Learn how to make geometric and straight-sided selections in Photoshop.

What you'll need

This sample file contains assets provided by Adobe Stock for your tutorial practice purposes only. Check out the ReadMe file in the folder for the terms of use for this file. Adobe Stock has millions of royalty-free images and videos for your commercial use.  You can get 10 images with a free month trial.

What you learned


How to make rectangular and square selections

The Rectangular Marquee tool is used to make rectangular and square selections. Click and drag to make a rectangular selection. If you want to constrain the selection to be a square, press the Shift key as you’re dragging.


How to make oval and circle selections

The Elliptical Marquee tool is used to make oval and circle selections. Click and drag to make an oval selection. If you want to constrain the selection to be a circle, press the Shift key as you’re dragging.


How to make straight-sided selections

The Polygonal Lasso tool is useful for making selections of objects that are comprised of straight lines, like a pyramid. Click to set a starting point. Then click at each corner of the straight-edged object until you get back to the point where you started.

Tip: To release the Polygonal Lasso tool, press the Escape key.

Get help faster and easier

New user?