5 Easy Ways to Select Pixels in Adobe Photoshop

Written by Nicole Levine, MFA

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This wikiHow teaches you how to select an area of pixels in Adobe Photoshop for Windows or macOS.

Method 1

Method 1 of 5:

It’s in the All Apps area of the Start menu (Windows) or in the Applications folder (macOS).
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It’s the second icon from the top of the toolbar that runs along the left side of the screen. A list of selection tools will appear.
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Select an area. Click the mouse at the location where you want to start selecting, then drag it until the desired area is selected.
- To include or remove pixels from the selection, click the Select menu, select Refine Edge, then choose an option.
- To deselect an area, press Ctrl+D.

Method 2

Method 2 of 5:

It’s in the All Apps area of the Start menu (Windows) or in the Applications folder (macOS).
It’s the second icon from the top of the toolbar that runs along the left side of the screen. A list of selection tools will appear.
5
Select an area. Click the mouse at the location where you want to start selecting, then drag it until the desired area is selected.
- To include or remove pixels from the selection, click the Select menu, select Refine Edge, then choose an option.
- To deselect an area, press Ctrl+D.

Method 3

Method 3 of 5:

1
Open Photoshop on your Mac or PC. It’s in the All Apps area of the Start menu (Windows) or in the Applications folder (macOS).
- Use this tool to freehand-draw your selection area.
It’s the third icon from the top of the icon bar that runs along the left side of the screen.
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Select the desired area. Click the mouse where you want to start making your selection, then drag the line over the shape of the pixels. Keep clicking points on the edge of the desired selection until you’ve made it back to the first pixel.
- To include or remove pixels from the selection, click the Select menu, select Refine Edge, then choose an option.
- To deselect an area, press Ctrl+D.

Method 4

Method 4 of 5:

It’s in the All Apps area of the Start menu (Windows) or in the Applications folder (macOS).
This selects the layer.^{[1]
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It’s at the top of the screen. A menu will expand.
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Click All. All pixels on the current layer are now selected.
- To include or remove pixels from the selection, click the Select menu, select Refine Edge, then choose an option.
- To deselect an area, press Ctrl+D.

Method 5

Method 5 of 5:

1
Open Photoshop on your Mac or PC. It’s in the All Apps area of the Start menu (Windows) or in the Applications folder (macOS).^{[2]
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- Use this method to select the most prominent subject in the file.
It’s at the top of the screen. A menu will expand.
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Click Subject. This selects all pixels of the image’s main subject.^{[3]
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- To include or remove pixels from the selection, click the Select menu, select Refine Edge, then choose an option.
- To deselect an area, press Ctrl+D.