To put it as simply as possible all the move tool does is move stuff. There is ofcourse a lot more to it than that. Just like all the other tools the move tool is very powerful when you know about everything that it can do. By the end of this post I’ll have covered almost everything there is to know about this Tool. 🙂

If you are using any tool (with the exception of hand tool, magnifying tool. It works differently with the pen tools) and you hold down the CTRL key the tool will automatically change into the Move tool. This should give you an idea of how important and often used this tool is intended to be.

By default if you choose the Move tool and just drag on an unlocked Layer you will be able to move it. Click and drag to the right and the whole layer will drag to the right and so on. If you chose the move tool and then use the arrow keys and press left, right, up or down your layer will move pixel by pixel in the direction of your choice.

If you make a selection using the Selection Tools (Lasso, Marquee) and then use the Move tool in side the selection you will see that it turns into an arrow with a scissors. That shows that it will cut the selection out from your layer and move it where ever you want it to move.

If you hold down the ALT/OPTION key and then click and drag your selection it will COPY and paste your selection meaning that it will let the original remain untouched. It will only copy it and then paste it where ever you release your mouse button.

Alignment Options

Another strength of the Move tool is alignment of layers. These options are accessible through the Move Tool Option Bar that shows up on the top of the screen when you select the Move Tool.

1. Align Top Edges button will make the top pixels of your layers align evenly. If you make a selection box then your layers top will be at the same coordinate as the top of your selection. If you link 2 layers then choose the Align top edges option then both your layers will have their top edges at the same height.
2. Align Vertical Edges button will align the middle pixel of your layer with the vertical center of your selection or linked layer. This means that your layers center will be at the center of your selection or linked layer.
3. Align Bottom Edges button will make the bottom pixels of your layers align evenly. If you make a selection box then your layers bottom edge will be at the same coordinate as the bottom of your selection. If you link 2 layers then choose the Align Bottom Edges option then both your layers will have their bottom edges at the same height.
4. Align Left Edges button aligns the left pixels with the left most edge of your selection or linked layers. Your Left edges will be at the same X-coordinate
5. Align Horizontal Edges button aligns the horizontal center pixel of your layer with the selection box or linked layers. The horizontal middle of your layer will be at the horizontal middle of your selection or linked layers.
6. Align Right Edges button aligns the right edge of your layer with the right edge of your selection or linked layer. Basically your layer will be positioned so it meets with the right edge of your selection or linked layer

Before you start aligning determine what you want to do. The options we have are:

1. Align to the content of a layer to a selection border

Make a selection box with a marquee tool and then choose the Move tool and then press the appropriate button.

2. Align the contents of multiple layers to a selection border

Make a selection box. Then select multiple layers in the Layers palette (Window>Layers) by clicking on the empty squares to the left of the layer that you want. You will see a little chain icon in the square if you click on it. Next choose the Move tool and then press the appropriate button.

3. Align the contents of layers to the content of the active layer

Select multiple layers in the Layers palette by clicking on the empty squares to the left of the layer that you want. You will see a little chain icon in the square if you click on it. Next choose the Move tool and then press the appropriate button. They will align according to which layer is highlighted.

Distribution Options

The Distribute Tools basically evenly distributes your layers. If you want equal spaces between 3 or more layers then you will use these Move Options.

1. Distribute Top Edges button will create a space between the layers using the top of the layers as a reference
2. Distribute Vertical Centers button will create a space between the layers using the center pixel of all the layers as a reference.
3. Distribute Bottom Edges button will create a space between the layers using the bottom pixel of each layer as a reference.
4. Distribute Left Edges button will create a space between the layers using the left pixel of each layer as a reference.
5. Distribute Horizontal Centers button will create a space between the layers using the horizontal center of all the layers as a reference.
6. Distribute Right Edges button will create a space between the layers using the right edges of all the layers as a reference

This can only work if you have 3 or more linked layers.

Select multiple layers in the Layers palette by clicking on the empty squares to the left of the layer that you want. You will see a little chain icon in the square if you click on it. Next choose the Move tool and then press the appropriate Distribute button. They will Distribute accordingly.

If you want to crop an image then you use the Crop Tool. Just click on it and then click and drag and it will make a selection. This is what will remain. You are selecting what ever you want to keep. The rest of the image darkens indicating that it will be removed. Then press the Enter/Return key and it will crop your image.

You can Resize your selection by placing your mouse pointer on an edge of the selection made by the crop tool. You will see a double arrow pointer. Click and drag and it will resize your selection. ALT/OPTION drag it and it will constrain the proportions of your selection.

You can change the position of your selection by placing your mouse pointer in the middle of the selection and dragging.

You can rotate the selection my putting your mouse on the corners of your selection till you see a curved arrow. Then click and move your mouse in a circular direction and it will rotate your selection. Press Enter and it will crop

In this post I am going to write a basic overview of the Lasso Tools. After reading this article the readers will be familiar with the Lasso Tool, the Polygonal Lasso Tool, and the Magnetic Lasso Tool.

If you have just launched Photoshop for the first time your tool box will show you the Lasso Tool. To access the other Lasso Tools just click and hold down the Lasso Tool button and you will get a popup window giving you the option of choosing any one of the 3 Lasso Tools. This holds true for any tool on the photoshop toolbox that has a small black arrow on the bottom right corner of the button. The little arrow indicates that there are more tools available that are hidden underneath the tool that is currently shown.

Introduction

Just like the marquee tools the lasso tools are used to make selections. Selections are useful because they allow you to choose a portion of the image that you are working on. Once a portion is selected you will only be able to make changes to it and the rest of the image will remain unaffected.

The lasso tools give you much more control of what you are able to select than the marquee tools. However, both marquee tools and Lasso tools are equally as useful for different things. These are only tools and it is up to the user to determine which one will be more useful at any given situation.

General Rules

These general rules apply after you already have made a selection:

1. If you hold down the SHIFT key your Lasso tool will turn on the “Add to Selection” Option. Basically it does what the name says. If you have a previous selection then it will add what ever else you select to it.

2. If you press down the ALT key then your Lasso tool will turn o nthe “Subtract from Selection” option. Now what ever you select by clicking and dragging gets removed from your current selection.

3. If you press ALT+SHIFT at the same time and then click and drag over a selection then it will turn on the “Intersect Selection” Option. This means that it will keep only the areas that overlapped with your original selection.

4. If you press the CTRL key and then click and drag it will cut and move what ever you had already selected.

5. If you press CTRL+ALT and then click and drag it will Copy and Paste what ever you had already selected.

The Lasso tool will all0w you to click and drag around an irregular shaped area. Everything that you click and drag around will get selected. To create a straight line with this tool just hold down the ALT key (mac users: option key) and then click and drag and now you will be restricted to only drawing straight lines. When you let go of the ALT/Option key you will resume drawing a free form selection.

The Polygonal Lasso Tool allows you to create straight line edges. Choose this tool and then click at an edge of what ever you want to select. Next, let go of your mouse button and move the mouse to another corner of where ever you want to select. You’ll notice a line joining the point where you first clicked and your mouse pointer. Click where ever you want and it will create another corner. Finally click again on the starting point (a small circle will appear over your mouse pointer). This will close your selection. If you do not want to hunt for the starting point just double click anywhere on the image and your selection will automatically close.

This tool can create freehand edges as well. Hold down the Alt/Option keys and then click and drag and your edge will curve like the regular Lasso tool. Release ALT/Option key and you will resume drawing straight lines again.

The Magnetic Lasso Tool is a handy tool for quickly selecting edges in an image. It detects the differences in colors and then guesses what you are trying to select. If you click once and then carefully move your mouse pointer over an area with contrasting colors then it will make a selection along the line where the colors differ the most. You can click the mouse button where ever you think is necessary to guide it along the way. If the colors are very different then it does a good job on its own.

You can use the Magnetic Lasso Option bar to set the Feather, Width, Edge Contrast, and Frequency.

The feather option definds how sharp your edges will be. If you enter a feather value it will blue around the edges.

The width is the distance from the edge that the Magnetic tool considers when it places a selection line. If you have a very high contrast image then user a large number here. If you have a low contrast image then use a narrow width. The smaller the width the more exact your selection.

If you have a high contrast image set the Edge contrast number high. If you have a low contrast image then set this number low.

This is the number of times the tool will create a fastening point on the edges. If you have irregular edges that you want to select then set this number high.

Lasso Tool Option Bar

The right most button is the “New Selection” button. When this is pressed then our Lasso tools will select what ever you click and drag around.

The second button is the “Add to Selection” tool. This does what the name suggests. If you have selected an area of your picture and you want to extend that selection or select another part of the picture while keeping the first selection still active then you choose this button before making another selection. Instead of creating a new selection it will ADD to what ever is already selected.

The third one is just as useful and important as the second button. This is the “Subtract from Selection” tool. You guessed it, if you want to REMOVE a part of the selection then choose this button and then click and drag. What ever your selection now touches will be removed from what was initially selected.

The fourth button is “Intersect from Selection”. If you have a new selection and you chose the Intersect from selection tool then make a selection that over laps your first selection then only the areas that are overlapping will remain selected.

The Anti-Aliased check box should be selected if you want the edges of the selections to be smooth.

The Feather option blurs the edges of the selections making a soft edge as opposed to a sharp one.
That should be everything for Lasso tools. Comments and Questions are welcome 🙂

In this post I am going to write a basic overview of the Marquee Tools. After reading this article the readers will be familiar with the Rectangular Marquee Tool, the Elliptical Marquee Tool, Single Row Marquee Tool and the Single Column Marquee tool.

If you have just launched Photoshop for the first time your tool box will show you the Rectangular Marquee Tool. To access the other Marquee Tools just click and hold down the Marquee Tool button and you will get a popup window giving you the option of choosing any one of the 4 Marquee Tools. This holds true for any tools on the photoshop toolbox that have a small black arrow on the bottom right corner of the button. The little arrow indicates that there are more tools available hidden underneath the tool that is currently shown for selection.

Introduction
All marquee tools have a few general rules. They are used to make geometric selections of portions of pictures. Everything that is inside the selection will be affected by all other photoshop tools. For example if you select something using the marquee tools then it gets surrounded by little dashes (also known as marching ants). Now everything that is surrounded by the marching ants will be effected by any other photoshop tools.

In this image I selected a rectangle in side the image using the rectangular marquee tool and then I went to Image > Adjustments > Invert. Notice that only the area inside the selection was affected. That demonstrates what the marquee tools are used for. It’s a very valuable tool that is used a lot by people who use Photoshop.

General Rules

The marquee tools can be made more precise if you hold down the ALT key or the SHIFT key when making selections.

1. If you hold down the SHIFT key and then click and drag using the marquee tools (rectangular or elliptical) then they will form perfect squares and perfect circles no matter how you drag the mouse.
2. If you click with the mouse and then hold down the ALT key before dragging then the rectangle or ellipse will have their center where you first clicked.
3. If you click and then hold down both SHIFT and ALT keys then it will create a perfect circle or square with the center where you clicked.
4. If you press SHIFT + M then you can quickly shift from rectangular marquee tool to elliptical marquee tool quickly.

Marquee Tool Option bar.

Photoshop version 7 and beyond have a Tool Option Bar on top of the screen.

The most useful options are probably the selection options. The right most button is the “New Selection” button. When this is pressed then our marquee tools will select what ever you click and drag around.

The second button is the “Add to Selection” tool. This does what the name suggests. If you have selected an area of your picture and you want to extend that selection or select another part of the picture while keeping the first selection still active then you choose this button before making another selection. Instead of creating a new selection it will ADD to what ever is already selected.

The third one is just as useful and important as the second button. This is the “Subtract from Selection” tool. You guessed it, if you want to REMOVE a part of the selection then choose this button and then click and drag. What ever your selection now touches will be removed from what was initially selected. If you want to select a doughnut then you can choose the New Selection button and make a circle (using elliptical marquee tool) and click and drag. Now you will have the outside selected but how will you remove the center? You probably guessed it. You will click on the “Subtract from Selection” tool and make another circle in side the doughnut and photoshop will remove it from your selection leaving only the doughnut selected.

The fourth button is “Intersect from Selection”. If you have a new selection and you chose the Intersect from selection tool then make a selection that over laps your first selection then only the areas that are overlapping will remain selected.

The next option is the “Feather” option. The description of feathering from the Adobe manual is, “Blurs edges by building a transition boundary between the selection and its surrounding pixels. This blurring can cause some loss of detail at the edge of the selection.” Basically when you set a feather value in the selection options then you will not get an exact selection. All the previous examples would yield and exact outline of a circle or rectangle of straight line. When you set a feather value you will get a blurry edge. Here is a picture of the elephant selection with a feather value of 15. As you can see it inverted the colors out side the selection as well. The blurriness only happened over 15 pixels.

The last thing here is the Style Option. If you choose normal then everything will act just like described above. If you choose fixed aspect ratio then you can define the ratio between the width and height. 1 and 1 would mean it would make perfect squares and perfect circles. 1 and 2 would mean that your height will be twice as high and your width.

With fixed size you can say exactly what size your shape will be. Just enter the height and width in pixels and your selection tool will make it so!

If there are any comments or questions just post them here 😀 I hope this helped!