The most basic tool in Photoshop is Selection tool; you will use this to position all your layers and objects.

1	To activate the Selection tool, click on the icon on your toolbar or use shortcut key by pressing the letter V on your keyboard
2	Auto Select allows you to select the layers just by clicking on the canvas.
3	While selecting layers you can also choose individual layers or grouped layers.
Alt/Option + Drag	You can duplicate while in the selection tool by Alt/Option and click+drag an item on the canvas. The entire layer will be duplicated.
Ctrl/Command + Click to select	You can select a layer by clicking within the canvas by holding Ctrl/Command.
Ctrl/Command + Click and Drag	You can select multiple layers by (with the selection tool activated) click+draging a mark within the canvas, every layer within the selection becomes selected.
Click and Drag	The simplest operation is dragging a layer around, do that by click+dragging your house with the desired layer selected.
Hold Shift	Hold shift while moving with the selection tool to lock horizontal or vertical direction
(arrow keys) on your keyboard	The arrow keys on your keyboard can be used to move the layer one pixel at a time.
Shift + (arrow keys)	Holding shift while pressing the arrow key can move the layer 10 pixels at a time.
4	Activate the Show Transform Controls to freely distort and rotate the layers. This is similar to using free transform.
Enter	After you are done rotating and scaling with the Transform Controls, press enter to reorient the Control.
5 & 6	You can align two or more layer by selecting all the layers you want to align and use the align button. You can align based on horizontal or vertical direction and by the edge and center.
7 & 8	You can distribute/space out three or more layers evenly by selecting all the layers you want to distribute and use the distribute button. You can choose the distribution based on horizontal or vertical direction and by the edge or center.
Rick click menu (Command Click)	Right click or Command Click to bring up a Layer selection menu.
(number) shortcut keys	Press a number on your keyboard to change the opacity. Pressing 2 on your keyboard changes the opacity to 20% and 7 changes it to 70% and so on.
9	If you have taken consecutive photos such as a panorama landscape, you can select all the photo and Auto-Align it.

Polygonal Lasso tool is perfect for outlining object with straight edges such as buildings. You can also simulate curving organic edge by using the refine edge tool later.

(L) Short cut key to activate the Lasso, hold shift to cycle through the different lasso tool or click and hold the Lasso icon to choose the different types. The first Lasso Tool is a freehand tool, you can find the article about this tool here.

If your subject has a curvy organic outline don’t worry, you can always refine the edge to make the lasso smoother later. Above is an example of an organic object outlined by the polygonal lasso. Learn how to create smooth curving outline with polygonal lasso tool here.

Polygonal Lasso allows you to create selection with straight lines but you can also use it on curvy edges if you created a polygon with enough sides to simulate curviness.

Start by clicking on the first spot of your edge than continue clicking until you surround your entire object.

Holding Shift will snap the line on a 45 degree increment.

Temporary change the Polygonal to freehand Lasso by holding Alt/Option

Press ENTER on your keyboard to finish the selection or click on the first spot again.

Lasso Tool tips and tricks.

Moving the Selection after it is done – With Lasso Tool still activated you can click and drag the inside of a selection to move it around.

SUBTRACT a section of the selection by holding Alt/Option.

ADD to the existing selection by holding Shift.

CUT & MOVE the pixel to another location of the same layer by holding Ctrl/Command

Create an INTERSECTING selection on an existing selection by holding Alt/Option + Shift.

Partially undoing some of the clicks by hitting the Del button on your keyboard to undo the clicks.

Read my article about Refine Edge here.

This is part of my tutorial set. Please visit the TUTORIAL PAGE for a list of all the tutorials.

Lasso tool is good for minor quick selection unless you have really good eye/mouse coordination or you are drawing from a tablet don’t think about making precise selection.

I rarely use freehand lasso as I find it difficult tracing objects with my mouse but it is great if you want something quick and lose such as the example above. I made a rough selection around the flower with feather on, than I copy and paste it to a different place in the photo, similar to clone stamp. With the right setting the two flower blends right in!

You can click on the Lasso Tool on your toolbar or use the shortcut key L to activate it. If you click and hold the Lasso Tool on the toolbar you will notice two other option, Polygonal and Magnetic Lasso tool. You can cycle through the tools with Shift+L shortcut keys.

Polygonal Lasso allows you to create selection with straight lines and Magnetic Lasso will actually trace contour edges based on the pixel reading. I will talk about those two in a separate article.

To draw a Lasso selection, click and hold your mouse, as you drag your mouse across you will see the selection being made. Letting go your mouse will complete the selection.

If you need to add more area or subtract area to the selection, use the add/subtract/intersect icon on the Lasso menu. You can also use shortcuts to perform this task.

Holding the Shift key before clicking your mouse will allow you to add more area to your lasso selection. You will see a plus sign below your mouse icon.

Holding Alt/Option before you click your mouse will allow you to subtract unwanted area in the selection. You will see a minus sign below your mouse icon when the Alt/Option is held.

You can also create two different selections and keep only the intersected area of the two selection by holding Alt/Option+Shift.

If you do not want to select with a harsh definite edge just turn on the Feather value. The higher the value the softer the edge.

Anti-alias creates a slight feathering on the selection to give it the illusion of smoother rather than jagged edge that digital file usually suffers from.

While you are drawing your freehand lasso you can temporary change it to Polygonal Lasso by holding Alt/Option than release your mouse and start clicking as you would with the Polygonal Tool,  once you release Alt/Option it changes back to freehand.

Lasso Tool tips and tricks.

Undoing the Lasso partially – If you accidentally made a small mistake you can undo just that segment without starting over. Continuing holding the mouse and point it to the location where you wish to undo to. On your keyboard, hold the Del key, you will see the lasso slowly un-draw itself. Release the Del key until it un-draws all the Lasso you need.

Moving the Selection after it is done – With Lasso Tool or any type of selection tool still activated you can click and drag the inside of a selection to move the selection area around without disturbing the actual pixels.

CUT & MOVE the pixel to another location of the same layer by holding Ctrl/Command or use the Move Tool and drag and the selection to a different location.

Un-select the entire selection by hitting Ctrl/Command D on your keyboard.

You can further refine the edge with the Refine Edge tool, please read my article regarding Refine Edge menu.

If you need more precise selection tool you can try the Pen tool.

That is it for freehand Lasso tool, if you have any question or comment please leave it on the comment below.  Thanks!

This is part of my tutorial set. Please visit the TUTORIAL PAGE for a list of all the tutorials.

Rectangle and Oval Marquee tool is great for quick geometric selection for drawing shapes, creating boarders, outlining geometric object in a photo etc…

Hit M on keyboard to activate the Marquee tool, hold Shift + M to switch between Rectangle and Oval Marquee.

Click and drag to draw your marquee, do not worry if you can’t get the exact location the first time there are several tricks you can use to position your marquee.

The first set of icon is the add/subtract/intersect icons. You can also add selection by holding Shift while making another selection. You can subtract a selection by holding Alt/Option while making another selection. You can create intersection selection from two different selections by holding Shift+Alt/Option on the second selection.

Feathering will smooth out the edge for a softer more natural look

With the Anti-alias on, your selection will have a soft blur to create the illusion of smoother edge.

You can also create a fixed size or fixed ratio marquee.

Hold Shift for perfect square or circle instead of rectangle or oval shapes.

Hold Alt/Option while drawing a marquee, where you make the first click becomes the center of your shape instead of the corner.

You do not need to worry about aligning your marquee shape to your photo the moment you draw it. Go ahead and create the selection anywhere on the canvas and while your mouse is still held down, hold the SPACE button and you will be able to move the marquee around. After you release the Space button you can continue resizing the marquee.

You can also move the selection after you’ve released your mouse by simply clicking and dragging it.

Activate Move too (V) if you want to cut the content within the marquee tool, it will cut whatever that is in the layer and let you reposition it to another location of same layer.

Read my articles on Refine Edge to learn how to fine tune your selection after you are done with it. Read my article about Refine Edge here.

This is part of my tutorial set, please visit the tutorial page for a list of all the tutorials.