Where Is The Magic Wand Tool In Photoshop For Mac

| 14-05-2021
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We want to select both black areas so we select the Magic Wand tool and click on the one on the left but as Contiguous is ticked, Photoshop only selects the shape on the left as the white pixels. By Barbara Obermeier. To save time in Photoshop CS6, Adobe has a great tool, the Quick Selection Tool. Think of it as a combo Brush, Magic Wand, Lasso tool. Easy to use — with surprisingly good results — it’s sure to become part of your selection arsenal.

Use the Select Subject, Quick Selection, or Magic Wand tools to make quick selections in Photoshop.
Select the prominent subjects in an image in a single click

The Select Subject command lets you select the most prominent subject in an image in a single click. Powered by advanced machine learning technology, Select Subject is trained to identify a variety of objects in an image—people, animals, vehicles, toys, and more.

Access Select Subject in one of the following ways in Photoshop:

  • While editing an image, choose Select > Subject.
  • While using the Quick Selection or Magic Wand tools, click Select Subject in the options bar.
  • While using the Quick Selection tool in the Select & Mask workspace, click Select Subject in the options bar.

Select Subject automatically selects the prominent subjects in the image. You can then refine the selection using other selection tools. For example, in the illustration above, use the Subtract From Selection option with another selection tool to remove the part of the sidewalk included in the automatic selection.

For more information on refining selections, see Adjust pixel selections.


A. New selection B. Add to selection C. Subtract from selection D. Intersect with selection
Refine the automatic selection using other selection tools. In this example, we've subtracted (right) from the automatic selection (left).

Youcan use the Quick Selection tool toquickly “paint” a selection using an adjustable round brush tip.As you drag, the selection expands outward and automatically findsand follows defined edges in the image.

  1. Select the Quick Selection tool . (Ifthe tool isn’t visible, hold down the Magic Wand tool .)
  2. In the options bar, click one of the selection options:New, Add To, or Subtract From.

    New is the default option if nothing is selected. After making the initial selection, the option changes automatically to Add To.

  3. To change the brush tip size, click the Brush pop-upmenu in the options bar, and type in a pixel size or drag the slider.Use the Size pop‑up menu options to make the brush tip size sensitiveto pen pressure or a stylus wheel.

    Note:

    When creating a selection, press the rightbracket (]) to increase the Quick Selection tool brush tip size;press the left bracket ([) to decrease the brush tip size.

  4. Creates a selection based on all layers instead of justthe currently selected layer.

    Reduces roughness and blockiness in the selection boundary. Auto-Enhanceautomatically flows the selection further toward image edges and appliessome of the edge refinement you can apply manually in the RefineEdge dialog with the Contrast and Radius options.

  5. Paint inside the part of the image you want to select.

    The selection grows as you paint. If updating is slow,continue to drag to allow time to complete work on the selection.As you paint near the edges of a shape, the selection area extendsto follow the contours of the shape edge.

    Painting with the Quick Selection tool to extend the selection

    Note:

    If you stop dragging and then clickor drag in a nearby area, the selection will grow to include thenew area.

    • To subtract from a selection, click the Subtract From option in the options bar, then drag over the existing selection.
    • To temporarily switch between add and subtract modes, hold down the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) key.
    • To change the tool cursor, choose Edit >Preferences > Cursors > Painting Cursors(Windows) or Photoshop > Preferences > Cursors >Painting Cursors (Mac OS). Normal Brush Tip displays thestandard Quick Selection cursor with a plus or minus sign to showthe selection mode.

  6. (Optional) Click Refine Edge to further adjust the selection boundary. See Refine selection edges.

TheMagic Wand tool lets you select a consistently colored area (forexample, a red flower) without having to trace its outline. Youspecify the selected color range, or tolerance, relativeto the original color you click.

Note:

You cannotuse the Magic Wand tool on an image in Bitmap mode or on 32‑bits-per-channelimages.

  1. Select the Magic Wand tool . (Ifthe tool isn’t visible, access it by holding down the Quick Selectiontool .)
  2. Specify one of the selection options in theoptions bar. The Magic Wand tool’s pointer changes depending onwhich option is selected.

    A. New B. Add To C. SubtractFrom D. Intersect With

  3. Determines the color range of selected pixels. Entera value in pixels, ranging from 0 to 255. A low value selects thefew colors very similar to the pixel you click. A higher value selectsa broader range of colors.

    Creates a smoother-edged selection.

    Selectsonly adjacent areas using the same colors. Otherwise, all pixelsin the entire image using the same colors are selected.

    Selectscolors using data from all the visible layers. Otherwise, the MagicWand tool selects colors from the active layer only.

  4. In the image, click the color you want to select. IfContiguous is selected, all adjacent pixels within the tolerancerange are selected. Otherwise, all pixels in the tolerance rangeare selected.

  5. (Optional) Click Refine Edge to further adjust the selection boundary or view the selection against different backgrounds or as a mask. See Refine selection edges.

Video tutorial: Select part of a photo

Video tutorial: Select part of a photo

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What Does The Magic Wand Tool Do

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The Magic Wand selection tool has been around since Photoshop was in its infancy and Elements was not yet a twinkle in Adobe’s eye. It’s extremely easy to use, but a little harder to predict what selection results it will present.

Here’s how it works: You click inside the image, and the Magic Wand tool makes a selection. This selection is based on the color of the pixel you clicked. If other pixels are similar in color to your target pixel, Elements includes them in the selection. The Tolerancesetting determines how similarthe color has to be to get the Magic Wand tool to select it.

Talking about tolerance

The Tolerance setting determines the range of color that the Magic Wand tool selects. It’s based on brightness levels that range from 0 to 255:

  • Setting the Tolerance to 0 selects one color only.

  • Setting the Tolerance to 255 selects all colors, or the whole image.

The default setting is 32, so whenever you click a pixel, Elements analyzes the value of that base color and then selects all pixels whose brightness levels are between 16 levels lighter and 16 levels darker.

What if an image contains a few shades of the same color? It’s not a huge problem. You can make multiple clicks of the Magic Wand to pick up additional pixels that you want to include in the selection. Or, you can try a higher Tolerance setting. Conversely, if your wand selects too much, you can also lower your Tolerance setting.

The Magic Wand tool works best when you have high-contrast images or images with a limited number of colors. Skip using the Magic Wand tool if the image has a ton of colors and no real definitive contrast between your desired element and the background.

Wielding the wand to select tolerance

Where Is The Magic Wand Tool In Photoshop For Mac

To use the Magic Wand tool to adjust Tolerance settings, follow these steps:

  1. Select the Magic Wand tool from the Tools panel.

    It looks like a wand with a starburst on the end. You can also just press W.

  2. Click anywhere on your desired element, using the default Tolerance setting of 32.

    Remember that the pixel you click determines the base color.

    If you selected everything you want on the first click, you’re done. If your selection needs further tweaking, like the top image in the following figure, continue to Step 3.

    The Magic Wand selects pixels based on a specified Tolerance setting.

  3. Specify a new Tolerance setting on the Options bar.

    If the Magic Wand selects more than you want, lower the Tolerance setting. If the wand didn’t select enough, increase the value.

    While you’re poking around the Options bar, here are a couple more options to get familiar with:

    • Anti-Alias: Softens the edge of the selection by one row of pixels.

    • Contiguous: Forces the Magic Wand to select only pixels that are adjacent to each other. Without this option, the tool selects all pixels within the range of tolerance, whether or not they’re adjacent to each other.

    • SampleAll Layers: If you have multiple layers and enable this option, the Magic Wand selects pixels from all visible layers. Without this option, the tool selects pixels from the active layer only.

    • Refine Edge: Clean up your selection by moving the Smooth slider to reduce the amount of jagginess in your edges. Move the Contract/Expand slider to the left or right to decrease or increase the selected area, respectively. Click the custom overlay color button to preview your selection with your edges hidden and an overlay of screen-only color in your unselected area.

  4. Click your desired element again.

    Unfortunately, the Magic Wand tool isn’t magical enough to modify your first selection automatically. Instead, it deselects the current selection and makes a new selection based on your new Tolerance setting. If it still isn’t right, you can adjust the Tolerance setting again.