Easier Selections with the Magic Selection Tool


This is another one of those tools Adobe added in Photoshop Elements 4.0 that makes you think, "What kind of math must be going on behind the scenes?" because this is some pretty potent mojo for selecting an object (or objects) within your photo. What makes this even more amazing is that I was able to inject the word "mojo" into this introduction, and you didn't blink an eye. You're one of "us" now…

Step One

©SCOTT KELBY

Open the photo that has an object you want to select (in this example, we want to select the phone booth). Go to the Toolbox and choose the Magic Selection Brush tool (or just press the F key).

Step Two

By default, the Magic Selection Brush tool "paints" in red, and since the object we're trying to select is also red, we'd better choose a different color for our brush, so up in the Options Bar click on the down-facing arrow to the right of the Color swatch. A palette of colors will appear, so choose a color that will contrast well with what you're trying to select to make it easier to see.

Step Three

Take the Magic Selection Brush tool and simply paint a "squiggly" line around what you want to select. You don't have to be precise, and that's what's so great about this toolit digs squiggles. It longs for the squiggles. It needs squiggles. So squiggle.

Step Four

Once you release the mouse button, the Magic Selection Brush makes your selection for you, based on the area that you squiggled over.

Step Five

Now that we've got it selected, we might as well do something to it, eh? How about this: let's leave the phone booth red, and make the background black and white. You start by going under the Select menu and choosing Inverse (which inverses your selection so you've got everything selected but the phone booth). Go under the Enhance menu, under Adjust Color, and choose Remove Color. That's it. Now you can deselect by pressing Control-D.



The Photoshop Elements 4 Book for Digital Photographers
The Photoshop Elements 4 Book for Digital Photographers
ISBN: 0321384830
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 201
Authors: Scott Kelby

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