Copying and Selecting

Cut, Copy and Paste

Much like using a word processor, cut, copy and paste are rather essential elements. Once you have selected an area, or a group of pixels, you can copy them and paste them somewhere else. This can be in another layer, or in another part of the same layer. Cut can help to remove unwanted areas, or to move them somewhere else.

Copying works not only within the same file, but also from one file to another. Though, before you can cut, or copy it - you must be able to select it.

Selection:

The easiest and simplest way to select is to choose "select all". This is a rather standard feature that a lot of people will use a shortcut to accomplish. Do remember - this will only select all of the current layer.

In case you didn't notice from the previous page explaining the various tools, there are various ways to select an area of an image. Photoshop calls their rectangular select tool the "marquee". This is probably the quickest and easiest way to grab an area.

Notice that most tools also have modifying options. These can be accessed by double-clicking on their respective tool icons in the toolbar. In the image above, I have created a new layer (so that I wouldn't wreck my artwork), and changed the property of the rectangular tool to make a feathered selection. The outer edges are blurred by 27.6 pixels - that's why the marching ants have rounded corners. Next, I have used the paintcan to fill in this area with black - to illustrate the fuzzy selected area.

The ellipse selection tool works on the same principals, but requires a little more practice - and patience - to achieve effective results. Finally, the lasso tool allows the user to draw out their selection, so you can grab an irregular shape.

The magic wand is related to the paint-can. Both of these tools affect an adjacent, like-colored area. This is a bit of a tricky concept to understand until playing with it. Another way to look at it would be to imagine that the image is translated into a topological map. Now you can control a flood at an isolated elevation. The tool option here changes the sensitivity - or the amount of similar colors above and below the one you've selected that it will highlight.

Also good to know is that when using the rectangular, or elliptical tools, if you use the shift modifier when drawing these shapes, they will remain equilateral, in other words, they will only draw squares and circles. One selection can be added to another by using the shift key, and one can be subtracted from the other by using the alt ket.

<- back | next - >

Copyleft 2000 by Willie Northway