Selecting > Making pixel selections > Using the marquee tools
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Using the marquee tools


The marquee tools draw rectangular and elliptical selection borders. By default, a selection border is dragged from its corner.

To use the marquee tools:

1 Select a marquee tool:
  • Rectangle marquee () to make a rectangular selection.
  • Elliptical marquee () to make an elliptical selection.

    • 2 In the options bar, specify whether to create a new selection (), add to a selection(), subtract from a selection (), or select an area intersected by other selections ().

    3 Specify a feathering setting in the options bar. Turn anti-aliasing on or off for the elliptical marquee. (See  Softening the edges of a selection.)

    4 Choose a style in the options bar:
  • Normal to determine marquee proportions by dragging.
  • Constrained Aspect Ratio to set a height-to-width ratio. Enter values (decimal values are valid) for the aspect ratio. For example, to draw a marquee twice as wide as it is high, enter 2 for the width and 1 for the height.
  • Fixed Size to specify set values for the marquee's height and width in inches, centimeters, or pixels. If you are using pixels, enter the pixel values in whole numbers. Keep in mind that the number of pixels needed to create a 1-inch selection depends on the resolution of the image. (See About image size and resolution.)

    • 5 To make a selection, drag over the area you want to select. Hold down Shift as you drag to constrain the marquee to a square or circle. To drag a marquee from its center, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) after you begin dragging.

    To reposition a selection border without changing an image, first drag to create the border, keeping the mouse button depressed. Then hold down the spacebar and continue to drag. If you have finished drawing the border, drag from inside the selection to move it.

    Selecting > Making pixel selections > Using the marquee tools