Adobe 13102498 - Photoshop CS3 - Mac User Manual page 263

Shrinks or enlarges the selection boundary. Enter a value or move the slider to set the amount from
Contract/Expand
0 to 100% to expand, 0 to -100% to contract. Most useful for making subtle adjustments to soft-edged selections.
Shrinking the selection can help remove unwanted background colors from selection edges.
For images where the colors of the selected object are distinct from the background, try increasing the Radius,
applying Contrast to sharpen edges, then adjusting the Contract/Expand slider. For grayscale images or images
where the colors of the selected object and the background are very similar, try smoothing first, then the Feather option,
then Contract/Expand.
Click a Selection View icon to change view modes. Click Description to view information about each mode.
3
• Select or deselect Preview to turn edge refinement previewing on or off.
• Click the Zoom tool to zoom in or out while adjusting the selection.
• Use the Hand tool to reposition the image.
Double-click the Quick Mask preview mode icon to change mask color or opacity.
To save your selection adjustments, click OK.
4
Soften the edges of selections
You can smooth the hard edges of a selection by anti-aliasing and by feathering.
Smooths the jagged edges of a selection by softening the color transition between edge pixels and
Anti-aliasing
background pixels. Because only the edge pixels change, no detail is lost. Anti-aliasing is useful when cutting,
copying, and pasting selections to create composite images.
Anti-aliasing is available for the Lasso tool, the Polygonal Lasso tool, the Magnetic Lasso tool, the Elliptical Marquee
tool, and the Magic Wand tool. (Select a tool to display its options bar.)
Note: You must specify this option before using these tools. After a selection is made, you cannot add anti-aliasing.
Blurs edges by building a transition boundary between the selection and its surrounding pixels. This
Feathering
blurring can cause some loss of detail at the edge of the selection.
You can define feathering for the Marquee tools, the Lasso tool, the Polygonal Lasso tool, or the Magnetic Lasso tool
as you use the tool, or you can add feathering to an existing selection.
Note: Feathering effects become apparent only after you move, cut, copy, or fill the selection.
Select pixels using anti-aliasing
Select the Lasso tool, the Polygonal Lasso tool, the Magnetic Lasso tool, the Elliptical Marquee tool, or the Magic
1
Wand tool.
2 Select Anti-aliased in the options bar.
Define a feathered edge for a selection tool
1 Select any of the lasso or marquee tools.
Enter a Feather value in the options bar. This value defines the width of the feathered edge and can range from 0
2
to 250 pixels.
Define a feathered edge for an existing selection
Choose Select > Modify > Feather.
1
PHOTOSHOP CS3 256
User Guide