the other. However, this is too long. There is much more quick way selecting the entire image. Just follow the path “Selection>All” or press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+A.


The aforementioned Rectangular Marquee tool allows you to select a part of an image. If you hold down while creating a selection Shift key, then the area will be square. This can be said about the instrument " Oval area" Holding down the Shift key will allow you to get a circle instead of an oval.

Such simple selection methods are needed not only for subsequent copying of the resulting area. We must not forget that using these tools you can draw. Create a circle using a selection. Then use the Fill tool and paint the selected area with something bright color. A real circle appeared in the picture! This method of creating figures is often used by webmasters who create new design site.

How to select a picture in Photoshop?

For the most part, you've already figured out how to select an image in Photoshop, but there are a couple more important points to keep in mind. You may encounter problems when working with Magnetic Lasso. If the photo was taken using a simple smartphone or point-and-shoot camera, the contrast will be far from ideal. As a result, the selection will not go very smoothly. But at any time you can refine the edges of the selection.

To do this, use the “Refine Edge” button. It can be found at the top of the program's working window when any tool from the selection group is active. Clicking the button causes a dialog box to appear. In it, you immediately need to check the box next to the “Smart radius” item. Below is a slider with which you can adjust the size of this radius. As a result, you can achieve the most accurate selection. And the “Edge Settings” section will allow you to create feathering and smoothing of the selected area. All changes are immediately visible on the selected object, which is placed on a black background while working with the dialog box. You can change this background using the “View” item at the top of the dialog box.

If you do not perform any further actions in the provided window, then after clicking the “OK” button you will return to the selection process. But pay attention to the bottom of the Refine Edge window. There is an item “Output to”. It allows you to move a selection to a new layer or even create a layer mask.

How to copy selection in Photoshop?

If you have selected an object, then the question arises: how to copy the selection in Photoshop - this operation is performed very simply. You just need to press the key combination Ctrl+C. Or go to “Edit>Copy”.


Then all that remains is to paste the selected area of ​​the picture onto another image. To do this, you first need to open another image using Photoshop. When this is done, go to “Edit>Insert”. Or press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+V. Then right-click on the image that appears. In the context menu, select " Free transformation" This will allow you to resize the inserted image, rotate it and move it. Corner handles are used to change sizes. Do not forget to hold down the Shift key, which will allow you to maintain the proportions of the image.

How to select an image in Photoshop?

Beginner users are visited not only by the question of how to select an image in Photoshop, but sometimes a person thinks about what additional features opens selection of an object along its outline?

Talking about what you can do after selection is not the main goal of this lesson. But some Photoshop functions are still worth mentioning. After creating a selection, try going to “Edit>Stroke”. This way you will trace the object along its outline. In this case, you can select the position of the stroke, its thickness, transparency and color.

This way you can quickly fill the selection area with some color. To do this, use the “Edit>Fill” path or the Shift+F5 key combination. At the same time, you will be offered to fill the space not only with one color, but also with some kind of pattern. You can also lower the opacity to zero. This will make the selected area completely transparent. Please note that the above operations are best performed on a new layer. This will allow you to keep the original image intact and get rid of changes at any time.

How to select a background in Photoshop?

Very interesting question- how to select a background in Photoshop, many here think that this is an overly complicated operation. After all, the object can be small, and the background takes up the lion's share of the space. What to do?

And everything is really simple. To begin, select the object along its outline. In our case, the highlighted one is the hand with commemorative 10-ruble coins. When a dotted line runs across the object, go to “Select>Invert”. That's it, now everything will be selected except the object itself.

How to select text in Photoshop?

Even novice users regularly ask themselves the question of how to select text in Photoshop, and the answer to this question varies depending on what exactly is meant by the word “selection.” Let's try to understand this situation.

Write a word in Photoshop using the Horizontal Text tool. In our case, this will be the inscription “Commemorative coins”. To highlight text, hover over the last letter. Then hold down the left mouse button and move the cursor to the first letter. In a word, Adobe Photoshop in this regard is no different from any text editor. When text is selected, you can change the font size, font type, and many other functions.

But sometimes regular text selection is required, as was the case with other objects. How to achieve it? This is a very interesting question. A novice user would select the Quick Selection tool and click on the letters. But it would take long time. Adobe Photoshop would not be the most popular graphics editor if it were not able to automate this process.

Take a look at the Layers panel. In it you will see a layer with written text. Left-click on this layer's thumbnail (the big "T"). At the same time, hold down Ctrl key. You will immediately see the changes that have occurred in the picture. The text will instantly be highlighted. All that remains is to carry out the intended actions with it. For example, copy or apply some filter to the selected area.

How to select a layer in Photoshop?

But in reality, you don’t always need to select a particular object to copy it. Sometimes it is enough to know how to select a layer in Photoshop, and the fact is that some objects can be brought into the image by you from the outside. Then they will exist as a separate layer. Most often, various shapes are created in the form of separate layers. Then why bother with selecting similar objects to copy them to another picture? You can simply create a copy of the layer.

First, let's consider a situation where a copy of a layer is required in the current image. In this case, there are three options. The first is to right-click on the layer. It will pop out right away context menu, in which you need to select the “Duplicate layer” item. The second method is simpler. You need to select the layer and press the key combination Ctrl+J. A copy will appear instantly. Finally, the third method is the most difficult. The layer must be grabbed with the mouse by holding down the left mouse button, and then moved to the button for creating a new layer. It is located at the bottom of the panel.

If you want to copy a layer and paste it on another image, then everything is also very simple. We have already talked about this action in one of the previous lessons. Open a new image (or create one from scratch). Go back to the previous picture. Expand the Layers panel. Grab the desired layer with your mouse, then drag it directly onto the new image. Nothing complicated. Then all that remains is to adjust the size of the inserted image. To do this, use the “Free Transform” mode, which was already discussed at the beginning of this lesson.

How to highlight a color in Photoshop?

Above we talked about highlighting certain areas. But sometimes you need to select pixels of the same color or similar shade. Sometimes selecting an object this way is much easier than using Magnetic Lasso or Quick Selection. Since selecting a color in Photoshop, then we will try to describe all the actions in as much detail as possible.
A separate lesson could be devoted to this operation. But it’s still worth taking a brief look at this function right now. Usually a certain color range is highlighted. This is done by going to “Selection>Color Range”. A dialog box will pop up. The mouse cursor will immediately turn into an eyedropper. This will allow you to choose one color or another in the photo.


In the dialog box, a range of color shades is selected. For example, you highlight a red telephone booth. It consists of many red shades. Some areas of the kennel may even be pink. Therefore, the spread needs to be larger. Only after this the selection will be correct.

Once the area with similar color tones is highlighted, you can click OK. Later, you can use the Fill tool to replace one color with another. For example, the above phone booth can be painted white so easily.

This concludes our lesson. Today you learned a lot about in various ways selecting objects in Photoshop. Using these actions, you can perform more precise operations to change certain parts of the picture. Keep reading our lessons, it will help you learn a lot!

Good day to everyone, my dear friends and readers! How are you feeling? I hope everything is fine. And with such a good mood, I would like to continue our Photoshop lessons. Today I would like to talk about a very important action in Adobe Photoshop, namely selecting objects, parts of an image, etc.

Why do we need to select objects at all? For different purposes. For example, you want to cut out a specific part of one image and transfer it to another. Or maybe you want to save a certain part of the image from the whole. Or you just want to work (change, process, apply filters, add brightness, sharpening or other effects, etc.) with a separate part of the image.

Today I want to briefly tell you about different ways selections in Photoshop so that you know what they are and for what cases which one is best suited. Let's go!

For example, if you want to turn something rectangular or square, then it is best to take a tool « Rectangular selection» . And if you want to highlight something oval or round, then you are welcome to use "Oval selection".

Lasso

Regular lasso

The instrument is completely in the power of your hand, i.e. As you move your hand, the selection will be drawn. If your hand shakes, your selection line will shake. Is the least useful tool in this group.

Straight-line lasso

This type of lasso is most suitable for selecting objects consisting of straight lines. It is not necessary that the corners be right, even if it is a fence. It all comes down to what you constantly bet control points, thanks to which your current progress will not be lost if you mess up. As a result, the selection is smooth.

But it is not necessary to use it for smooth images. With it, you can even select people and rounded objects.

Magnetic lasso

This is just a great looking lasso. It is great for objects with sharp edges or for objects that differ in brightness and color from the surrounding background.

The principle of its operation is such that you just need to place the first selection point on the edge of the selected object, and then you simply move the mouse along the area that you want to select. In this case, you don’t need to clamp anything and you don’t have to worry about the fact that you won’t follow the contour clearly, even if your hands shake.

The tool itself is magnetized to the edge of the object (hence its name). The main thing is just not to move too far from this edge, otherwise the lasso will be able to magnetize to the other edge. And the tool is just awesome.

Quick selection

Another group for selecting objects, the essence of which is to select objects using a couple of clicks.

Wand

Tool "Wand" allows you to select the desired object in 1 click. The main thing is to set the tolerance level correctly. And of course, you need the edges of the object to be clearly separated from the background, that is, to contrast with it.

Quick selection

Tool "Quick Selection" is a kind of magic wand, but unlike it, we don’t just select some area by pressing a button, but we can say sketch it with the mouse button held down (it’s not for nothing that the tool takes the shape of a brush).

But as in the case of the magnetic lasso and with a magic wand, the selected object must contrast against the general background at least somehow.

Quick mask

It has proven itself excellent among Photoshoppers. The essence of this tool is that you paint over the desired object or background around this object. After this deactivation of the mode, a dotted line appears along the edges of the shaded area, i.e. the selection itself.

This mode is very convenient to use when working with any type of image, even if they do not contrast with the general background. The main thing is just to paint well in the right places.

Feather

Completes our list today. The principle of its operation is somewhat similar to the straight lasso, only unlike the latter, the lines can be adjusted and rounded.

Another undoubted advantage is that the use of this tool can be interrupted for a while without compromising progress. That is, if you have already started selecting an object with a pen, then you can easily switch to another tool, but your current selection will not go anywhere and you can continue it at any time.

Do you see how many ways the wonderful Adobe Photoshop program has for selecting objects? This once again shows how much this graphic editor powerful and convenient. Each instrument is built differently, but the essence remains the same. And each person can use a certain tool when working to select certain objects or areas of the image.

And we will consider each of these tools separately and in detail so that you can choose the most interesting one for yourself. Or maybe you already have a favorite instrument? Write in the comments which one is closest to your heart).

Well, in general detailed lessons for each tool, and in general for working with Photoshop, you can look at this wonderful video course. The lessons are simply amazing and told in a simple and in clear language for any user level. Everything is “chewed” and shown on real examples. After watching this course, you will already have a very good understanding of Photoshop. I highly recommend it.

Well, I’m finishing our review lesson for today. I hope that it has become clear to you which method of selecting images is best suited for what. By the way, don’t forget to subscribe to my blog updates, then you definitely won’t miss anything interesting and will be aware of the most important points. See you in other articles. Bye bye!

Best regards, Dmitry Kostin.

Due to numerous requests, I am doing a lesson on techniques for isolating complex objects from the background.

Look at this image:

What's the easiest way to highlight this image? The usual Lasso will definitely not work here.
You can dig deeper Polygonal Lasso, but it will take you a lot of time, it is more suitable for selecting rectangular objects (table, cube, book).

1 way:

In this case, the magnetic lasso will do good job, since the picture is from high level contrast, but still not ideal.

If you don’t stop yourself and add additional points on sharp protrusions and corners, the tool will simply skip them. The result is a two.

The main disadvantage with the Lasso tool is that you can't move away from the path until you close it.

Method 2:

A good alternative would be the Pen tool. When working with it, you can constantly break away: switch to other tools, work with other documents, go have tea, etc.

Another advantage is that the resulting outline can be adjusted before turning it into a selection.

First we highlighted roughly:

Then we put an additional point in the middle of the straight section:

Hold Ctrl and it will turn into a white arrow, which allows you to drag the point.

When you close the last point, a solid outline will appear. To get a selection, you need to right-click and select Make Selection.

There you will be asked about shading. If you want the edges of the selected object to soften slightly, then add 1 - 2 px.

If you are interested in the Pen tool, I advise you to read this.

3 way:

For this image, a super quick way to select would be to use Magic wand.

The main thing is to guess with the "Tolerance" parameter. For example, I set it to 45 and clicked once on the background. Almost everything stood out for me.

Then I held Shift and clicked on the light green areas. Ready!

All that remains is to press Shift+Ctrl+I to invert the selection.

4 way:

How else can you make a selection?
With a quick mask!