Page 52 - Adobe Photoshop CC 2020

STAGE 3 / Creating Complex Selections

Photoshop includes a number of options for making selections based on the color content of an
image. The method you use will vary depending on the actual content of your image, as well as what
you hope to accomplish.

The Select>Color Range menu command opens a dialog box that you can use to select areas of
an image based on sampled colors.
• On the right side of the dialog box, the
Eyedropper tool is selected by default. You Eyedropper tool
can click a color in the image, either in the Add to Sample
document window or in the dialog box preview Subtract from Sample
window, to define the color range you want
to select (called sampling). You can then use
the Add to Sample and Subtract from Sample Click in the image to
eyedroppers to refine your selection. define the color range
• The Select menu at the top of the dialog box you want to select.
includes several presets for isolating specific
ranges of primary colors (Reds, Yellows, Greens,
Cyans, Blues, or Magentas), or specific ranges Light areas are Dark areas are
of color (highlights, midtones, or shadows). selected. not selected.
• If you select the Skin Tones preset, you can Gray areas are
then activate the Detect Faces option at the partially selected.
top of the dialog box. By adjusting the Fuzziness slider, you can use this dialog box to make
reasonably good selections of people’s skin. (Again, remember that no automatic option is a
perfect substitute when subjective decision-making is required. Other tones in an image might
be similar enough to a “skin tone” that unwanted areas will be included in the selection.)

• The Localized Color Clusters option can be used to select specific areas of a selected color.
When this option is checked, the Range slider defines how far away (in physical distance) a
color can be located from the point you click and still be included in the selection.
• Fuzziness is similar to the Tolerance setting for the Magic Wand tool. Changing the
Fuzziness value expands (higher numbers) or contracts (lower numbers) the selection. Be
careful, though, as higher fuzziness values can eliminate fine lines and detail.
• The Selection Preview menu determines how the selection appears in the document window:
– None shows the normal image in the document window.

– Grayscale shows the entire image in shades of gray. Selected areas are solid white and
unselected areas are solid black.

– Black Matte shows unselected areas in solid black. Selected areas appear in color.
– White Matte shows unselected areas in solid white. Selected areas appear in color.

– Quick Mask adds a partially transparent overlay to unselected areas.
• You can check the Invert box to return a selection that is the opposite of the color range you
select. This is useful if you want to isolate (select) the background instead of the actual areas
you selected in the dialog box.

64 Project 1: Music CD Artwork