Photoshop Elements 5: The Missing Manual

122 Photoshop Elements 5: The Missing Manual

Selecting with a

Brush

• Edge Contrast controls how sharp a difference the Magnetic Lasso should look

for between the outline and the background. A higher number looks for sharper

contrasts, and a lower number looks for softer ones.

• Frequency controls how fast Elements puts down the fastener points you see in

Figure 5-9.

• Use Tablet Pressure to Change Pen Width—the little button with a pen at the

right of the Options bar—only works if you have a graphics tablet. When you

turn this setting on, how hard you press controls how Elements searches for the

edge of objects you’re trying to select. When you bear down harder, it’s more

precise. When you press more lightly, you can be a bit sloppier and Elements

will still find the edge.

Many people live full and satisfying lives paying no attention whatsoever to these

settings, so don’t feel like you need to be fussing with them all the time. You can

usually ignore them unless the Magnetic Lasso misbehaves.

TIP You get better results with the Magnetic Lasso if you go more slowly than if you speed

around the object. Like most people, the Magnetic Lasso does better work if you give it time to be

sure of where it’s going.

The Polygonal Lasso

At first, this may seem like a totally stupid tool. It works like the Magnetic Lasso,

but it creates only perfectly straight segments. So you may think, “Well that’s great

if I ...