Make a selection with the Magic Wand
The Magic Wand helps you select parts of an object that are the same or similar colors. The Magic Wand is useful for selecting a consistently colored area—a blue sky for example—without having to trace around it.
To make a selection with the Magic Wand:
- Make sure the StackThe palette in the workspace that shows the layering order of objects. appears in the workspaceThe gray area that surrounds the canvas..
- On the Stack, click the objectA part of a picture, including shapes, text boxes, or lines that can be edited individually. The order of objects can be changed by using the Stack. of which you want to make a partial selection.
- On the toolbar, click the Magic Wand
button. - If the Magic Wand options palette is not visible, click the Selection button on the workspace toolbar.
- To select only similarly-colored pixels that are connected to each other, select the Contiguous check box.
- On the Magic Wand options palette, enter a value in the Tolerance box. The tolerance is the range of colors that will be included in the selection.
- On the Magic Wand options palette, choose whether you want to start a new selection
, add to the current selection 
, or subtract from the current selection 
. - On the picture, click the color you want to select.
- If the selection has includes too much or too little of the area you want to select, enter a different value in the Tolerance box, and then make another selection.
 | Optional: Feather the selection.
- On the Magic Wand options palette, click Feather.
- Enter the number of pixels that you want feathered around the edge.
- Click OK.
|
- To select the opposite area, click Invert on the Magic Wand options palette.
Note
The tolerance can be set from 0 to 255, where 0 selects only pixelsAbbreviation of picture element. Tiny dots on a computer monitor, each displaying a specific color, which collectively make up the images displayed on the screen. of identical color, and 255 selects all the pixels in the object.
Tip
Use the featherTo soften the edges of a selected area by smoothing the transition from selected to non-selected pixels. option to soften the edges of a selection. This helps to smooth the transition between effects applied to the selection and the surrounding areas.
