PSE4 Selection Lasso And A Shakey Hand

Does anyone have a trick to share regarding using the lasso tool to select a complex area in a photo? I’m trying to select the foreground subject and apply a gaussian blur to the background. Every time I start the selection process around my subject, I can’t seem to maintain precise control over outlining the border. The selected areas often depart from the edges I’m trying to trace and I don’t see a way to adjust specific points without having to start the process all over again.

Does anyone have a trick to share regarding using the lasso tool to select a complex area in a photo? I’m trying to select the foreground subject and apply a gaussian blur to the background. Every time I start the selection process around my subject, I can’t seem to maintain precise control over outlining the border. The selected areas often depart from the edges I’m trying to trace and I don’t see a way to adjust specific points without having to start the process all over again.

Does anyone have a trick to share regarding using the lasso tool to select a complex area in a photo? I’m trying to select the foreground subject and apply a gaussian blur to the background. Every time I start the selection process around my subject, I can’t seem to maintain precise control over outlining the border. The selected areas often depart from the edges I’m trying to trace and I don’t see a way to adjust specific points without having to start the process all over again.

Instead of starting all over, you can modify the selection. Among the lasso-tool choice buttons are these four:
New selection
Add to selection
Subtract from selection
Intersect selection

You can start a new selection with one tool and add/subtract/intersect using a different selection tool.

Also, look up "defringe" in PSE4’s built-in Help for a feature that might help.

On Sun, 14 May 2006 11:21:55 -0400, Ric wrote:

Does anyone have a trick to share regarding using the lasso tool to select a complex area in a photo? I’m trying to select the foreground subject and apply a gaussian blur to the background. Every time I start the selection process around my subject, I can’t seem to maintain precise control over outlining the border. The selected areas often depart from the edges I’m trying to trace and I don’t see a way to adjust specific points without having to start the process all over again.

What I do is increase the contrast as high as I can and then use the *magnetic* lasso tool – this helps to distinguish the object being selected. Once I’ve made the selection I re-set the contrast and carry on as normal.

Does anyone have a trick to share regarding using the lasso tool to select a complex area in a photo? I’m trying to select the foreground subject and apply a gaussian blur to the background. Every time I start the selection process around my subject, I can’t seem to maintain precise control over outlining the border. The selected areas often depart from the edges I’m trying to trace and I don’t see a way to adjust specific points without having to start the process all over again.