PhotoChoose the right selection tool
| Tool | Good starting point |
|---|---|
| Rectangular / Elliptical Marquee | A regular geometric region. |
| Lasso / Polygonal Lasso | A hand-drawn boundary or a boundary made of straight segments. |
| Object Selection | A recognizable subject or object. |
| Quick Selection | Brushing over a region whose edges should guide the result. |
| Magic Wand | An area of similar color. |
| Selection Brush | Painting a selection directly with a brush. |
Preview an object before selecting it
With Object Selection active, allow image analysis to finish. Hover over a detected region to inspect its colored preview, then click to select it. A hover overlay is temporary; the selection outline indicates the committed selection. When detection is ambiguous, use the tool’s rectangle or lasso region to constrain the target.
The model may download on first use. Keep the page open while its progress is shown. Analysis can take longer on a large image or slower device. Automatic boundaries are a starting point: inspect hair, fur, shadows, gaps between limbs and objects touching the background.
Add, subtract and refine
Use the selection mode controls to add missing areas or subtract unwanted areas instead of starting over. Zoom in for edges and zoom out to judge the whole subject. Select and Mask provides a refinement workflow; use it to improve the boundary before applying a mask or another edit.
For Magic Wand, a greater tolerance accepts a wider range of colors. Contiguous selection limits the result to a connected area; Similar can find matching areas elsewhere. Sample all layers changes the source being analyzed, not which layer receives your edit.
Remove the selection when finished
Choose Select → Deselect when subsequent edits should affect the entire layer. Inverse switches the selected and unselected regions. If a brush, fill or filter unexpectedly affects only a small area, check for an active selection before changing its settings.