Make a selection with the QUICK SELECTION TOOL

The Quick Selection tool in Photoshop enables you to easily select broad areas of an image by simply painting over them. You can use the Quick Selection tool to remove a background and isolate the main subject. 

You can brush over different parts of a photo, varying the brush size as you work, or just click areas for a more limited selection. Once you have made your first selection, the tool automatically changes to the Add to Selection tool, so you can easily add areas without pressing any additional keys. You can subtract from the selection by pressing and holding Option (Alt) as you paint, or using the Subtract from Selection tool in the Options bar. 

This task shows the basic steps for selecting a subject and putting it on a separate layer. You can also select the background on a duplicated layer and press Delete (Backspace) to remove the background from the image, leaving just the subject on the layer. With any active selection you can click Layer in the menu and click Inverse to invert the selection. 

For most selections, you will also need to use the tools in task #23 and/or task #25 to improve or refine the selection. 

1 Click the Quick Selection tool. 

2 Click the Brush Preset drop-down menu to open the Brush picker. 

3 Click and drag the Size slider to adjust the brush tip size. 

A If you have a pen tablet attached, you can click the Size drop-down menu to set the brush size with Pen Pressure. 

4 Press Ô+spacebar (Ctrl+spacebar) and click to zoom in, or click and drag in the image to dynamically zoom in. 

Note: Although on a Mac the Spotlight feature momentarily opens with the same keystrokes, using Ô+spacebar in Photoshop still zooms in. 

5 Click and drag inside the part of the image you want to select. 

6 Click and drag in another area to be selected. 

B The tool changes to the Add to Selection option. 

7 Continue changing the brush size and clicking and dragging in the image to select more areas. 

8 Press and hold Option (Alt).

C The tool temporarily changes to the Subtract from Selection tool. 

9 Click in areas that you want to remove from the selection. 

10 Press and hold the spacebar and click in the image to move to a different area. 

11 Click any other areas to remove them from the selection. 

12 Press Ô+J (Ctrl+J) to put the selection on its own layer. 

The selected area appears on a new layer above the Background layer. 

13 Click the eye icon to toggle the Background layer’s visibility. 

TIPS

Enhance It!

You can click the Auto-Enhance option in the Options bar ( changes to ) to reduce the roughness of the selection boundary and extend the selection toward the edges it detects. Depending on the speed of your computer, adding the Auto-Enhance option may slow the selection process.

Keyboard Shortcuts! 

To quickly change the brush size as you work, you can use the keyboard. Press the left bracket key to decrease the brush size or the right bracket key to increase the brush size. 

More Options! 

Click Sample All Layers ( changes to ) in the Options bar to make a selection based on all layers instead of just the currently selected layer.