Saving Selections

Saving a selection generates a channel. Channels save selections for future use and provide additional editing control.

When you save a selection, you can create a new channel or modify an existing channel. You can replace an existing channel, add the selection to an existing channel, subtract it from an existing channel, or intersect it with an existing channel. For more information, refer to "Combining Selections Using Boolean Operations".

To save a selection to a new channel

1. Create a selection.
2. Do one of the following:

• Choose Select menu > Save Selection.
• On the Channels palette, click the Save Selection as Channel button .

3. In the Save Selection dialog box, choose New from the Save To pop-up menu.

If you want to specify a name, type a name in the Name box.

• If you do not specify a name, new channels are named incrementally: Alpha 1, Alpha 2, and so on.

To modify an existing channel

1. Create a selection.
2. Do one of the following:

• Choose Select menu > Save Selection.
• On the Channels palette, click the Save Selection as Channel button.

3. In the Save Selection dialog box, choose an existing channel from the Save To menu.
4. Select an operation:

• Replace Mask replaces the channel with the saved selection.
• Add To Mask combines the current selection with the chosen channel.
• Subtract From Mask subtracts the current selection from the chosen channel.
• Intersect With Mask determines the intersection of the selection and the chosen channel, and saves this to the channel.