Magic Wand Selection Tool

The selection tools allow you to choose various different areas of your image. These areas can be manipulated, painted on and filtered without changing the appearance of the areas outside of the selection.

In the example, I opened my image and immediately Promoted the Background Layer to a layer. (Shift + A to Select All, Selections | Promote to Layer). Use the Layer Visibility Toggle buttons to turn off the Background and the Promoted Layer.

The next step was to add another layer which will act as a backdrop for our image. Change your foreground color on your Color Palette to R:250, G:199, B:198. Using the Fill Tool, fill this layer with the foreground color. Drag your Promoted Layer above this layer in the Layers Control dialog box.

Press Ctrl + D to release any selections.
Switch the foreground and background colors on your Color Palette.

Working on the Promoted Layer, I used the Magic Wand to select the dark 'background' areas of the photo. The amount of area involved in the selection is dependant on the Tolerance settings. A higher Tolerance setting will include more areas in the selection while a lower setting will include less. I used a Tolerance setting of 20 but due to the nature of the beast each image will require a different setting to achieve the desired results. Even the 'area' of the image where you click can affect the selection.

Notice how the selection line is inset into the lighter areas of the image. This is caused by having a Feather setting of 20 applied to the magic wand. Had the Feather been set to zero, the line would have been more nearly aligned along the exact break between the light and dark colors.

A single tap on the delete key removes the selected area, replacing it with the color from the backdrop layer, (Layer 1).

Again, note how the previous Feather setting has affected the function of the delete key. Instead of a hard line between the selected and non-selected areas, we have a soft fading from one to the other.

When the Magic Wand Feather option is set to a number other than zero, the Ctrl key can be used to de-select areas within the selected area. (It can be used even if the feather is set to zero, but the resulting area is so minute as to be indistinguishable).

To put the finishing touches on my image I used the Eraser Tool with the options set as follows:

• Opacity: 57
• Density: 100
• Size: 66
• Hardness: 50
• Step: 57
• Paper Texture: Small Brick

Having the Opacity set to a lower number, rather than 100, gives a nice blending effect.

Note: When working on a single layer, ie. the background rather than a multiple layer image, the Eraser Tool removes everything down to the canvas, including the image. Please see Eraser Tool for more detail.

Lasso Tool
Introduction to Paint Shop Pro 5 : Table of Contents
Move Tool