Photoshop Help | Making quick selections

Select with the Quick Selection tool
Select with the Magic Wand tool

You can use the Quick Selection tool to quickly “paint” a selection using an adjustable round brush tip. As you drag, the selection expands outward and automatically finds and follows defined edges in the image.

Select the Quick Selection tool

. (If the tool isn’t visible, hold down the Magic Wand tool

In the options bar, click one of the selection options: New, Add To, or Subtract From.

New is the default option if nothing is selected. After making the initial selection, the option changes automatically to Add to.

To change the brush tip size, click the Brush pop-up menu in the options bar, and type in a pixel size or drag the slider. Use the Size pop‑up menu options to make the brush tip size sensitive to pen pressure or a stylus wheel.

When creating a selection, press the right bracket (]) to increase the Quick Selection tool brush tip size; press the left bracket ([) to decrease the brush tip size.

Choose Quick Selection options.

Sample All Layers

Creates a selection based on all layers instead of just the currently selected layer.

Auto-Enhance

Reduces roughness and blockiness in the selection boundary. Auto-Enhance automatically flows the selection further toward image edges and applies some of the edge refinement you can apply manually in the Refine Edge dialog with the Contrast and Radius options.

Paint inside the part of the image you want to select.

The selection grows as you paint. If updating is slow, continue to drag to allow time to complete work on the selection. As you paint near the edges of a shape, the selection area extends to follow the contours of the shape edge.

Painting with the Quick Selection tool to extend the selection

If you stop dragging and then click or drag in a nearby area, the selection will grow to include the new area.

To subtract from a selection, click the Subtract from option in the options bar, then drag over the existing selection.

To temporarily switch between add and subtract modes, hold down the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac) key.

To change the tool cursor, choose Edit > Preferences > Cursors > Painting Cursors (Windows) or Photoshop > Preferences > Cursors > Painting Cursors (Mac OS). Normal Brush Tip displays the standard Quick Selection cursor with a plus or minus sign to show the selection mode.

(Optional) Click Refine Edge to further adjust the selection boundary. See Refine selection edges.

The Magic Wand tool lets you select a consistently colored area (for example, a red flower) without having to trace its outline. You specify the selected color range, or tolerance, relative to the original color you click.

You cannot use the Magic Wand tool on an image in Bitmap mode or on 32‑bits-per-channel images.

Select the Magic Wand tool

. (If the tool isn’t visible, access it by holding down the Quick Selection tool

Specify one of the selection options in the options bar. The Magic Wand tool’s pointer changes depending on which option is selected.

Selection options

A. New B. Add To C. Subtract From D. Intersect With

In the options bar, specify any of the following:

Tolerance

Determines the color range of selected pixels. Enter a value in pixels, ranging from 0 to 255. A low value selects the few colors very similar to the pixel you click. A higher value selects a broader range of colors.

Anti-aliased

Creates a smoother-edged selection.

Contiguous

Selects only adjacent areas using the same colors. Otherwise, all pixels in the entire image using the same colors are selected.

Sample All Layers

Selects colors using data from all the visible layers. Otherwise, the Magic Wand tool selects colors from the active layer only.

In the image, click the color you want to select. If Contiguous is selected, all adjacent pixels within the tolerance range are selected. Otherwise, all pixels in the tolerance range are selected.

(Optional) Click Refine Edge to further adjust the selection boundary or view the selection against different backgrounds or as a mask. See Refine selection edges.

Making quick selections

Applies to:

Select with the Quick Selection tool

Select with the Magic Wand tool

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