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The Marquee tool is the most basic of selection tools and
often the one most useful. This tool is used to draw selections
based on geometric shapes. Specifically, the marquee tool allows you to draw
rectangular and elliptical selections. To form the selection, simply click
and drag the mouse.
You can easily choose the geometrical form by changing the value for SHAPE in
the options palette. [IMAGE]
Notice that there are two special
cases of rectangle in which you are constrained to a single row of pixels or a
single column of pixels. |
Note that a square is a special case of rectangle and a
circle is a special case of ellipse. To get a square from a rectangular marquee
or a circle from an elliptical marquee, simply press and hold the SHIFT key
while you drag out your selection.
An often-desired function is the ability
to draw a rectangular or elliptical shape. To do this, simply use the selection tool
to define the outline of your shape and then use the EDIT --> FILL or EDIT -->
STROKE menu item to either fill or outline the shape. |
As you are dragging out your selections, you should
notice that selections are drawn outwards from the point at which you initially clicked on the canvas.
Sometimes, this can be disconcerting, especially if you are trying to select
a circular area around some base point. Fortunately, Photoshop has an answer.
To draw the selection out from the center, press and hold the ALT key while
dragging out the selection.
Of course, to anti-alias your selection, you can use the
anti-alias checkbox or the feather checkbox or both. The feathering checkbox simply
affords an extra degree of anti-aliasing.
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