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How do I edit the selection area in Photoshop?

Published in Photoshop Editing 3 mins read

Editing the selection area in Photoshop involves refining and modifying the boundaries of your selection after you've initially created it. Here's how you can do it:

Methods for Editing Selections

Photoshop offers various tools and techniques to fine-tune your selections. Here are some common approaches:

1. Using Selection Tools with Add/Subtract Options:

  • Adding to a Selection: Select your desired selection tool (e.g., Lasso Tool, Marquee Tool, Quick Selection Tool). Then, hold down the Shift key while making another selection. This will add the new selection to the existing one.
  • Subtracting from a Selection: Select your desired selection tool. Hold down the Alt key (Windows) or Option key (Mac) while making a selection. This will subtract the new selection from the existing one.
  • Intersecting with a Selection: Select your desired selection tool. Hold down the Shift + Alt keys (Windows) or Shift + Option keys (Mac) while making a selection. Only the intersection of the new and existing selections will remain selected.

2. Select and Mask Workspace

The Select and Mask workspace offers comprehensive tools for refining selections, especially useful for complex areas like hair or fur.

  1. Make an Initial Selection: Use a selection tool (e.g., Quick Selection, Lasso Tool) to make a rough selection of your desired area.
  2. Enter Select and Mask: Go to Select > Select and Mask.
  3. Use Refine Edge Brush: The Refine Edge Brush tool is particularly useful for softening edges and capturing fine details. Brush over the edges of your selection to refine them.
  4. Adjust Global Refinements: In the Select and Mask Properties panel, you can adjust settings like:
    • Smooth: Reduces irregularities in the selection boundary.
    • Feather: Blurs the selection edge for a softer transition.
    • Contrast: Sharpens the selection edge.
    • Shift Edge: Expands or contracts the selection boundary.
    • Decontaminate Colors: Helps to remove color fringing around the selection.
  5. Output Settings: Choose your desired output option (e.g., Selection, Layer Mask, New Layer).
  6. Click OK.

3. Modify Selection Menu

The Select > Modify menu provides options for directly altering the selection boundary:

  • Border: Creates a selection around the existing selection's edge.
  • Smooth: Smooths the selection boundary to remove jagged edges.
  • Expand: Expands the selection by a specified number of pixels.
  • Contract: Contracts the selection by a specified number of pixels.
  • Feather: Blurs the selection edge, creating a softer transition.

4. Transforming a Selection

You can also transform the selection itself (not the content within the selection).

  1. Make a Selection: Use any selection tool to create your initial selection.
  2. Go to Select > Transform Selection: This will allow you to resize, rotate, skew, or distort the selection boundary itself.
  3. Adjust the Selection: Use the handles to transform the selection as needed. Press Enter to commit the changes.

Example Scenario

Imagine you've used the Quick Selection Tool to select a person in a photo, but it also selected a small part of the background. You can use the Lasso Tool, holding down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac), to carefully draw around that unwanted portion of the selection, effectively removing it. Alternatively, the Select and Mask workspace would let you refine the edges, especially around hair.

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