Tips for

Selecting an
Object in Adobe
Photoshop
Putting Photoshop’s Power to Your Advantage

Goal: Provide some tips on how to use the variety of selection tools which Adobe Photoshop
provides you.

Introduction: There is one thing which almost all computer programs have in common;
before you can make a change or adjustment to an object, you need to select it. One of the most
important features of Adobe Photoshop is the variety of tools which it has for selecting objects.
Photoshop’s selection tools makes it easy to make precise adjustments to elements of your
graphic.

This tutorial will show you how to use the following selection tools:
• Select All
• Rectangular Marquee
• Elliptical Marquee
• Traditional Lasso
• Polygonal Lasso
• Magnetic Lasso
• Magic Wand

Tool #1 - Select All

The Select All command will automatically select
everything on your active layer. This is an
easy way to make an adjustment to an entire
graphic at the same time. Please note: it will
not select objects on different layers.

Here is how you do it.

Step 1: Pull down the Select Menu to “All”.

That’s it. Remember that you can deselect

anything at anytime by pulling down the Select
menu to “Deselect”. This command will work
at any time!
 Tool #2 - Rectangular Marquee
This tool allow you to make a perfectly square
selection on your graphic.

Here is how you do it.

Step 1: Click on the Rectangular Marquee tool

on the tool bar. It is located in the upper left hand
corner. You may need to click and hold down the
tool in order to choose the tool from the pop-up
menu.

Step 2: Now click and drag a box on your

graphic. That’s it.

Tool #3 - Elliptical Marquee

This tool allow you to make a selected area in the
shape of a circle or ellipse.

Here is how you do it.

Step 1: Click on the Elliptical Marquee tool on

the tool bar. It is located in the upper left hand
corner. You may need to click and hold down the
tool in order to choose the tool from the pop-up
menu.

Step 2: Now click and drag a circle on your

graphic. That’s it.

Tool #4 - Traditional Lasso

The Traditional Lasso tool is the same tool found
in the AppleWorks draw program. It give you
the freedom to make a selection area which is any
shape that you want.

Step 1: Click on the Lasso tool on the tool bar. It

is located in the upper left hand corner, second
row. You may need to click and hold down the
tool in order to choose the tool from the pop-up
menu.

Step 2: Now click and drag around the object

you want to select. It will follow the movement of
your mouse. Once you have returned to the
beginning of your selection area, release the
mouse. That’s it.
Tool #5 - Polygonal Lasso
The Polygonal Lasso tool allows you to create
selection areas which have straight edges. For
example you could make a box just like the
rectangle marquee tool. The difference is that
you can decide how many sides your shape is,
how long each side is, and what angle the sides
meet. Here is how you do it.

Step 1: Click on the Polygonal Lasso tool on the

tool bar. It is located in the upper left hand corner,
second row. You may need to click and hold
down the tool in order to choose the tool from the
pop-up menu.

Here is where it gets different.

Step 2: Now move your mouse to where you

want to begin your selection area and click once
on the mouse button. Let go of the mouse
button and move the mouse to the first place
where you want to place the first corner of your
selection shape.

Step 3: Click and release the mouse. Now

move the mouse to the next location of the
corner point of your selection shape.

Repeat this process until you have completed

your selection shape.

Step 4: To close your shape, return your mouse

to the first point which you created on your
selection shape. You need to line up your
mouse exactly on top of the first point of your
shape. When you see the “small circle” on
your cursor you will know that you have done this.
Click once on the mouse and Photoshop will
complete the shape.

That’s it!

Tool #6 - Magnetic Lasso

The Magnetic Lasso is a VERY powerful tool. In
some ways it works like a traditional lasso tool.
You control the shape of your selection area by
dragging the mouse. The difference is that
Photoshop helps you draw your shape around
the object in order to make it more accurate.

The Photoshop does this by looking contrasting

areas in your graphic. For example, if you are
tracing a black square on a white background, the
Magnetic Lasso will follow the area where the
black and white colors meet.
Here is how you do it.

Step 1: Click on the Magnetic Lasso tool on the

tool bar. It is located in the upper left hand corner,
second row. You may need to click and hold
down the tool in order to choose the tool from the
pop-up menu.

Step 2: Click and drag around the object which

you want to select. At this point you are
selecting and object very similar to the way you
do it with the Traditional Lasso tool. Once you
have returned to the beginning of your selection
area, release the mouse.

One of the most powerful aspects of this

tool is that you can control how the Magnetic
Lasso tool traces the object which you want to
select. You can do this by adjusting the controls
in the “Magnetic Lasso Options” window.

Here is how you do it.

Step 3: Make sure that the Magnetic Lasso tool

is selected. Then pull down the “Window” menu
to “Show Options”.

Please note that if the Magnetic Lasso Options

window is already showing, it may say “Hide
Options” instead of “Show Options”. If this
happens, then do not select “Hide Options”.

At this point the “Magnetic Lasso Options”

window should be visible on your screen.

A variety of options are available for you as

you adjust this tool.

Step 4: If you want to make the Magnetic Lasso

tool more “exact” about what it selects then
change the “Edge Contrast” option to a number
higher than 75%.

If you are trying to select an object with very

minimal contrast, then drop the Edge Contrast
number down to 25% or lower.

Please note: The best way to adjust your

Magnetic Lasso tool is to play with the options to
find out what’s best for your specific situation.
Tool #7 - Magic Wand
The Magnetic Lasso is ANOTHER VERY
powerful tool. The Magic Wand will select an
area which has a specific color.

For example, if you click once on a gray square

with the Magic Wand, Photoshop will select the
entire square.
Here is how you do it.

Step 1: Select the Magic Wand tool on the tool bar.

Step 2: Click on the section of the graphic which you

want to select. That’s it!

A variety of options are available for you as you

adjust this tool.

The power of the Magic Wand tool is in how you can

adjust it. You can select one color such as “dark blue”
or you can select a variety of similar colors such as
“light blue, medium blue, and dark blue”. Here is how
you adjust the Magic Wand.

Step 3: Make sure that the Magic Wand tool is

selected. Then pull down the “Window” menu to
“Show Options”.

Please note that if the Magic Wand Options window is

already showing, it may say “Hide Options” instead of
“Show Options”. If this happens, then do not select
“Hide Options”.

At this point the “Magic Wand Options” window

should be visible on your screen.

Step 4: Change the number in the Tolerance window

to adjust how specific the Magic Wand is when picking
colors.

If you want to choose one specific color, change the

Tolerance number to a lower number (try 1-10).

If you want to choose a wider area of color (for

example light blue, medium blue, and dark blue) then
try a larger number (20-50).

Please note: The best way to find the right setting is

to experiment with the tool settings in order to find the
right number for the graphic.