and reset to default. On the Tool Options palette choose Selection type: Rounded Rectangle.In this lesson we will cover making selections and using the Move tool.
Selections are a very big part of PSP. They enable you to perform tasks such as flood fill a defined (selected) area of your image. There is some type of selection involved in most every tutorial you do. There are also lot s of tutorials available that show you how to make an image using selections the tutorial writer made for you.
The selection tools are located in the 5th icon on the toolbar. There are 3 selection tools Selection, Freehand Selection, and Magic Wand. We will be covering the Selection and Magic Wand tools in this tutorial. The Freehand selection tool is a great tool but is beyond the scope of this lesson.
The Selection tool allows you to make selections using predefined shapes such as Rectangle, Circle, and so on. The Freehand tool lets you make selections by clicking around the edges of the item you want to select. The Magic Wand tool lets you make selections based on content (fill) such as a particular color.
In this lesson we will be using some stuff we learned in previous lessons so lets review a few of them. The Foreground is located on the Materials palette. Click in the top box to choose the color, gradient, or Pattern you want to use. We will be using several layers in this lesson so remember right clicking on a layer in the Layers palette will bring up a context menu with several options. Every option I will use is located on the context menu or if you prefer you will find them on the Layers menu also. With that said let's get started.
Create a New canvas. (Click File|| New [Ctrl+N])
Width = 500 pixels
Height = 500 pixels
Resolution = 72.00 pixels
Background = Raster
Color Depth = 16 Million Colors (24 Bit)
Color = Transparent Checked
Click on the Selection tool and reset to default. On the Tool Options palette choose Selection type: Rounded Rectangle.
Set the Foreground to a color of your choice (needs to a color not a gradient or pattern).
Add a New Raster Layer (Layers || New Raster Layer) and name it leg1.
Click anywhere in your canvas and holding down the left mouse button drag out a 35x115 rounded rectangle selection then release the mouse button. The size is the third set of numbers on the status bar. The first set of numbers show the x,y coordinates of where you started from and the second set shows the current x,y coordinates of the mouse pointer. The number following the 3rd set of coordinates (current size) is the aspect ratio.
You should have a portion of your canvas surround by "marching ants" Click your Flood tool and reset to default. In Tool Options set the Match Mode to None. Click anywhere inside the marching ants to fill with your chosen Foreground color. Click Layers || Duplicate and then Click Image || Mirror. Rename the Copy of leg1 layer to leg2. Make sure the leg2 layer is selected and Add a New Raster Layer (Layers || New Raster Layer) name it arm1.
Click on the Selection tool .and change the Foreground to a different color. Still using the rounded rectangle holding down the left mouse button make a 100x25 selection. Click the Flood tool (same settings as before) and fill the new selection. Click Layers || Duplicate and then Click Image || Mirror. Rename the Copy of arm1 layer to arm2. Make sure the arm2 layer is selected and Add a New Raster Layer (Layers || New Raster Layer) name it body.
Note: When you duplicate a layer it adds an new layer above it which is an exact copy of the layer. We used the Mirror option so you could see the second one. You could have used the Move tool also.
Make sure you are still on the body layer. Click on the Selection tool .and change the Foreground to a different color. Change the Selection type on tool options to Ellipse. Drag out an 120x150 Ellipse selection. Click the Flood tool (same settings as before) and fill the new selection. Add a New Raster Layer (Layers || New Raster Layer) name it head.
Click on the Selection tool .and change the Foreground to a different color. Change the Selection type on tool options to Circle. Drag out an 100x100 Circle selection. Click the Flood tool (same settings as before) and fill the new selection.
Click on the Move tool 
and reset to default. Now click on each item (filled selection) and hold down the left mouse button drag the selection where you want it. Try to arrange the items so they resemble a stick figure. If you watch the layer palette as you click on the different items the layer the item is on automatically becomes the active layer. Tip: You can also arrange the selections before you fill them by using the Move tool and using the right mouse button instead of the left. Note: Although I didn't do it in this lesson it is good practice to deselect (Selections || None [Ctrl+D]) before starting a new selection. As long as Selection mode = Replace it doesn't make much difference.
Let's see what the Magic Wand does. Unlike the move tool with the magic wand you need to click the layer you want to work on in the Layer palette.
Click the Magic Wand tool 
and reset to default. Make sure you are on the body layer and click in the body. The ellipse should now be selected. Now change to the arm1 layer and click in the arm1 item. (If you are not sure which one is the arm1 click the eye beside the arm1 layer on layer palette to hide the layer and look and see which arm disappeared. Don't forget to click the eye again to turn the visibility back on). Now arm1 is selected but arm2 isn't why not they are the same color? That is because of 2 reasons. First the arms are not on the same layer and second the arms don't connect. To select all of a particular color in an image click on the color with the magic wand then click Selections || Modify || Select similar remember if you want to select the color on all the layers you need to put a check in front of Sample Merged.
Change back to the body layer and click on the body with the Magic wand to select it. Click Selections || Modify || Expand = 2 Pixels and click Ok. Your selection is now bigger by 2 pixels. Change your foreground to any multi-colored pattern. Fill the selection with the pattern. Deselect (Selections || Select None).
Click the Magic Wand tool and click somewhere in the body. Hmmm with all the different colors the whole body didn't select this time. This is easy to fix. There are 2 ways you can do this. You can click on the Selection tool and draw a rectangle around the body and then click somewhere in the body or my favorite Selections || Select All (Ctrl+A), Selections || Float (Ctrl+F), and Selections || Defloat (Ctrl+Shift+F). Try using both methods now to select the body.
Click Selections || Modify || Contract = 2. This will make the selection the same size of the original before we expanded it. The only problem is that the part we want to keep is what is selected so now what? Click Selections || Invert. Now the part we want to get rid of is selected along with every part of that layer that was not previously selected. Since it is just transparency it doesn't make any difference but if there was something else on the layer it could cause problems. Hit the Delete key and Deselect. Your Ellipse should now be patterned filled and back to its original size.
Practice selecting, filling, and moving the other items then come back here and I will give you some more tips.
You pretty much know the basics of selections now but please take time to explore the selections Menu. There are many items there we did not discuss. The Save/Load Selections is an important options especially if you are going to do selection tutorials. For help with this option try the Selections with PSP 8 tutorial.
Earlier in this lesson when I was telling what the numbers in the status bar were I mentioned Aspect ratio. In most tutorials it is never mentioned or used but it is very important to pay attention to. To find out why check out the Making Proportional Selections tutorial.
Besides the Load/Save Selection option I showed you how to use the most commonly used selection tools. I want to show you one more thing then we will wrap it up. Click on the Selection tool Selection type = Rectangle. See all that empty space around your figure lets get rid of it. Draw a rectangle around your entire figure or click on the Merged Opaque button in the Tool Options palette (for Selection tool) to have PSP do it for you. Now click Image || Crop to Selection. There you go all the extra space is gone.
That's it for this lesson. I hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to Save (File || Save) your image if you want to keep it.