Making Selections with the Freehand Selection Tool

With the Freehand Selection tool, you can select objects with irregular borders. Use this tool to select everything from the outline of a tree to a child’s hand to the jagged edge of a leaf.

To use the Freehand Selection tool:

If the image has more than one layer, click the layer on which you want to make a selection from the Layer palette.
On the Tools toolbar, choose the Freehand Selection tool from the Selection tool flyout.

On the Tool Options palette, choose the Selection Type to determine how Paint Shop Pro makes the selection:

Edge Seeker Click on the edges of irregularly shaped areas, and Paint Shop Pro finds the edges between two areas with subtle color or light changes between them.

Freehand Click and drag to select the area—like making a freehand drawing. Use this type for irregular shapes when you want to make a selection quickly.

Point to Point Click from point to point and Paint Shop Pro draws a straight border between the points. Use this when you want a selection with straight edges.

Smart Edge Click along the edges of irregularly shaped areas and Paint Shop Pro finds the edges. Use this selection to create a border between two areas of highly contrasting color or light.

On the Tool Options palette, choose from these additional options:

Feather A width in pixels (0 to 200) that the selection is faded along the edges. Feathering controls the sharpness of a selection’s edges. For a detailed description, see Changing the Feathering of a Selection.

Range Specifies the distance (0 to 15) from the point you click that Paint Shop Pro searches for an edge. This option is available only for the Edge Seeker selection type.

Smoothing The amount of smoothing (from 0 to 40) for the selection border. This smooths sharp edges or jagged lines.

Anti-alias Mark this check box to use anti-aliasing, which produces a smooth-edged selection by partially filling in pixels along the edge, making them semi-transparent. Clear the check box to keep the original edges.

Sample Merged If the check box is marked, the tool searches for an edge in all layers of the area you select. If the check box is cleared, the tool searches for edges only in the current layer. It is only available when the image has multiple layers and when using the Edge Seeker and Smart Edge selection types..

Make the selection:
For the Edge Seeker and Smart Edge selection types, click in the image where you want to start the selection, then click around the area you want to select. After you click each point, a line indicates the selection border. To delete a previous point, press Delete. To complete the selection, double-click or right-click.
For the Freehand selection type, click and drag an outline of the area you want to select. When the line encloses the selection, release the mouse button. If you release too soon, start again or add to the selection as described the next step.
For the Point to Point selection type, click where you want the selection border to start and then continue clicking until you return near the starting point. To complete the selection, double-click or right-click. To delete a previous point, press Delete.

For all selection types, the line becomes a marquee indicating the selection border.

To modify the selection area, do either of the following:
To add to the selection, from the Mode drop-down list choose Add, or hold down the Shift button and click and drag another selection area.
To subtract from the selection, from the Mode drop-down list choose Remove, or hold down the Ctrl button and click and drag within the original selection.

Note: You can also switch to another selection tool before adding to or subtracting from the selection.

You can now edit the contents of the selection (move it, copy it, paint in it, correct colors, apply effects, etc.). The selection remains active until you make another selection or right-click to deselect it, or choose Selections > Select None.

Making Selections with the Freehand Selection Tool

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