Pixels & Selection Tools

In Elements 12 I keep getting the dialog "No pixels are selected" or "No pixels are more than 50% selected" when trying to use any of the selection tools and some of the other tools as well. What can I do to correct this problem please?

Hi, Thanks for your reply, I'm quite new to Photoshop so not too sure about of the technicalities. I've tried it on the background layer, background copy and ordinary layer with the same results, not too sure what you meen by active layer. Regards
Original message----
From : [email protected]
Date : 05/02/2015 - 14:34 (GMTST)
To : [email protected]
Subject : Pixels & Selection Tools
Pixels & Selection Tools
created by hatstead in Photoshop Elements - View the full discussion
Make sure that you are working on an active layer that has information, not a blank layer or an adjustment layer.
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Similar Messages

Selection Tool off by 1 pixel on the left side in CS4?

Having a bit of an annoying problem with the selection tool in CS4. If I open a document, say 500px x 500px, and "select all", the marquee tool will appear to leave 1 pixel of space on the left side of the composition. If I manually select an area, it will appear to be offset by 1 pixel. If I hit delete, the entire 500px x 500px canvas will be deleted and will not leave the remaining 1px on the left side even though it appears as if it would. If I zoom in as close as I can, the selection tool appears to cover the entire canvas. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the entire Master Collection and the problem is still there. I do a lot of web design where being pixel perfect is important and I could forsee this being a quite a pain. Anyone else experincing this? Really happy with the new CS4 this is the only real problem I've encountered.

Hi, I'm going to open this up again... I was hoping for a "it was a bug that was fixed - going to be fixed" kind of thing. This is the second time on 2 different Mac's that this has happened to me.
I too get the 1 pixel shift in the Marching ants, and as it may not be detrimental, it is - as most designers will agree - incredibly bothersome and ruins the flow of a project.
I've attached my system specs in hopes that someone from Adobe can say, "Oh, it's because of this, and we're working on it" Until then, maybe someone can tell me that the OpenGL options aren't really necessary, or needed for anything other than 3D.
Other Specs: Photoshop CS4 11.0.1
Thanks in advance!
HumanV3

Elements 11: After selection tool defines move area, error message reads "No pixels are more than 50% selected". How to remedy?

Elements 11: After selection tool defines move area, error message reads "No pixels are more than 50% selected". How to remedy?

Are you certain that you are on the correct layer?
As a test, try this:
Select the object with one of the selection tools, e.g. lasso, selection brush.tool. You should see "marching ants" once the selection is complete
Place the selection on its own layer (Layer>new>layer via copy or CTRL+J). This will place the object on a separate layer.
With this layer active, use the move tool to move/position it
Does that work?

Direct Selection Tool - Shape Layers in Photoshop CC Issue

I just upgraded to CC and the first major road block is the new way the direct selection tool works. In my CS6 work flow I would use the direct selection tool to jump between shape layers within the document layer. Then once the correct shape was selected I would click drag select the anchor points I want to adjust. This seems to be impossible now in CC. You can still jump between shape layers but you have to be in "All-Layers" which really hurts when I want to click drag to select specific anchor points because it selects all shapes below it. And with Active-layer selected you can't jump between shape layers with the tool but you can click drag select anchors with out selecting and shapes below the layer. The basically cut functionality right down the middle…
Below I made a very simple video showing the issue (CS6 = first PSD and CC = 2nd PSD)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pjlvwzmli9ihczd/CCProblemBroadband.m4v
As you can see in CS6 I could fly between layers and adjust everything with out ever changing to another tool or jumping to the layers window… I can no longer do that in CC with out having the dumb issue of also selecting the layers below it, which I don't find useful 99% of the time. Is there a setting to make this work like it did in CS4-CS6???? In my line of work, we work a lot with shape layers and this is causing more time to my work day.
Thanks

1000x this. My designs are 100% vector shapes, so if Adobe have changed this core behavior intentionally, they’ve just made my life a lot more difficult.
We should be able to use the Direct Selection Tool to select a shape layer (similar to how the Move Tool has done) by clicking on any visible pixel. But then we should be able to freely drag-select points on that shape (starting from any neutral area) without selecting other shape layers. This is how it’s worked since before I can remember.
Here’s why the two new selection modes don’t work:
Active Layers - I can no longer freely select any visible shape. Instead I’m forced to make a time-consuming roundabout to the layer palette, where I have to squint to find my shape layer, and activate it manually before continuing. (Hitting “V” to select a layer, then “A” to get back to the D.S. Tool is nearly as cumbersome. Plus, I leave off the Move Tool's auto-select mode.)
All Layers - Treats all my shapes as if they’re on one layer. Overlapping shapes are therefore impossible to work with -- mainly drag-selecting and deselecting points -- in situ.
We either need a “legacy” setting, or some way to constrain selection on drag, via a key modifier or something. This “all or nothing" thing doesn’t work for me... and apparently for others. Why would they change such a thing?
Or maybe there’s something I’m missing. Please let that be the case!

Quick Select Tool not working properly

Hi Guys
I have a large photo merge image and wanted to content aware fill the missing bits. When i try to use the select tool it selects while i hold my mouse button down but as soon as i let go it seems to either disappear or jump to somewhere totally different. This only happens in the checkered part with no image, i can select things fine within the image itself.
My guess is that it won't work because the image is too large?? 48k x 5k
Thought i might just try the Spot Healing Brush instead, didn't seem to handle things too well.
Just to add to this, nothing to do with the size of the image as i can't select on a much small image either. Basically i can only select the actaully photo rather than the checkered part around the outside when i want to content fill.

After you ctrl click on the layer to load the layers transparency:
(click on the below screenshots for larger views)
Select>Inverse
Select>Modify>Expand and use a value of about 10 pixels
(varies depending on how big your pano is)
then Edit>Fill>Content Aware
You still might have to touch up some areas as the one above still needs.

How do I specify exact corners with the rectangular selection tool?

Suppose I have an image 2000 pixels wide by 1000 pixels high. Pixel (0,0) is at the top left as you view the image. Using the rectangular selection tool, how can I specify an exact area to select? Say, for example, I want to select the area defined by (0,0), (100,0), (100,100) & (0,100), how would I do this?
I'm using Photoshop CS6 on a Mac with OSX 10.8.3.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks,
Kevin H.

Mylenium,
33,406 posts! That's amazing. Thanks for your technique for specifying an exact selection size. I tried it out and it works, but is there a way to get the marquee to snap to the guides, as opposed to snapping to pixels. I can't quite get the marquee to fall exactly where I place the guides, at least not easily.
Here's a method I've come up with since posting my question. (I guess I should have tried harder to figure this out before asking the question.)
Figure out beforehand where you want the corners of the selection marquee to be.
Activate the rulers: View>Rulers or (Cmd-R.)
Set rulers to pixels: Photoshop>Preferences>Units&Rulers>Rulers>Pixels
Select the rectangular selection tool.
In the menu bar for the selection tool choose Style>Fixed Size. Then in the dimension boxes to the right of the Style button, type in the width and height you want for your selection, e.g. 200 by 100 pixels.
Zoom in on where you want the top left pixel of your selection to be. Zoom in enough to clearly see the pixel.
With the selection tool active, click-and-release on the pixel you have zoomed in on.
Go back to normal view (Cmd-0) and you should see your entire selection.
This answers my own question, and with your method I now have two ways to do this.
Thanks,
Kevin H.

Selection tool problem in Photoshop Elements 8

I am using Photoshop Elements 8 and I am having an awful lot of trouble with the selection tool. I make a selection and then when I go to colour it in, it goes outside the lines by a few pixels, giving the selection a really fuzzy edge, almost like a glowing effect. I can even do this, colour it in and then go over it again with the eraser tool in the same selection and end up with just a fuzzy ring around the outside of the selection. I can't for the life of me figure out why this has been happening, and it is really, really frustrating. I have also had problems with going into an old file I had made ages ago and wanted to work on again, I made a new layer from a selection from the background and it came out all weird and transparent in bits and I couldn't fix it, and again, it had fuzzy edges. I don't know what is wrong, I haven't been using feathering on my edges or anything like that so why is it doing this? Should I just give in and buy the newest version of photoshop elements? Would that even work?

On the Selection brush tool's options bar, set hardness to 100%.
When you make the selection, make certain that the border of the selection outline is precise and does not extend beyond the object to be selected. If it does, subtract from the selection. If the selection falls short, add to it. This is critical and operator dependent.
Once you have created the selection to the best of your ability, place it on a new layer (CTRL+J)
In the layers palette, press CTRL on the keyboard and left click on the layer thumbnail of the selection created in step #3 to make the selection active (should see "marching ants" again) Click on the thumbnail, not the name.
Go to Select>refine edge and use the sliders to fine-tune the selection
Go to Edit>fill selection with foreground color
Let us know if this works for you.

Free-form adjustment to "Quick Selection Tool"

Hello,
I hope this is not one of those requests were the functionality already exists and I just can't find it.
Would it be possilble to allow for a free-form, drag with pixel level presision changes to the selection already determined by the "quick selection tool" AI. Most of the time when I use the tools, it selects 95% of what I intended but never quite right. Any further addition to the selection goes way overboard and selectes way beyond my intended precision.
Thank you,
John
Can be reached at below links in addition to this forum area.
[email protected]
http://www.elinenstore.com

Hello,
The problem is when the AI determines what it thinks is the actual object but does not include the entire object. Specifically when I have a linen set that needs color adjustment to match a more true to life representation of a LCD/LED screen. Several of the images have stacked sheet sets, one on top of the other. Thet have curved edges on the vertical plane and flat on the horizonal. The AI selects most of the single object but often misses the verticle edging. When I try to add more analysis point to converge the entire object, it overestimates and grabs other sheet sets. I want to do minute additions to the edging once the AI grabs as much correctly as possible.
I hope this explains the core issue a little more.
Thanks,
John
[email protected]
http://www.elinenstore.com

Scripting the path in Quick Selection Tool

Hi,
I'm trying to build a JS script which:
1. opens an image
2. selects the quick selection tool
3. does the selection following a pre-defined path
4. puts the unselected area to white
5. saves the image
The problem is in step 3. All the other steps can be recorded with ScriptListener, but the path is not. So the question is:
How can I tell to my script a path to follow while using Quick Selection?
How can I do it, for example, with a very simple path, say a line from pixel (50,50) to (50,200)?
Many thanks!

This would select the first path and stroke it with the Quick Selection Tool, for the second part it uses the Action Manager recorded with ScriptingListener.plugin.
app.activeDocument.pathItems[0].select();
// =======================================================
var idStrk = charIDToTypeID( "Strk" );
    var desc7 = new ActionDescriptor();
    var idnull = charIDToTypeID( "null" );
        var ref7 = new ActionReference();
        var idPath = charIDToTypeID( "Path" );
        var idOrdn = charIDToTypeID( "Ordn" );
        var idTrgt = charIDToTypeID( "Trgt" );
        ref7.putEnumerated( idPath, idOrdn, idTrgt );
    desc7.putReference( idnull, ref7 );
    var idUsng = charIDToTypeID( "Usng" );
    var idquickSelectTool = stringIDToTypeID( "quickSelectTool" );
    desc7.putClass( idUsng, idquickSelectTool );
    var idPrs = charIDToTypeID( "Prs " );
    desc7.putBoolean( idPrs, true );
executeAction( idStrk, desc7, DialogModes.NO );

Why my quick selection tool on photoshop is slow on my mac

why my quick selection tool on photoshop is slow on my mac

BOILERPLATE TEXT:
Note that this is boilerplate text.
If you give complete and detailed information about your setup and the issue at hand,
such as:
exact versions of your OS, of Photoshop (not just "CS6", but something like CS6v.13.0.6) and of Bridge,
your settings in Photoshop > Preference > Performance
the type of file you were working on,
machine specs, such as total installed RAM, scratch file HDs, total available HD space, video card specs, including total VRAM installed,
what troubleshooting steps you have taken so far,
what error message(s) you receive,
if having issues opening raw files also the exact camera make and model that generated them,
if you're having printing issues, indicate the exact make and model of your printer, paper size, image dimensions in pixels (so many pixels wide by so many pixels high). if going through a RIP, specify that too.
A screen shot of your settings or of the image could be very helpful too,
etc.,
someone may be able to help you (not necessarily this poster, who is not a Windows user).
Please read this FAQ for advice on how to ask your questions correctly for quicker and better answers:
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/419981?tstart=0
Thanks!

Direct Selection Tool don't works cause points dissapear in shapes

Good evening,
I'm using Photoshop CC under a Macbook Pro Retina Display (15 inches), I've noticed that since lasts updates, when I use the direct selection tool for chaning a shape trace the points that should appear for selecting each anchor dissapears, and there's no way to get them back (sometimes by closing the program and restarting fixes this issue).
The tool is working because when I clic somewhere over a shape it gets highlighted on layers panel, but I can't see the points and so, can't modify the shape.
Does this belongs to any option? (I know in Illustrator there's an option to see or hide the points, but don't know if in Photoshop goes the same way or not) or it's a bug from the last updates? (I would say that it didn't happen at the beggining). But as I use a lot shorcuts, sometimes I can make a misstake and press cmd + wrong key, so I think it could be the reason for this... but I'm not quite sure.
Thanks in advice!
EDIT:
I've seen that if I hide the "extras" (cmd + H) it hides the guides but also the points from shapes (that shouldn't be this way, right?) and even I can see them when I turn them on, I can't pick just one as I did in CS6 by using direct selection tool and pressing on just one point (at the beggining all of them are highlighted cause you've got selected the whole shape layer, but when you press one, it should get this highlighted and turn off the rest of them), and the only way to get just one point is to pan with the cursor and make a selection, passing over the points you want to highlight, but this is annoying cause if you've got any other shape below, it will select it as well.

1000x this. My designs are 100% vector shapes, so if Adobe have changed this core behavior intentionally, they’ve just made my life a lot more difficult.
We should be able to use the Direct Selection Tool to select a shape layer (similar to how the Move Tool has done) by clicking on any visible pixel. But then we should be able to freely drag-select points on that shape (starting from any neutral area) without selecting other shape layers. This is how it’s worked since before I can remember.
Here’s why the two new selection modes don’t work:
Active Layers - I can no longer freely select any visible shape. Instead I’m forced to make a time-consuming roundabout to the layer palette, where I have to squint to find my shape layer, and activate it manually before continuing. (Hitting “V” to select a layer, then “A” to get back to the D.S. Tool is nearly as cumbersome. Plus, I leave off the Move Tool's auto-select mode.)
All Layers - Treats all my shapes as if they’re on one layer. Overlapping shapes are therefore impossible to work with -- mainly drag-selecting and deselecting points -- in situ.
We either need a “legacy” setting, or some way to constrain selection on drag, via a key modifier or something. This “all or nothing" thing doesn’t work for me... and apparently for others. Why would they change such a thing?
Or maybe there’s something I’m missing. Please let that be the case!

Bug with selection tool in Photoshop CS

Hi there,
I find a bug with photoshop.
I work on video editing, so I usually create some image with not square pixel. In DV for exemple, we use 1,066 pixel ratio.
So I create a layer in full screen for DV editing (720*576 pixels for PAL in Europe) with 1,066 pixel ratio.
If I want to delete a area with 720*576 ratio, I use the selection tool and I select (keep the ratio 720*576) ... but the area wich I delete Is not really the correct ratio 720*576 !! Because, If I create a layer with the object tool (create a rectangle) with the correct ratio 720*576, It isn't the same shape as my old area.
So I think there is a bug ... isn't it ?
PS : sorry for my english, but I'm french.

I have test this problem with a friend on a CS3 version.
There is the same problem !
But we don't have the CS4 ... anybody want to test this ?

Why is the "Quick Selection Tool" working so slowly? - Photoshop CC in Windows 7

Every time I try to use the Quick selection tool, it takes a REALLY long time to select. I had CS5 and it was super fast, even with large RAW files. Now with CC, it takes at least 20 minutes to select a person out of a photo.
I already tried "resetting" the tool - that did not work at all.
Please help!

I mentioned working on my laptop without GPU acceleration, and how much it slowed everything down, but Quick Select was still laggy after the driver updated and GPU acceleration restored. This is a reasonable laptop with i7, 16Gb and GTX680. Thankfully, I got my main system back yesterday, and Quick select is pretty much instant.
But there shouldn't be that much difference. The big box has six core running at 4.2Ghz (under load) 32GB and GTX570, so while it is certainly more powerful, the difference in performance in respect to Quick Select is not proportional. I've just tried reducing cache levels on the big box from the '6' it usually runs at right down to 2, but it still responds instantly even with large files. I have GPU set to Advanced, and tile size to 128 on both systems.
Another odd thing is that I only have 1GB vRAM with the GTX570, where the GTX680 has 4Gb of faster vRAM. But maybe Quick select is not a big user of GPU acceleration.
So no real help I am afraid. I have looked through the GPU FAQ, but nothing helpful there. OK, I have just found a more detailed article on GPU acceleration, and it mentions a lot of features, but not Quick Select, so it could be that GPU is irrelevant. The laptop is Windows 8.1 as opposed win 7 for the big box, if that makes a difference. Can you correlate anything between our systems? I hate to post this without any suggestions, but I'm stumped.
There are tricks to aid Quick select.
Make a copy of the layer, and apply Curves and/or Levels directly to the layer, and try to increase contrast between the subject and background. Use this layer to make the selection, then switch back to the normal layer to use the selection.
I don’t know if this will work as I have just thought of it. Copy the layer, and Free Transform it to a smaller size. It will be image dependant, but Quick Select is much faster with images below about 1500 pixels wide. Use Quick select on the smaller image layer, and copy the selection to a new layer. FT it back up to size, and it should fit. This would only be useful if you are going to use Refine Edge right after, and will have obvious limitations.
Make sure you report back if you find a solution.

Quick Selection Tool won't deselect

I can't seem to deselect an area that mistakenly was selected. I pressed the Alt key but it won't deselect the area. Am I not doing something I should? Also where can I find some tutorials on using the Quick Selection tool. I am using CS5.

If you've just selected something, and it's not what you wanted, you can use Ctrl-Z to step back one step in the History (i.e., to before the selection was made), then try again with a different Tolerance setting or by clicking on a different point.
With the Quick Selection tool current, make sure you review the settings at the top of the Photoshop main window. They affect how the tool will work: A smaller Tolerance value will select fewer pixels, Anti-alias makes edges smoother, Contiguous will only select one block of contiguous pixels (vs. selecting similar pixels all over the image), and Sample All Layers will allow you to select based on what you see in the composite multi-layer document vs. just what's on a particular layer.
-Noel

Selection tools - how to get detail?

I currently have PSE 10, and use the selection tools often (normally the Quick selection). I find them quite frustrating if trying to include detail along edges, for example of a bird with lots of fine feathers extending beyond the body of the bird. I am familiar with the + and - options to add/subtract from the selection, but was wondering if there is a good (easier) way to include all that detail. I usually go to actual pixel size or higher when trying to include the detail.
Also, I have heard that the selection tools are better in versions 11 and 12. Would they help in what I want to do? I'm probably going to upgrade anyway, but may wait for version 13 since that is probably not far away.
Thanks.

You can try the lasso tool, but it can be very difficult to select precisely around feathers, leaves, and fur.
Have you tried selecting with a mask? Here you can use a black brush to hide outside the feathers (in your hypothetical), and then reveal with a white brush if you go too far. The trick is to use the bracket keys (next to the letter P on the keyboard) to change the size of the brush cursor as you navigate around.

Pixels & Selection Tools

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