Melonhead
Working with Selections
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to do the following:
• Use the marquee, lasso, and
magic wand tools to select parts of an image in various ways.
• Reposition a selection
marquee.
• Deselect a selection.
• Move and duplicate a
selection.
• Constrain the movement of a
selection.
• Adjust a selection with the
arrow keys.
• Add to and subtract from
selections.
• Rotate, scale, and transform a
selection.
• Combine selection tools.
• Crop an image.
Tool overview
Note:
In this lesson, you will use just the marquee, lasso, magic wand,
and move tools
Selecting with the
elliptical marquee tool
You’ll use the elliptical marquee tool to select eyes for the face. Note
that in most cases, making a new selection replaces the existing selection.
1 Select the zoom tool (small magnifying class) and click twice on
the blueberry to zoom in to a 300% view.
2 Hold down the mouse button on the rectangular marquee tool, and
drag to the elliptical marquee
tool (make sure it is the round one – under the rectangle ).
3 Move the pointer over the blueberry, and drag it diagonally from
the top left to the bottom right
edge of the blueberry to create a selection. Do not release the mouse
button.
Repositioning a selection border while
creating it
If a selection border isn’t placed exactly where you want it, you
can adjust its position and size while creating it.
1 Still holding down the mouse button, hold down the spacebar and drag
the selection. The border moves as you drag.
2 Release the spacebar (but not the mouse button), and drag again.
Notice that when you drag
without the spacebar, the size and shape of the selection changes, but
its point of origin does not.
3 When the selection border is positioned and sized correctly, release
the mouse button.
Selecting from a center point
Sometimes it’s easier to make elliptical or rectangular selections
by drawing a selection from the
center point of the object to the outside edge. Using this method,
you’ll reselect the blueberry.
1 Choose Select > Deselect.
2 Position the marquee tool at the approximate center of the
blueberry.
3 Click and begin dragging. Then without releasing the mouse button,
hold down Alt (Windows), and continue dragging the selection to the blueberry’s
outer edge. Notice that
the selection is centered over its starting point.
4 When you have the entire blueberry selected, release first the
mouse button and then the
Alt/Option key.
If necessary, adjust the selection border using one of the methods
you learned earlier.
Moving a selection
Now you’ll use the move tool to move the blueberry onto the carrot
slice to create an eye for the face. Then
you’ll duplicate and move the selection to make a second eye.
1 Make sure that the blueberry is selected. Then click the move tool
( the arrow), and position the pointer within the blueberry’s selection. The pointer becomes an arrow
with a pair of scissors to indicate that
dragging the selection will cut it from its present location and move it to the
new location.
2 Drag the blueberry onto the carrot slice.
3 Choose Select > Deselect.
4 Choose File
> Save. – Save as melonhead in your u drive – week
1 folder
Moving and duplicating simultaneously
Next you’ll move and duplicate a selection simultaneously.
1 Choose View > Fit on Screen to resize the document to fit on
your screen.
2 Select the elliptical marquee tool.
3 Drag a selection around the carrot slice containing the blueberry.
If necessary, adjust the selection border.
4 Click the move tool, then hold
down the Alt key, and position the
will be made when you move the selection.
5 Continue holding down
the Altkey, and drag a duplicate of the eye onto the left side of the melon face. Release the mouse button
and the Alt key -- but do not deselect the eye.
Holding down Shift when you move a selection constrains the
movement horizontally or vertically. Using
this technique, you’ll drag a copy of the left eye to the right side of the
face so that the two eyes
are level.
6 Hold down the Shift+Alt
keys, and drag a copy of the eye to the right side of the face.
7 Choose File > Save.
Moving with a keyboard shortcut
Next you’ll select the kiwi fruit for the melon’s mouth and then
move it onto the melon using a
1 Select the elliptical marquee
tool from the toolbox.
2 Drag a selection around the
kiwi fruit using one of the methods you learned earlier.
3 With the marquee tool still
selected, hold down the Control key, and position the pointer within
the selection. A pair of scissors appears with the pointer to indicate the selection will be cut from its
current location.
4 Drag the kiwi mouth onto the
face. Do not deselect.
Moving with the arrow keys
You can make minor adjustments to the position of a selection
using the arrow keys, which allow
you to nudge the selection.
Note:
The arrow keys adjust the position of a selection only if you’ve
already moved the selection or if
you have the move tool selected. If you try the arrow keys on a
selection that has not yet been moved, they will adjust the selection border,
not the part of the image that is selected.
1 Press the up arrow key a few
times to move the mouth upward. Notice that each time you
press the arrow key, the mouth moves in 1-pixel increments. Experiment
with the other arrow keys to see how they affect the selection.
2 Choose View > Hide Edges.
The selection border around the mouth disappears.
3 Now hold down Shift and press
an arrow key. Notice that the selection moves in 10-pixel
increments.
4 Use the arrow keys to nudge
the mouth until it is positioned where you want it. Then choose
View > Show Edges.
5 Choose File > Save.
Selecting with the magic wand
The magic wand tool lets you select adjacent pixels in an image
based on their similarity in color.
You’ll use the magic wand tool to select the pear tomato, which
you’ll use as a nose for the face.
1 Double-click the magic wand
tool (looks kinda like a cigarette
) in the toolbox to select the tool
Note:
The options palette is towards the top of the photoshop document
In the Magic Wand Options palette, the Tolerance setting controls
how many similar tones of a color are selected when you click an area. The
default value is 32, indicating that 32 similar lighter tones and 32 similar darker
tones will be selected.
2 For Tolerance, enter 50 to
increase the number of shades that will be selected.
3 Click the magic wand tool
anywhere within the pear tomato. Most of it will be selected.
4 To select the remaining area
of the pear tomato, hold down Shift and click the unselected areas.
Notice that a plus sign appears with the magic wand pointer
indicating that you’re adding to the
current selection.
5 When the pear tomato is
completely selected, hold down Control, position the pointer within
the selection, and drag the tomato nose onto the melon face.
6 Choose Select > Deselect.
7 Choose File > Save.
Selecting with the lasso tool
You can use the lasso tool to make selections that require both
freehand and straight lines. You’ll
1 Select the zoom tool, and
click twice on the bow tie pasta to enlarge its view to 300%.
2 Select the lasso tool (little
rope like thing). Starting at the top left corner of the bow tie pasta, drag to
the right to create a freehand outline across the curves at the top of the bow
tie. Continue holding down the mouse.
3 To select the right edge of
the bow tie, hold down the Alt key, release the
4 Release the Alt key, and drag
to the left to create a freehand outline across the bottom of the bow tie. (The pointer returns to
the lasso icon.)
5 Hold down the Alt key again,
and click the mouse button along the left edge of the bow tie to
6 To complete the selection,
make sure that the last straight line crosses the start of the selection,
7 Choose View > Fit on Screen
to resize the document to fit on your screen.
8 Hold down the Control key and
drag the bow tie selection to the
9 Choose File > Save.
Adding and subtracting selections
Holding down the Shift key while you are selecting an area adds to the
current selection; holding down the Alt key subtracts from the selection.
You’ll now use these techniques with
1 Select the zoom tool, and
click twice on the mushroom to enlarge its view to 300%.
2 Select the lasso tool, and
drag a rough outline around the mushroom (include some of the area
outside the mushroom and some of the stem).
3 Hold down Shift. A plus sign
appears with the lasso tool pointer.
4 Drag the lasso tool around an
area you want to add to the selection; then release the mouse
button. The area is added to the current selection.
Note:
If you release the mouse button while drawing a selection with the
lasso tool, the selection closes
itself by drawing a straight line between the starting point and the
point where you release the mouse. To create a more precise border, end the
selection by crossing the starting point.
Next, you’ll remove, or subtract, part of the selection.
5 Hold down the Alt key . A
minus sign appears with the lasso tool pointer.
6 Drag the lasso tool around an
area you want to remove from the selection; then repeat the process until you’ve finished removing
all the unwanted parts of the selection.
7 Choose View > Fit on
Screen.
8 To move the mushroom hat onto
the melon head, hold down Alt+Control at the same time, and
drag a copy of the mushroom to the top of the melon.
9 Choose File > Save.
Selecting with the magnetic lasso
You can use the magnetic lasso tool to make freehand selections of
areas with high contrast edges. When you draw with the magnetic lasso, the
border automatically snaps to the edge you are tracing. You can also control
the direction of the tool’s path by clicking the mouse to place occasional fastening
points in the selection border.
You’ll now make an ear for the melon face by using the magnetic
lasso to select the red part of the grapefruit slice.
1 Select the zoom tool, and
click the grapefruit slice to zoom in to a 200% view.
2 Hold down the mouse button on
the lasso tool in the toolbox, and drag to the magnetic lasso tool to select it.
3 Now click once at the lower
left corner of the red flesh of the grapefruit slice, release the mouse
button, and begin tracing the outline of the flesh by dragging to the
right over the curved upper
edge. Notice that the tool snaps to the edge and automatically puts in
fastening points.
If you think the tool is not
following the edge closely enough (in low contrast areas), you can place your
own fastening point in the border by clicking the mouse button. You can add as many fastening points as you feel necessary. You
can also remove fastening points and back up in the path by pressing the Delete
key and moving the mouse back to the last remaining fastening point.
4 When you reach the lower right
corner of the grapefruit flesh, double-click the mouse button,
which signals the magnetic lasso tool to return to the starting point
and close the selection. Notice
that the tool automatically follows the remaining edge of the flesh as
it completes the border.
You can now move the selected part of the grapefruit next to the
melon.
5Double-click the hand tool to fit the image
on screen.
6 Click the move tool, and drag
the grapefruit ear to the middle of the left side of the melon face.
Do not deselect.
7 Choose File > Save.
Transforming a selection
Next you’ll use the Free Transform command to rotate and scale the
melon’s left ear, and then you’ll duplicate and flip a copy to create a right
ear.
1Choose Image>Transform > Free
Transform. A bounding box appears around the ear selection.
2 To rotate the ear, position
the pointer outside a corner handle until you see a double-headed
3 To scale the ear, position the pointer directly on one of the corner handles, and
drag to reduce the size of the ear. To scale the ear proportionately, hold down Shift
as you drag.
4 To reposition the ear, place
your pointer within the bounding box, but not on the center point,
and drag.
Note:
If you place the pointer on the center point and drag, you will
move the center point.
If you don’t like the results of a Free Transform, press Escape
and start over.
5 When you have the ear
positioned correctly, press Enter to apply the transformation. The ear
remains selected.
You will now move a copy of the ear to the right side of the face,
flip the ear horizontally, and finetune its
placement.
6 Position the pointer within
the ear selection, hold down Shift+Alt and
drag a copy of the ear to the right side of the face.
7 Choose Image>Rotate> Flip Horizontal.
8 If necessary, place the
pointer within the selection, and drag to reposition it next to the
9 If necessary, choose Image >
Free Transform, rotate the ear to fit the right side of the face, and press Enter to complete the transformation.
10 Choose File > Save.
Combining selection tools
As you already know, the magic wand tool makes selections based on
color. If an object you want to select is on a solid-colored background, it can
be much easier to select the object and the
You’ll see how this works by using the rectangular marquee tool
and the magic wand tool to select radish eyebrows for the face.
1 Hold down the mouse button on
the elliptical marquee tool, and drag to the rectangular
2 Drag a selection around the
radishes. Notice that some of the white background is included in
At this point, the radishes and the white background area are
selected. You’ll subtract the white area from the selection, resulting in only
the radishes being selected.
3 Click the magic wand tool in
the toolbox; then hold down the Alt key.
4 Click anywhere in the white area surrounding the radishes. Now only the radishes are selected.
5 To duplicate and move the
radish eyebrow to the melon face, hold down Alt+Control
) and drag the radish above the left eye on the melon face.
Do not deselect.
6 Hold down Shift+Alt+Control,
position the pointer within the
7 Choose Image>Rotate> Flip Layer Horizontal to adjust the
right eyebrow. If you like, reposition the eyebrow using any of the methods
you’ve learned.
8 Choose File > Save.
Cropping the completed
image
To complete the artwork, you’ll crop the image to a final size.
1 Choose the crop tool from the toolbox.
2 Move the pointer into the image window, and drag diagonally from
the top left to the bottom
right corner of the completed artwork to create a crop marquee.
3 If you need to reposition the crop marquee, position the pointer
anywhere inside the marquee
4 If you want to resize the marquee, drag a handle.
5 When the marquee is positioned where you want it, press Enter
to crop the image.
6 Choose File > Save.
7. Choose File > Save for Web>melonhead
(this will make your image a jpeg)
8. Place on your daily log and worklinks
– Make sure you put on the jpeg – not the psd