In Photoshop, there are many tools and effects to be learned, one of the most vital tools that are used in almost every document created in Photoshop are the selection tools. The Selection Tools consist of the Move Tool, the Lasso Tool, The Marquee Tool, the Magic Wand Tool, and the Quick Selection Tool. Now, let’s get started, shall we?
The Move Tool
By definition, the Move tool allows you to select paths, layers, and guides and basically move them around to the desired area. Almost everything that you create in Photoshop will require the move tool. When working with small paths and graphics, the Move Tool is required, without a doubt. Next, let’s move on to the Marquee Tool.
The Marquee Tool
The Marquee Tool makes selections using different shapes. If you extend the sub-menu for the Marquee Tool, you’ll see that there are 4 different types of marquees. The Elliptical Marquee Tool will make a circular selection, the Rectangular Marquee Tool will make a rectangular selection. The Single Row Marquee Tool will make a selection in rows. Lastly, the Single Column Marquee Tool will make a selection using columns. These tools are pretty self-explanatory. This tool can be used to cut out certain areas out of paths or layers, and can be used to create another path out of a previous one. The Marquee Tool is similar to the Lasso Tool, which will be explained below.
The Lasso Tool
The similarity between the Marquee and Lasso tool is that they both have the same function, which is selecting specific areas and creating paths from previous ones and so on.. The difference is that the Lasso tool is a freehand selection tool, meaning that you don’t need to use shapes to make selections. There are 2 types of Lasso Tools: The Magnetic Lasso Tool, and the Polygonal Lasso Tool. The Magnetic Lasso Tool is almost identical to the regular lasso tool, but it creates anchor points as you hover your mouse. Personally, I like the Magnetic Lasso Tool because it eliminates the need to hold down your mouse button while drawing. This usually relaxes my hand and allows me to create smoother edges. The Polygonal Lasso Tool is also very useful. It creates a selection by using an accumulation of lines. It is often used when cutting out shapes from pictures and adding them to a different background. All 3 Lasso Tools are very important and help produce cleaner images.
The Quick Selection Tool
The Quick Selection Tool is a tiny little tool that allows you to paint selected areas with a brush or the paint bucket tool. It’s not necessary in most things but comes in very handy at times. I rarely use this tool, but recommend to those who look forward to improving their photos.
The Magic Wand Tool
The Magic wand tool is called “magic” because it automatically identifies similarly colored paths and selects them without you having to trace them with the Lasso Tool. This tool will come in handy when creating patterns, and duplicating paths. The Magic Wand Tool and the Quick Selection Tools are both under the same sub-menu.
In a nutshell, knowledge of these selection tools are essential to learning basic Photoshop skills. In the next upcoming articles, I will explain Painting Tools, Drawing Tools..etc.
Thanks!
