Frustrated with Photoshop's Magnetic Lasso

Hi,

<p>Please see the attached image. I am trying to cut the subject out

of the pic by using Magnetic Lasso. However Lasso has a mind of its

own. It joins the two ends by itself. I have spent over an hour and

everytime at certain point Lasso decides to be over controlling. I

like Magnetic Lasso in that it does separate diff colors nicely, but

it is infuriating when it jumps ahead to conclusions and makes the

selection.

<p>Questions<br>a) How do i prevent this auto complete of Lasso

selection?

<br>b) If auto complete is unavoidable, how do i get back to

selection till last user input. Ctrl Z, removes all user input.

<p>Thanks in advance.<br>Gurpreet<div></div>

Try clicking the left mouse button at an area that it starts to stray,usually a change in color or texture or better yet quit using the mag lasso and use the pen tool.

 

Another way is to use the color range selection. The two latter are so much better to use I quit using the magnetic lasso .

Gupreet -- sorry for the off-topic question, but how do you grab a screen in PS as you have done?

Gaetano,

<p>I use SnagIt32 a program which was installed on my laptop by the IT staff at work.

<p>You could use PrintScrn button on your computer to capture everything that the screen displays. SnagIt32 is much easier and has more options though.

<p>Regards,<br>Gurpreet

Often zooming in on the problem area before lasso-ing will do a better job.

Also you can temporarily increase the contrast in your photo to get the

magnetic lasso to behave....

Zoom to 200% to select. Use 'DEL' to remove magnetic lasso points. Hold CTRL or ALT to respectively add or subtract to a selection. Use Quick Mask mode for edge touchup.

 

In this case, press and hold CTRL with the rectangular marquee, and then select the bottom of the subject.

 

DI

Mmm, I love snagit. I've got version 6 and I'd hazard a guess that I've had it since 3.

 

I don't use magnetic lasso tool, in fact I still await the inclusion of a selection paint brush more like the one I have used in Corel PhotoPaint. There's nothing quite like it in photoshop.

FWIW I rarely use this tool, but notice the selection is a bit more accurate when the

'paintbrush' tool is set to it's hardest setting prior to using the magnetic lasso...jf

I notice that the pixel width, contrast and frequency are set to the defaults, which suggests you aren't employing them to your advantage. The magnetic lasso tool is excellent for creating selections which do not easily conform to brush shaped edges. But you need to control its behavior using the tool options. For very subtle selections, where the desired and undesired areas closely match each other, try setting the pixel width to 1, the contrast to 1 and the frequency to 20 or so. For higher contrast separations you'll get the best results by increasing those settings. A little trial and error will get you up to speed with these adjustments. Also, to restate a previous suggestion, make large area selections with the marquee selection tool, change to the magnetic lasso (press the letter 'L' three times to choose it), hold down the shift key to preserve the previous selection(s), and click to make the additional selection. Repeat as necessary. To undo one anchor point, simply press the backspace key. That should get you going. Don't forget you have the F1 key to access the help menu.

Also, were you aware that you can add to a selection. After looking at your example, I would at that point choose the normal lasso, hold down the shift key (which "adds to" selection) and then lasso the rest of the jacket. Since it's on the edge of the frame this would be the quickest way to finish your selection.

Although this is not the answer you are looking for, the very first thing I tell my

Photoshop students..."Never use ANY tool with Magic, Magnetic or Automatic in the

name, they are none of the above". As a general rule they try and guess for you and

they usually guess wrong. I'm sure I'll get hammered with "I love the Magnetic

BLAH,BLAH,BLAH tool" but in Photoshop you get 2 choices: quantity or quality. You

can

rarely have both. I have found the Magnetic Lasso tool to be FAR more hassle then it's

time saving MIGHT give.

 

Just my $ .02

 

Regards,

 

Will

 

Adobe CTT Photoshop

I tell the same thing to my students, the magnetic lasso is pretty much worthless 99% of the time. It's not even very effective to just quickly select something because you have to coax it along the way.

You could switch to the quick mask mode after you make the initial selection and either paint in more selection or paint it out.

Will and Carl:

 

You must be kidding. Worthless? Nothing in Photoshop is worthless. But perhaps it would be if you didn't know how and when to use it.

 

Magnetic lasso is the only non-vector selection tool capable of curving around objects AND having points to delete. At higher frequencies, it offers the versatility of the standard lasso with the ability to quickly correct mistakes. But of course, like all the standard selection tools, it isn't designed for wispy edges.

 

With high contrast, however, magnetic lasso is extremely and consistently effective.

 

DI

 

 

EDIT to my initial post:

 

Press SHIFT to add to a selection, not CTRL. My mistake.

I know how and when to use it, but I've learned and chosen not to. Its useful if you're not working on photos, but in photography it is very rarely a useful tool. Its one of those many tools in Photoshop where adobe wasted more time on graphic artists than they did on tools for photographers, the namesake of the program.

 

I much prefer a graphics tablet and the standard lasso most times. If you use the magnetic lasso many times you'll still go in and be picking out and adding in areas that got incorrectly selected.

Carl, I think you have a steadier hand than I. Now you've made me want to buy a graphics tablet.

 

DI