How to select an object in Photoshop and separate it from the background

In the process of editing images in any graphics editor, one of the most frequently repeated operations is perhaps the selection and cutting out of objects, performed for the purpose of moving them, transforming, correcting, extracting from the background, and so on.

There are a lot of graphic editors on the Internet, but having learned well how to select an object in Photoshop, it will not be difficult to cope with this in all other programs or online services.

If you say that in terms of diversity and convenience of ways to distinguish "Photoshop" is unrivaled, it will not be an exaggeration (at least, explicit).

You can select it manually, by tracing the outline of the object or by drawing the selection area with a brush, and automatically using standard shapes of outlines and other "magic" tools. In addition, for the selection of fragments "Photoshop" uses masks, color channels, filters and special plug-ins.

However, despite the variety, simplicity and convenience of special selection tools in "Photoshop", according to many venerable "photoshoppers," is more accurate and qualitative than with the Pen tool, there is no way.

On a carefully drawn pen, the object's contour is tapping with the right mouse button and selecting the "Make Selection" command, then in the dialog box that opens, set the feather radius, put / uncheck the "Anti-aliasing" checkbox and click OK. Everything, the selection is ready.

Automatic selection of an object in Photoshop is reduced to stretching the frame around the contour of the element, if it has a rectangular or oval shape, and in some tools to click (click) the mouse inside the selected area.

Rectangular and rounded selections

The selection tools for rectangles, ellipses (circles) and narrow bars (lines) are collected on the panel in a group with a prompt "Rectangular area" (Rectangular Marquee Tool), which, besides the named, includes tools "Oval area" (Elliptical Marquee Tool), "Single Row Marquee Tool" and "Single Column Marquee Tool".

To make a selection, you need to click where necessary with the mouse, stretch the frame of the desired size and release the button - the selection is ready. If you drag a mouse with the Shift key pressed, you'll get a square (or circle), and if you use the Alt key, the frame will stretch from the center of the shape, not from the corner or edge.

The next very useful "if" is associated with the space key, pressing which during the selection (without releasing the Shift key), you can interrupt the process of stretching the frame and move the entire contour to better "aim", then let go of the space and continue the selection.

And the last "if" refers to the cursor that inside the selected area changes its appearance, indicating that the outline can now be moved entirely.

Settings settings for all selections in the panel at the top are the same, except for the oval selection, for which the mode is "Anti-aliased" to smooth the transitions of opacity on the edges.

Complex outlines of selection

Having figured out how to select an object in Photoshop, if the outlines are rectangular or oval (round), you can move on to more intelligent means of selection.

For elements with complex contours, a group of tools with the help of the "Polygonal Lasso Tool", at which, besides the above, includes instruments "Lasso Tool" and "Magnetic Lasso Tool" are at your service.

A simple "Lasso" is akin to a pencil. Clicking the left mouse button, loop (lasso) the desired area (object) and release the button. The circuit automatically closes wherever you release the button. If the outline fails, you can press the Esc key without releasing the button, removing the selection, and "lap the lasso" again.

By turning on the "Rectilinear / Polygonal Lasso", you circle the object not with a smooth, continuous line, but with an angular contour, sequentially clicking the mouse from point to point, between which straight lines stretch. To close a path, it is not necessary to combine the beginning with the end point - it is enough to approach it so that a circle appears near the cursor, hinting at what you can safely click - the loop closes. Create a path without closing it completely, you can double-click or Ctrl.

If the line goes wrong, the Esc key will help out, but it's better to use the Delete key, which removes the last line of the path. With the selection key Alt pressed during the selection, both lassos change roles.

If you do not care how to cut an object in Photoshop, if only the selection was more or less qualitative and, most importantly, fast, then, perhaps, the Magnetic Lasso will cope with it in the best way.

A wise "lasso with a magnet" itself recognizes the line of maximum difference in color, brightness or contrast and "sticks" to this line. We only need to click on the border of the selection object and just "lay the lasso" around it, without bothering with details. Unlike conventional lasso, the magnetic "arcane" should be set to the width of the zone (strip), which it must analyze when determining the boundary of the selected object. The outline of the magnetic tool is closed in the same way as in a conventional lasso.

"Magic" tools

Another "sweet couple" of the selection tools, hidden under one button on the toolbar, includes the tools "Magic Wand" (Magic Wand Tool) and "Quick Selection" (Quick Selection). These tools allow you to select in the image areas of the same color or similar in tone colors.

"Magic wand", unlike the familiar "Pouring" tool (bucket with paint) with the same settings, does not fill the areas with another color, but highlights them. Obeying the click of a mouse at any point, the Magic Wand analyzes the color around it and selects all adjacent areas of the same color, provided that the "Contiguous" mode is selected in the tool settings. Otherwise, the selection will extend to all suitable areas throughout the image.

The Quick Selection tool works in the same way, only here the selection area is drawn with a custom brush with customizable parameters (size, stiffness, intervals, angle and shape).

There are many reasons why the use of standard selection tools in certain situations is inappropriate or undesirable, so it is desirable to understand how to select an object in Photoshop in such a whimsical case.

To do this, use a group of erasing tools (erasers), among which there are also "wizards". The group includes the "Eraser Tool" itself, the "Background Erser Tool" and the Magic Eraser Tool.

The essence of the selection of objects using erasers is obvious and simple: all around (or with a smooth transition) is erased around the selected element, after which the extraction of the object will not be particularly difficult.

"Eraser" works like a brush or a pencil, so they have the same settings. The principle of the Magic Eraser is the same as that of the Magic Wand tool, only the eraser does not create a selection, but removes one color from the drawing or part of its area.

Although the background eraser is not magical, but if you show him a sample (click on the area you are removing) and holding the button, draw a circle around the object, it will remove exactly what you need, regardless of the complexity of the border, and even generously allow you to "brazenly "Crawl with the cursor-sight on the object.

As an alternative to highlighting by color, you can consider the command "Color Range" (Color Range) in the "Select" menu. This command will open the settings window for this function with a small copy of the image in the center. The color that should be highlighted is indicated by clicking the mouse (pipette) in the thumbnail or on the image itself. You can click "until the pulse is lost" until the selected shade suits you, and, if you click with the Shift key, the new color is added to the previously selected ones, and clicking the Alt key, on the contrary, excludes the specified hue from the selection candidates (the same is done Pipettes with +/-).

To control the selection of a multi-color area, you must select the radio button "Selection" under the thumbnail.

Extracting an object from the background

With the task of separating the object from the background, "Photoshop" does an excellent job at the command "Extract" in the "Filter" menu (Filter). This command takes us to a separate dialog box, worthy of the status of the mini-editor of selections. From us, we need to select a tool similar to the marker on the top left, set the smear thickness and circle the object, thus showing the program where the boundary between the separated element and the background will pass. The boundary must necessarily appear inside the drawn line bordering the object. Having closed the contour, select the bucket with the paint (Fill Tool) and fill the object by clicking inside the drawn contour (not outside!). Only after that, the "OK" button will allow you to press yourself and make sure of the exceptional abilities of the Extract filter.

Highlighting using color channels

To select objects with a very complex configuration, sometimes they are resorted to using color channels, since it is possible to select an object in Photoshop, not only in standard ways.

To do this, go to the "Channels" tab in the layers panel and select the most contrasted channel (usually a blue one). Then duplicate the layer of the selected channel, go to "Image"> "Adjustments"> "Brightness" (Brightness) / "Contrast" and intensify both parameters, extremely blackening the subject and "bleaching" the background. If necessary, you can make corrections with a black or white brush.

Then the image is inverted (Invert), selecting this command in the same menu "Image"> "Correction". Now you just need to click the Ctrl key on the copy channel layer and, "close the eye", return to the "Layers" tab in the RGB mode, where you were already waiting for accurate and precise selection.

Highlighting with "Quick mask"

You can select / cut an object and using the "Quick selection tool" tool, located at the very bottom of the toolbar. The selection area here is simply drawn in black (but the mask has a red color) using conventional brushes. Partial selection for feathering its borders is obtained not only by variations of stiffness, opacity and brush pressure, but also by shading with various shades of gray. In the mask mode, you can apply a gradient fill "from black to white" or vice versa.

Content-driven navigation

Often there is a need for some reasons to slightly move the object in the image. Such an operation is better performed under conditions of a relatively homogeneous background, so that it would be easier to "patch up a hole" at the old location of the displaced fragment. It turns out that there are programs in which this is done almost automatically "without noise and dust." For example, you can cut an object into "Photoshop" CS6 and "unnoticed" move it to another location using the tool "Content-Aware Move Tool", which is located in the tool group "Spot restore brush."

To do this, it is necessary to select an object in any way and simply move it to the right place, and the program will make sure that there are no traces (at least, explicit) of the former place of residence of the "migrant" on the background. If it turns out to be dirty, the Move With Content tool can help to "cover tracks" by selecting the "Run Fill" command in the "Edit" menu and selecting the "Given Content" option in the "Use" list.

Specify the selection edges

Since version CS5 in "Photoshop" there is a powerful tool "Refine Edge", located among other parameters in the settings panel of all selection tools. With this tool, you can set the width of the edge detection area (the "Radius" setting and the "Smart radius" function) and adjust the offset, smoothing, feathering and contrast settings of the borders of the selected object.