Photo 11

Sue Leith

Selection Exercise

This lesson provides an opportunity to use most of the selection tools to get a feel for how the different tools work under different situations and with different shapes. The goal of this lesson is to give you some practice with selecting and show that, depending what you are selecting, the tool you choose can make your job easier or much more difficult.

This lesson also introduces you to a hue saturation adjustment in order to visually show you the success of your selection. Drag the image “balloon” to your desktop. Open in Photoshop.

THE PART OF THIS ASSIGNMENT TO HAND-IN IS ON THE LAST PAGE.

Selecting all balloons: Lasso Tool

Click on the Lasso tool or type L. (Remember if you aren’t sure of a tool shortcut or name, hold the mouse over the tool to display both.)

Hold down the mouse and draw freehand around all the balloons. Make sure to stop dragging in the same spot you started or Photoshop will connect the beginning and end points with a straight line. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect, you can add or subtract from your original selection later.

To add to your selection, hold down the shift key while dragging with the lasso, or click the 2nd small box on the Options bar (add to selection). To subtract from your selection, hold down the opt key while dragging with the lasso, or click the 3rd small box on the Options bar (subtract from selection).

Once you are happy with your selection, go to Select > Feather, and enter 1 or 2 pixels. Click ok, then de-select: Select > Deselect or (use the shortcut) Command D

Selecting one balloon: Polygonal Lasso

Click and hold your mouse over the lasso tool until you see the nested tools below – then click to select the polygonal lasso.

Using the polygonal lasso. Make a rough outline using multiple clicks around the balloon of your choice. Make sure to continue clicking until you reach the spot where you began the selection. You will see a small circle - telling you the next click will close the selection. Alternatively, when you see the circle you can hit the Enter key to close the selection.

In the top Menu Bar, go to Select > Modify > Smooth. Enter 2 or 3 pixels. Click ok. Once you are happy with your selection, go to Select > Feather, and enter 1 or 2 pixels.

Click ok, then de-select: Select > Deselect or (use the shortcut) Command D.

Selecting all balloons: Magnetic Lasso

Click and hold your mouse over the lasso tool until you see the nested tools below – then click to select the magnetic lasso.

Using the magnetic lasso. Make a rough outline by dragging around all the balloons. Notice how this tool puts anchor points down and ‘sticks’ to the edges. The more contrast there is between the object you are selecting and the background, the better this tool works. If you find it not working as well as you like, you can click to add anchor points manually at any time. To delete one point click the delete key. Multiple clicks with the delete key will delete multiple anchor points in reverse order to how they were set down. If you get completely messed up, hit your esc key and start again.

Again, make sure to continue dragging until you reach the spot where you began the selection. Look for the small circle telling you the next click will close the selection, again, you can hit the Enter key when you se the circle to close the selection.

If your selection is rough in certain areas, use the (regular) Lasso tool with the add to, or subtract from option to fix your selection, just make sure to start and end at the same point or Photoshop will end in a straight line from the point you stop dragging. Once you are happy with your selection, go to Select > Feather, and enter 1 or 2 pixels. Click ok. Deselect.

Selecting one balloon: Marquee Tool

Click and hold your mouse over the marquee tool until you see the nested tools below – then click to select the elliptical marquee tool. Drag with the mouse to circle the red balloon. Your selection should be inside the balloon

A few hints with this tool: If you hold down the shift key while dragging your ellipse will be circular, not elliptical. If you hold down the space bar while dragging, you can reposition the selection. Do not worry about a perfect selection, you can add to or subtract from your selection later.

Once you have a rouge selection, Go to Select > Similar. Notice what happens to your selection, then go to, Edit > Undo (or use the shortcut Command Z) to take you back to your original selection.

Next go to Select > Grow. Notice what happens to your selection. Then go to Edit > Undo (or Command Z) to take you back to your original selection.

Next go to Select > Modify > Expand. Play around with the other modify commands to see what happens to your selection. After looking at all the options under modify, deselect.

Selecting all balloons: Magic Wand

Click on the magic wand tool or use the shortcut W to select the tool. Make sure the first box in the Options bar, new selection, is checked. Set the tolerance to the default 32 in the Options Bar. Leave the Anti-Alias and Contiguous boxes checked.

Click once in any balloon. Hold down the shift key or click the second box in the options bar (add to selection) then click in all the other balloons until they are all selected. Once you are happy with your selection, go to Select > Feather, and enter 1 or 2 pixels. Click ok. Command D to deselect.

Selecting all balloons: Magic Wand - Inverse

Click on the magic wand tool or use the shortcut W to select the tool. Make sure the first box in the Options bar, new selection, is checked. Set the tolerance to the default 32. Leave the Anti-Alias and Contiguous boxes checked.

Click once in the white area of the image. Go to Select > Inverse. The balloons should all be selected Once you are happy with your selection, go to Select > Feather, and enter 1 or 2 pixels. Click ok. Command D to deselect.

Selecting all balloons: Magic Wand and Select Inverse

Go to Select > All (Command A) to select your entire image.

Select the magic wand tool and click 3rd box in options bar, or hold down Opt key (subtract from selection). Click anywhere in white area. This should subtract the white background from your selection leaving all the balloons (no background) selected. Command D to deselect.

Selecting all balloons: Eyedropper and Color Range

Click on the eyedropper tool or use the shortcut by typing I. Click on the white background around the balloons. (Note white becomes the foreground color in the toolbox.) Go to Select > Color Range. Under select leave sampled color checked. Move the fuzziness slider back and forth until the dialog box shows all the balloons looking black with a sharp edge. Click ok. The background should be completely selected. Go to Select > Inverse to change the selection from the background to the balloons. Command D to de-select.

Selecting all balloons: Eyedropper and Color Range

Click on the eyedropper tool or use the shortcut by typing I. Click on one of the balloons to choose that color. Go to Select > Color Range. Click on the eyedropper with the + sign next to it, (in the middle right of the dialog box) and in either the colored image you are working on, or in the small b&w dialog box, move the eyedropper around while holding the mouse until all the balloons are all selected. You may need to adjust the fuzziness slider up or down. You are looking for a sharp edge to the balloons in the b&w box.

Once you are happy with your selection, go to Select Feather, and enter 1 or 2 pixels. Click ok. Command D to deselect.

Final exercise to Hand-in

Your Assignment: Read all instructions before you begin.

Accuracy is very important when making selections in Photoshop and important for this exercise. Be meticulous.

Completely, and as carefully as you can, select one (only one, not all) balloon. After you are happy with your selection, and have ‘feathered’ the selection. Save your selection. When working with selections, especially if you spend a lot of time, save them for later. Photoshop allows you to save selections as channels that you can use even after you close your image. Go to Select > Save Selection and name your selection (red balloon or green balloon or any appropriate name.)

Next, change the color of your selected balloon.

How to change color.

There are many, many ways to change a color in Photoshop, for today:

Go to - Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation

Make sure the preview box is checked so you can see the color you are choosing.

Move the sliders anywhere you want in hue to change the color.

Move the sliders anywhere you want in saturation to change deepness of color.

Move the sliders anywhere you want in lightness to change how dark/light the color is.

When you’ve finished, click ok.

To see how well you’ve done, after changing the color of the balloon, check the edges for the old color, the less of the old color, the better your selection.

Hint - it may be helpful to hide the “marching ants” as you work so you can see your selection better when changing the color. To do this, use the keyboard shortcut, Command H, to hide the “marching ants”. Your selection will still be there and active; just the “marching ants” will be hidden from view. To see the selection (marching ants) again, use the shortcut Command H again.

Save your file to the desktop: Go to File >Save as > and name your image: yourname.selection.psd Make sure you save to desktop.

Transfer your saved file to the Instructor Space inside the Classroom Exercises folder for your section.