Reselect, Magnetic Lasso, Freeform Pen, Magnetic Pen
Dateline: 09/06/99
Reselect Command
The
first of the new selection tools and commands is the reselect option found under
the Select menu. This option simply reselects the most recent selection.
Magnetic Lasso Tool 
If you've ever struggled with making difficult selections you will love the
magnetic lasso tool. Just click once along the edge of the area you want to
select to set the first point, then drag all along the edge of the area you
want to select. The magnetic lasso detects the edges and creates the selection
as you drag the pointer. You can see the selection being created as you drag,
so if you get off track a little, you can easily just back up the pointer to
the last fastening point and keep going.
| This tool worked surprisingly well, even on images where there weren't always distinct edges to the area being selected. As you can see in my example, I was able to do a pretty good job of selecting the man in the image by using the magnetic lasso tool alone. From the enlarged view, you can see I lost a bit of his face; that could easily have been touched up with the other selection tools or with some tweaking of the tool options beforehand. Had those areas been more distinct, it would have been a flawless selection... in just a few seconds, and using a mouse at that. | 
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As
you can see from the magnetic lasso options, you can control the feathering,
anti-aliasing, lasso width, frequency, edge contrast, and stylus pressure. The
lasso width is the distance from the pointer that the magnetic lasso
will detect the edges of the selection. You can modify the lasso width settings
as you make a selection by using the modifier keys [ to reduce the width, and
] to increase the width. Frequency controls the rate at which the tool
sets down fastening points. The edge contrast determines the sensitivity
of the tool to the edges. This is the option I could have adjusted to get a
better selection of the man's face in the example above.
Freeform Pen Tool 
The
freeform pen tool is only slightly different from the regular pen tool from
previous versions. The main difference is that you do not lay down anchor points
manually by clicking, you simply draw the path by dragging the pointer, and
the points are laid down automatically. You can later go back and adjust the
points once the path is complete. There is only one setting on the options palette
for this tool - curve fit. The curve fit determines how much the path is smoothed.
A high number results in less points being laid down, a lower number lays down
more points and matches the pointer trail more closely.
Magnetic Pen Tool 
The magnetic pen tool works similarly to the magnetic lasso tool mentioned above,
but instead of making a selection as you drag the pointer, you are making a
path. As you drag the pointer you can also click to add points to the path as
needed. By holding down the Alt(Win)/Option(Mac) key and dragging you can draw
freehand paths, and by holding the Alt(Win)/Option(Mac) key and clicking, you
can draw straight segments.
The
options for the magentic pen tool inlcude curve fit, pen width, frequency, edge
contrast, and stylus pressure. Curve fit is described above for the freeform
pen tool. Width, frequency, and edge contrast are all similar to the coresponding
options for the magnetic lasso tool. The [ and ] modifier keys can be used to
adjust the pen width, just as they are used to adjust the lasso width for the
magnetic lasso tool.
Return to the Introduction/Table of Contents.
Go to the Next Page: Measure Tool
Also see: Photoshop Resources
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Sue Chastain |
B&W "Man with Briefcase" image © Adobe Systems, Inc. from the Stockart folder on the Photoshop 5.5 CD-ROM. Screen shots captured with Corel Capture 9.
