A selection is an area of a design defined by the user by using a selection tool. The selections tools are the Rectangular Selection Tool, Lasso Tool or the Magic Wand Tool.
When a selection is made, the area becomes editable (for example, you can apply a filter to one part of a design without affecting the rest of it). In addition to creating selections with tools, there are also some menu commands which apply advanced selection affects such as a feather. Selections are essentially masks. They isolate an area to be edited, and protect the rest of the design from being affected.
Basic selection techniques
- Use the Lasso Tool to draw freehand selections
- Use the Rectangular Tool to draw rectangular or square selections
- ⌘A - select all
- ⌘D - deselect
- ⌘/ - snap. This shortcut can only be used with existing selections.
- ⌘7 - add the current selection to the Selections Palette.
- ⌘X - cut
Selections can be automatically added to the Brushes Window. Simply activate one of the select tools (Rectangular Selection Tool, Lasso Tool or the Magic Wand Tool) and create your selection, then click ^ (control key) and choose Add to Brushes.
Selections can be dragged to the Selections Palette. Simply activate one of the select tools (Rectangular Selection Tool, Lasso Tool or the Magic Wand Tool) and drag and drop the selection to the Selections Palette.
Selections can be dragged from the Selections Palette to the Layers Palette. This automatically creates a layer from the selection.
Layers can be dragged from the Layers Palette to the Selections Palette. This automatically creates a selection from the layer.
You can perform some quick selection related actions directly from the Selections Palette:
Adding a selection to the Brushes
Selections can be automatically added to the Brushes Window. Simply activate one of the select tools (Rectangular Selection Tool, Lasso Tool or the Magic Wand Tool) and create your selection, then click ^ (control key) and choose Add to Brushes.
