Photoshop Top 40, Feature #25: Selection Calculations

Most of Photoshop’s top features are expressed as tools or commands. But some are more conceptual, meaning that they have almost no interface associated with them. Seriously, it goes from your mind to your hands to the mouse to the keyboard to Photoshop.

Selection calculations are a fantastic example. Want to make a new selection? Just drag. Add to an existing selection? Press the Shift key and drag. And that, my friends, is only the beginning.

Photoshop’s selection calculations rely on a handful of keyboard tricks that you can apply to the marquee, lasso, wand, and quick-select tools; not to mention elements of the Layers, Channels, and Paths palettes. In the event that these keyboard tricks seem a bit overwhelming, take heart that the keys work in a kind of rhythm. In all cases, you press Shift to add to a selection, Alt (or Option) to subtract, and Shift+Alt (Shift+Option) to find the intersection. Watch the video to learn more.

All the base art comes to us from image vendor Fotolia. This includes the sky (free_photo: #12254744); the crowd (Sergio Hayashi: #5401081); the rays (Imrich Farkas: #9327368); and the smiley face (Beboy: #15826580). Click this link for a special deal.

(For a list of all Photoshop Top 40 videos thus far, click here.)

As you may know by now, Photoshop Top 40 is available as a downloadable podcast from iTunes. Click here to subscribe. dekePod subscribers will get the videos automatically.

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  • Second/Dual monitor celebration, question to Deke

    I’m sorry for not posting this to the right place most likely, but I have a very important question to Deke. Back in the day I had Total Training Adobe Creative Suite CS2, where he talked about doing a celebration to the monitor before starting to use it. Ever since I’ve been doing it till now, I decided to add 2nd screen and use it as “extended monitor” to the side. Deke talked about using the “Datacolor Spyder 3 Elite” software/hardware and I have it.

    THE QUESTION IS, how do I celebrate and use it with 2 monitors at the same time. I tried but cant get it to work, only 1 profile is loaded to the video card and both monitors look totally different. Deke can you give me an advice how to use dual monitors and have them look the same or alike, by using Datacolor Spyder 3 Elite or any other software/hardware. As a web designer and photographer, and everyone else in this field will definitely benefit from your answer! I’m sure there are many other people there wondering the same question. Thanks in advanced and again excuse me for posting this here, I just don’t know where is appropriate.

  • Indeed

    for a lot of people having a second monitor has become standard/normal but it’s good to realise that for a lot of others it’s indeed a happy moment when they finally were able to purchase and so for them indeed a .celebration. is in place!


    Sorry, couldn’t resist.


    Well could but didn’t - sorry again.. :)

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