How To Use Lasso Tool In Photoshop Cs6

The Lasso Tool In Photoshop

And then far in our journeying through Photoshop's various option tools, we've looked at how the Rectangular Marquee Tool allows us to easily draw selections based on simple rectangular or foursquare shapes, and how the Elliptical Marquee Tool extends our option making abilities into the exciting world of ovals and circles. But what if nosotros need to select something in a photo that's a little more complex, like someone's eyes, an item of vesture, or maybe a auto or a bottle? Something that still has a clearly defined form to information technology just is beyond the capabilities of Photoshop'southward geometry-based Marquee Tools.

If you're a more advanced Photoshop user, you'll probably head directly for the Pen Tool, the tool of selection for making professional quality class-based selections. But if you have a practiced quality mouse (or even better, a pen tablet), decent drawing skills and a little patience, y'all may find that the Lasso Tool, another of Photoshop's bones selection tools, is all you lot need.

This tutorial is from our How to make selections in Photoshop serial.

Photoshop actually gives us three variations of lasso to work with. The ane we'll exist looking at in this tutorial is the standard Lasso Tool, which you tin can access by clicking on its icon in the Tools panel. It's the tool that looks like the sort of lasso you'd detect a cowboy swinging at a rodeo:

Selecting the standard Lasso Tool.

For a faster way to select the Lasso Tool, simply press the letter L on your keyboard. There are ii other types of lasso tools also - the Polygonal Lasso Tool and the Magnetic Lasso Tool, both of which are hiding behind the standard Lasso Tool in the Tools panel. We'll look at both of these tools in carve up tutorials, but to access either of them, simply click and concur your mouse push downwardly on the standard Lasso Tool until a modest wing-out menu appears, then select either tool from the menu:

The Lasso, Polygonal Lasso and Magnetic Lasso Tools in Photoshop.

Each of the three types of lasso tool gives united states a different way to draw selections.

All three lasso tools share the alphabetic character L as their keyboard shortcut for selecting them, so depending on how you take things prepare up in Photoshop's Preferences, you tin bike through the three tools either by pressing the letter L repeatedly or past pressing Shift+L. We covered how to alter the option in the Preferences for switching between tools in the Elliptical Marquee Tool tutorial.

Shortcodes, Deportment and Filters Plugin: Error in shortcode [ads-nuts-heart-2]

Drawing Freehand Selections

Of all the selection tools in Photoshop, the Lasso Tool is probably the easiest to use and understand because you simply drag a freehand selection around the object or area you want to select, in a similar way to how you lot would outline something on a piece of newspaper with a pen or pencil. With the Lasso Tool selected, your mouse cursor will announced as a small lasso icon, and you lot only click at the spot in the document where y'all want to brainstorm the selection, then continue property your mouse button down and drag to draw a freeform pick outline:

Drawing a selection with the Lasso Tool in Photoshop.

Drawing a selection outline with the Lasso Tool is like cartoon with a pen or pencil on paper.

To complete the choice, simply return to the spot where yous began and release your mouse button. You lot don't necessarily have to return the same spot you lot started from, just if you lot don't, Photoshop will automatically shut the option for you lot past drawing a straight line from the point where yous released your mouse push button to the point where y'all began, then in nigh cases, yous volition desire to finish where you started:

Photoshop automatically closing a selection with the Lasso Tool.

Photoshop will close a choice automatically with a direct line if you don't drag dorsum to the beginning point.

To say that the Lasso Tool is not the nearly accurate of Photoshop's option tools would be an understatement, but its usefulness is greatly improved with Photoshop's ability to add to and subtract from selections. I notice that the best way to work with the Lasso Tool is to drag an initial selection around the object or surface area I'm selecting, ignoring whatever obvious mistakes I made, then going back around and fixing upwards the problem areas past adding to or subtracting from the pick as needed.

Here's a photo I currently accept open on my screen of two people shaking hands. I want to select the handshake and place it into a different epitome:

Two business people shaking hands. Image licensed by iStockphoto by Photoshop Essentials.com

The Lasso Tool is a good selection for selecting freeform objects similar this.

To brainstorm my pick, I'll first catch the Lasso Tool from the Tools console equally we saw earlier. So I'll click somewhere along the summit of the sleeve of the person on the left to begin my pick, although it actually makes no difference where forth the object you begin your selection with the Lasso Tool. Once I've clicked on a starting indicate, I'll continue holding my mouse button downwards as I drag to describe an outline around the area of the photo I need. I can already run into that I've made some mistakes, only I'll ignore them for now and proceed on:

Drawing a selection outline with the Lasso Tool.

Don't worry about any mistakes with your initial selection. You can ready them afterwards.

If yous need to scroll your image around inside the document window equally you're drawing the selection, hold down your spacebar, which will temporarily switch you to Photoshop's Hand Tool, scroll the image as needed, then release your spacebar and proceed drawing the choice.

To make sure I select all of the pixels I demand forth the edge of the photo, I'll press the alphabetic character F on my keyboard to switch to Full Screen Mode with Menu Bar and I'll drag my selection outline into the gray pasteboard area surrounding the image. Don't worry about selecting the pasteboard, since Photoshop merely cares almost the paradigm itself, not the pasteboard area:

Moving into the pasteboard area with the Lasso Tool to select edge pixels.

Information technology'southward okay to drag the Lasso Tool into the pasteboard surface area when you need to select pixels forth the edge of a photo.

If you lot want to switch back to the document window view mode, press the letter F a couple more than times to cycle through Photoshop's screen modes. I'll continue dragging effectually the expanse I need to select until I'm back to my starting betoken, and to complete my initial selection with the Lasso Tool, I'll simply release my mouse push button. An animated outline, commonly known as "marching ants", now appears around the selected surface area:

The initial selection is complete, but there'south quite a few problem areas that demand fixing.

Since the Lasso Tool is essentially a manual selection tool that relies heavily on your own drawing skills, too as on the accuracy and functioning of your mouse, you'll probably stop up with an initial selection outline that falls well short of perfect, equally mine did. Not to worry though, since we can easily become back and set up the trouble areas, which we'll do next!

Adding To The Initial Choice

To inspect the selection outline for whatsoever problem areas, information technology usually helps to be zoomed in on the epitome. To zoom in, printing and concord Ctrl+spacebar (Win) / Command+spacebar (Mac) to temporarily switch to Photoshop's Zoom Tool, and then click inside the document window once or twice to zoom in (to zoom back out later, press and hold Alt+spacebar (Win) / Option-spacebar (Mac) and click inside the document window). Once yous've zoomed in, hold down your spacebar by itself to temporarily switch to the Mitt Tool, then click and drag the image along the choice outline to look for problems.

Here, I've come beyond an surface area where I missed the edge of the person's mitt:

A problem area with the selection outline.

Ane of several problem areas with the initial choice.

No need to commencement all over over again. I can hands prepare this by simply adding to the existing selection. Brand sure you still take the Lasso Tool selected, and then to add to a option, hold down your Shift key. You'll meet a minor plus sign (+) appear in the lesser right of the cursor icon, letting you know that yous're now in Add to Selection mode. With the Shift primal held down, click somewhere inside of the existing selection, so drag outside of it and along the edge of the area y'all want to add together. When you're washed adding the new area, elevate back within of the existing selection:

Adding to an initial selection created with the Lasso Tool in Photoshop.

Hold down your Shift key and drag around the area you want to add to the existing selection.

Drag back to the spot where you initially clicked, so release your mouse button to finish. The expanse of the person's hand that I missed initially has now been added:

A new area has been added to the existing selection in Photoshop.

More of the image has been added to the initial selection.

In that location's no need to proceed holding down your Shift key the whole fourth dimension y'all're calculation to a pick. Once you've started dragging your mouse, you can safely release the Shift key. Y'all'll stay in Add to Selection mode until you release your mouse button.

Subtracting From The Initial Selection

I'll continue scrolling along my selection outline looking for problems, and hither I've come beyond the exact opposite problem from what I had a moment ago. This time, I selected too much of the image around the person'due south finger:

Too much of the image has been selected.

Another sloppy choice area. This fourth dimension, too much of the area was selected.

No worries though, since we can remove parts of a selection simply every bit easily equally we can add to them. To remove an unwanted area from a selection, concur downwardly your Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key. This will place you in Subtract from Selection mode, and yous'll come across a small-scale minus sign (-) appear in the lesser right corner of the cursor icon. With the Alt / Option primal held down, simply click anywhere exterior of the existing selection to set a starting betoken, and so elevate within the option and along the border of the area yous desire to remove. In my case, I'm going to drag forth the border of the finger. When you lot're done, drag back outside of the existing selection:

Removing part of an initial selection created with the Lasso Tool in Photoshop.

Removing the problem expanse by subtracting it from the pick.

Drag dorsum to the spot where you first clicked, and so release your mouse push button to stop. The unwanted expanse around the person'southward finger has now been removed:

The unwanted selection area has been removed.

Problem area? What problem surface area? I don't see any problem area.

Again, there's no need to concord your Alt / Option cardinal down the entire time. Yous can safely release the fundamental once you've started dragging. Yous'll remain in Subtract from Choice mode until you release your mouse button.

Once I've scrolled all around the selection outline fixing problems by adding or removing parts every bit needed, my last choice with the Lasso Tool is complete:

The final selection in Photoshop made with the Lasso Tool.

The last selection.

With the handshake at present selected, I'll press Ctrl+C (Win) / Command+C (Mac) to quickly copy the selected expanse, then I'll open upwards a second image in Photoshop and press Ctrl+V (Win) / Command+5 (Mac) to paste the handshake into the new photo, repositioning information technology as needed:

The selection has been pasted into the second image in Photoshop.

Thanks to our successful Lasso Tool selection, business organisation is booming!

Removing A Selection

When you're done with a choice created with the Lasso Tool, you can remove information technology by going up to the Select menu at the top of the screen and choosing Deselect, or y'all tin can press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+D (Win) / Command+D (Mac). Yous can also just click anywhere inside of the document with the Lasso Tool.

Where to go next...

Every bit nosotros've seen, Photoshop's Lasso Tool is an incredibly like shooting fish in a barrel tool to utilize, and while it may non qualify equally a professional-level option tool, the ability to get back and ready problems with the initial selection can actually help to improve your results. Upwards adjacent, we'll expect at the second of the three lasso tools, the Polygonal Lasso Tool! For more on making selections in Photoshop, meet our complete How to make selections in Photoshop serial. Or for other Photoshop topics, visit our Photoshop Basics department.