help for a newbee

MP
Posted By
mark.peters
Feb 12, 2004
Views
416
Replies
5
Status
Closed
Hi all,
Raw rookie here, this is prolly a very simple question for you experts.
I find drawing with the marquee tools very confusing. Sometimes when i draw a circle i get just "marching ants" and others i get a color fill. How do i control this???
When i move the "marching ants" shape it leaves a black hole behind that i can do nothing with
Other times i will fill my shape using the paint bucket and then if i move my selection just the "marching ants" ring will move leaving the color fill behind.
Can anyone simplistically explain how to properly use the marquee tool.??

thanks a bunch

MArk

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NW
No Where Man
Feb 12, 2004
The marquee tools are for selecting. Drawing tools are such items as the paint brush, pen, pencil.

Suggest you get the "Classroom in a Book" for your particular version of Photoshop and work through the tutorials.
T
tacitr
Feb 12, 2004
I find drawing with the marquee tools very confusing.

That’s because the marquee tool is not for drawing.

The Marquee tool makes a "selection." A selection is like a stencil. When you make a selection, you can only modify what is inside of it–what is outside of it is protected and can’t be changed.

It is important to understand that when you create a selection, you have not changed one single pixel in the image. You have only instructed Photoshop, "Let me change what is inside. Stop me from changing what is outside."

Sometimes when i
draw a circle i get just "marching ants" and others i get a color fill. How do i control this???

The color fill is the Oval tool. It is not the same as the Marquee tool. You are using two different tools; therefore, you are getting two different results.

When i move the "marching ants" shape it leaves a black hole behind that i can do nothing with

When you move the marching ants with the Move tool, you are telling Photoshop, "Tear everything inside the selection free and move those pixels somewhere else." The hole is filled with the current background color.

You can not do anything with the hole because you still have a selection. Remember, any time you see marching ants, they mean: "Let me change what is inside the selection. Stop me from changing what is outside."

Other times i will fill my shape using the paint bucket…

The paint bucket is not the correct tool for filling a selection. To fill a selection, you hold down the Alt key on your keyboard and press Delete.

You are not filling a shape. A selection *is not a shape.*

The purpose of the paint bucket is to act like a combination of the Magic Wand tool and the Fill command. It looks at the color of the pixel you clicked on, then spreads out in all directions, filling as it goes, until it hits a different color. It is NOT intended to fill a selection. It fills based on the existing color in the image. It is not a generic fill tool.

and then if i
move my selection just the "marching ants" ring will move leaving the color fill behind.

Here is the rule for selections:

If you move the selection with the Move tool, you are ripping the selection out of the picture.

If you move the selection with the Marquee tool or any other selection tool, you are just moving the selection, but you are not changing one single pixel in the image. It is like moving a stencil around.


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MP
mark.peters
Feb 13, 2004
OK now i`m really confused with what the primary purpose of the marquee tool is.
According to this guy…..who seems to be pretty good, he uses the marquee tool to draw complex
shapes.http://www.aqa-d.se/ny/pstips/interfx/complex.htm

How can i draw these kind of shapes using the drawing tools (ellipse, line rectangle etc).
Also when i draw a shape it turns out bevelled and with a color gradient already applied to it………how do i stop it from doing this?

m

(Tacit) wrote in message news:…
I find drawing with the marquee tools very confusing.

That’s because the marquee tool is not for drawing.

The Marquee tool makes a "selection." A selection is like a stencil. When you make a selection, you can only modify what is inside of it–what is outside of it is protected and can’t be changed.

It is important to understand that when you create a selection, you have not changed one single pixel in the image. You have only instructed Photoshop, "Let me change what is inside. Stop me from changing what is outside."
Sometimes when i
draw a circle i get just "marching ants" and others i get a color fill. How do i control this???

The color fill is the Oval tool. It is not the same as the Marquee tool. You are using two different tools; therefore, you are getting two different results.

When i move the "marching ants" shape it leaves a black hole behind that i can do nothing with

When you move the marching ants with the Move tool, you are telling Photoshop, "Tear everything inside the selection free and move those pixels somewhere else." The hole is filled with the current background color.
You can not do anything with the hole because you still have a selection. Remember, any time you see marching ants, they mean: "Let me change what is inside the selection. Stop me from changing what is outside."
Other times i will fill my shape using the paint bucket…

The paint bucket is not the correct tool for filling a selection. To fill a selection, you hold down the Alt key on your keyboard and press Delete.
You are not filling a shape. A selection *is not a shape.*
The purpose of the paint bucket is to act like a combination of the Magic Wand tool and the Fill command. It looks at the color of the pixel you clicked on, then spreads out in all directions, filling as it goes, until it hits a different color. It is NOT intended to fill a selection. It fills based on the existing color in the image. It is not a generic fill tool.
and then if i
move my selection just the "marching ants" ring will move leaving the color fill behind.

Here is the rule for selections:

If you move the selection with the Move tool, you are ripping the selection out of the picture.

If you move the selection with the Marquee tool or any other selection tool, you are just moving the selection, but you are not changing one single pixel in the image. It is like moving a stencil around.
E
erica
Feb 13, 2004
I think you need to buy Classroom in a book for your version of Photoshop and learn how to use the tool of the program a little bit before trying anything "complex".
It will help you out a lot.

"Mark" wrote in message
OK now i`m really confused with what the primary purpose of the marquee tool is.
According to this guy…..who seems to be pretty good, he uses the marquee tool to draw complex
shapes.http://www.aqa-d.se/ny/pstips/interfx/complex.htm
How can i draw these kind of shapes using the drawing tools (ellipse, line rectangle etc).
Also when i draw a shape it turns out bevelled and with a color gradient already applied to it………how do i stop it from doing this?

m

(Tacit) wrote in message
news:…
I find drawing with the marquee tools very confusing.

That’s because the marquee tool is not for drawing.

The Marquee tool makes a "selection." A selection is like a stencil.
When you
make a selection, you can only modify what is inside of it–what is
outside of
it is protected and can’t be changed.

It is important to understand that when you create a selection, you have
not
changed one single pixel in the image. You have only instructed
Photoshop, "Let
me change what is inside. Stop me from changing what is outside."
Sometimes when i
draw a circle i get just "marching ants" and others i get a color fill. How do i control this???

The color fill is the Oval tool. It is not the same as the Marquee tool.
You
are using two different tools; therefore, you are getting two different results.

When i move the "marching ants" shape it leaves a black hole behind that i can do nothing with

When you move the marching ants with the Move tool, you are telling
Photoshop,
"Tear everything inside the selection free and move those pixels
somewhere
else." The hole is filled with the current background color.
You can not do anything with the hole because you still have a
selection.
Remember, any time you see marching ants, they mean: "Let me change what
is
inside the selection. Stop me from changing what is outside."
Other times i will fill my shape using the paint bucket…

The paint bucket is not the correct tool for filling a selection. To
fill a
selection, you hold down the Alt key on your keyboard and press Delete.
You are not filling a shape. A selection *is not a shape.*
The purpose of the paint bucket is to act like a combination of the
Magic Wand
tool and the Fill command. It looks at the color of the pixel you
clicked on,
then spreads out in all directions, filling as it goes, until it hits a different color. It is NOT intended to fill a selection. It fills based
on the
existing color in the image. It is not a generic fill tool.
and then if i
move my selection just the "marching ants" ring will move leaving the color fill behind.

Here is the rule for selections:

If you move the selection with the Move tool, you are ripping the
selection out
of the picture.

If you move the selection with the Marquee tool or any other selection
tool,
you are just moving the selection, but you are not changing one single
pixel in
the image. It is like moving a stencil around.
T
tacitr
Feb 13, 2004
OK now i`m really confused with what the primary purpose of the marquee tool is.
According to this guy…..who seems to be pretty good, he uses the marquee tool to draw complex
shapes.http://www.aqa-d.se/ny/pstips/interfx/complex.htm

Yes. The Marquee makes a selection. Then he fills the selection with the Fill command.

Remember, a marquee tool acts like a stencil. A stencil does not paint. You put a stencil on something, then you paint. The stencil stops you from painting outside the area you want to paint.

You make a selection witht he Marquee tool. Then you fill. The Marquee stops you from filling outside the selection edge.

This is what you will spend a lot of time doing in Photoshop: Make a selection, then paint or fill or filter or use some command. Make another selection, then paint or fill or filter. When you make a selection, you tell Photoshop, "Let me change what is inside this selection. Stop me from changing what is outside this selection."

Imagine this:

Start with a white image. Make a circular selection. Fill with black. You are telling Photoshop, "Fill this circle with black. Stop me from filling anything OUTSIDE the circle." Result: Black circle on a white background.


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http://www.xeromag.com/franklin.html

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