The lasso tool allows you to create a selection of any shape you desire by tracing with your freehand.You may find the lasso tool to be the tool of choice for quickly tracing irregular forms to make a selection in an image, provided you have a steady hand and command a satisfactory level of artistic dexterity that allows you to trace shapes without much difficulty.
Choosing the Lasso ToolThe tool can be found in the toolbar in the cluster of tools that are used for selecting. It is easily recognized by the looping rope icon. Clicking the icon will activate the tool and load the tool optionsbar with the settings for the lasso tool. You can set the mode for selecting in the tool options.Creating the SelectionAssuming you have loaded an image and activated the lasso tool, creating a selection is simple and intuitive. Look for the area or object in the image you want to make a selection around. When you have decidedon the area you want to surround or 'lasso' with a selection, press anywhere along the edge of your desired area to start.Continue tracing around the edge of the area by keeping the mouse pressed and carefully following the edge with the mouse.A line will be draw to show the path that is being made by the lasso tool.When you have completed surrounding the desired area release the mouse to complete the selection. A marching antsdashed line will outline your new selection.Editing with the SelectionWith an active selection you can apply edits that are restricted to the selected area. If for example you select the brush tooland paint over the selected area you will see that the brush strokes will only change color in the area bounded by the marching ants dashed line.Any edits you make to the image will only affect the selected region whether you apply a filter or change the brightness.You can use the lasso tool for quick background removal. To do this you have to use the erasertool or use the 'Clear' command under the 'Edit' menu to remove the selected region.If you erase or clear immediately after selecting with the lasso tool you will notice that youwill remove the portion of the image inside the lasso selection, which is not what you want. To remove the area outside the selection you have to invert the selectedarea. This can be done by choosing 'Invert' under the 'Select' menu. After inverting you can now use the eraser and the region outside your selected object will be erased.