Selecting Pixels

Selections isolate pixels so that drawing, filling, or color adjustments affect only the targeted area. The editor supports three primary selection methods:

Each method has its own button in the bottom row of the toolbar:

• Box Select M: click and drag a rectangle. Its panel switches it between Rectangle and Ellipse, or press M again while it is active. An ellipse selects the same pixels the Circle tool draws for the same drag, plus everything inside. Press Shift during the drag (after you start) for a square or a circle; Shift held as you press still adds to the selection.
• Polygon Select L: click points around an irregular shape. Close the path by clicking the start point, double-clicking, or pressing Enter. Each edge selects exactly the pixels the Line tool draws between the same two points, so a selection traced over a drawn line follows it. Hold Shift while placing a point to snap its edge like the Line tool (flat, upright, 45°, 1:2 or 1:3). The guide shows each edge as the pixels it will select. Shift on the first click still adds to the selection.
• Magic Wand W: click any pixel to select its color. Set Tolerance to capture similar colors, and toggle Contiguous only to limit the selection to touching pixels. It selects exactly the matching pixels on the active layer, so even a 1px line of another color stays out of the selection. Dragging with the Wand draws a box instead.

To move selected pixels, drag from inside the selection with Box Select or Polygon Select. Click a selection without dragging to deselect it. Box Select and Polygon Select can start in the space around the image, and Polygon points can go there too; the selection is trimmed to the image. A press out there always starts a new selection and never moves one. The Magic Wand needs a click on the image. Click Box Select again for its panel, which has the shape switch and Select All (or press Ctrl / Cmd + A). Polygon Select has no settings, so it opens no panel. The status line at the top of the editor repeats these keys whenever you pick a selection tool.

Magic Wand: Advanced Settings

Click the Magic Wand button again for its panel: Tolerance, and under Advanced, this setting:

• Contiguous only:
  • When Checked (Default): Selects only touching, connected pixels of the same color starting from where you click. Useful for isolating specific background pockets.
  • When Unchecked: Scans and selects every single pixel of that matching color across the entire active layer, regardless of whether they touch. Useful for massive color-swapping.

Selection Bar Actions

Whenever a selection is active, the selection bar floats above the canvas. Every selection gets the same actions, however you made it, except Remove Edge Halo: it needs a selection made by clicking the background with the Magic Wand, because it reads the background color from it. It stays available if you switch to another tool afterwards, and after Invert it still works on that background, which is now outside the selection. It goes away once you add a box or polygon to the selection.

Adding and Subtracting Selection Areas

You can build complex, detailed selection masks by holding modifiers while using selection tools:

• Hold Shift while making a box or color selection to add pixels to the current selection.
• Hold Alt while selecting to subtract pixels from the current selection.
• Press Escape to discard a polygon draft, or to deselect.