Using the image edit selection tools

In image edit mode, the primary selection tools are the Marquee and Ellipse Marquee tools, the Lasso and Polygon Lasso tools, and the Magic Wand tool.

Marquee tools

Lasso andMagic Wand tools

Use these tools to highlight an area of pixels to edit, move, cut, or copy. Each tool draws a marquee that appears as a flickering dotted shape. For information about setting the tool options, see Choosing tool options.

To remove a marquee:
Draw another marquee or click outside the current selection with a marquee or lasso tool.
Choose Edit >
Deselect. Exit image edit mode.

To select a rectangular area of pixels:
1 Choose the Marquee tool.
2 In the Marquee tool Options panel, choose Style and Edge options. See Choosing tool options.
3 Drag diagonally to select the pixels.

To select an elliptical area of pixels:
1 Choose the Ellipse Marquee tool.
2 In the Marquee tool Options panel, choose Style and Edge options as described in Choosing tool options.
3 Drag diagonally to select the pixels.

Note: Hold down Shift to draw square or circular marquees. Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Macintosh) to draw from the center.

To select a freeform area of pixels:
1 Choose the Lasso tool.
2 In the Lasso tool Options panel, choose an Edge option as described in Choosing tool options.
3 Drag the pointer around the pixels you want to select.

To select a polygonal area of pixels:
1 Choose the Polygon Lasso tool.
2 In the Lasso tool Options panel, choose an Edge option as described in Choosing tool options.
3 Click to outline the selection.
4 Close the polygon:
Click the starting point
Double-click in the workspace with the Polygon tool.

Note: Hold down Shift to constrain polygon lasso lines to 45-degree increments.

To select an area of pixels of similar colors:
1 Choose the Magic Wand tool.
2 In the Magic Wand tool Options panel, choose an Edge option and set the tolerance level by dragging the tolerance slider. See Choosing tool options.
3 Click the area of color you want to select. A flickering border appears around the selected range of pixels.

Note: Tolerance sets the range of colors that are selected when you click a pixel with the Magic Wand. If you enter 0 and click a pixel, only adjacent pixels of the exact same color are selected. If you enter 65, a range of related colors is selected.

Pixels selected with tolerance set to 87

To select similar colors using Select Similar:
1 Choose a Marquee or Lasso tool, and drag diagonally to choose an area of color you want to select.
2 Choose Edit > Select Similar. A flickering border appears around the selected range of pixels.

The current tolerance setting in the Magic Wand tool Options panel determines the range of similar colors that are selected.