Selection tools
There are several tools you can use to create pixel selections:
Smart Selection Brush Tool (see Painting pixel selections)
Flood Selection Tool (see Flooding pixel selections)
Rectangular Marquee Tool (see Marquee pixel selections)
Elliptical Marquee Tool
Column Marquee Tool
Row Marquee Tool
Freehand Selection Tool (see Drawing pixel selections)
Selection procedures
Alongside the many selection tools available, there are also a variety of procedures you can follow to create a pixel selection from:
- Layer and composite channels (see Pixel selections from channels)
- Curves and shapes (see Pixel selections from shapes)
- Tonal or color ranges (see Range pixel selections)
- Sampled colors (see Sampled color pixel selections)
- Quick Masks (see Quick Mask selections)
- Previously created selections (see Creating outline selections)
About selection modes
When working with selections, you may have access to the following Modes which affect how your selection develops:
- New—cancels all current selections and creates a new selection.
- Add—adds areas to the current selection. If there is no selection in place, a new selection will be created.
- Subtract—removes areas from the current selection.
- Intersect—a new selection area is created from the overlap between the newly added selection area and the current selection.
When you switch to one of the tools listed above, its mode may vary according to the following rules:
- If pixels are selected the tool remembers its last-used mode.
- If pixels are not selected, the tool defaults to New or Add mode.
When defaulting to New/Add mode, the Smart Selection Brush Tool defaults to the former while other selection tools default to the latter.
To select every pixel in the image: