Lasso Tool Connecting too soon

JS
Posted By
John_Sciarrino
Feb 4, 2009
Views
1002
Replies
20
Status
Closed
Lately while using the Polyganol Lasso Tool the connection of the selection happens before I am done. I have changed my mouse click speed to the fastest possible but this does not help. Besides, I am not even double clicking at all, it just joins the point where I am at with the begininng with just a single click even after several seconds since the last click. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to why this is happening. I am using CS3. Does anyone have any information about this? Thanks

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P
Phosphor
Feb 4, 2009
What are you using the Poly Lasso for? You might be better off using the Pen.
JS
John_Sciarrino
Feb 4, 2009
I never swithced to Wacom, if that is what you mean.
P
Phosphor
Feb 4, 2009
The Pen tool. Second from bottom on the left side of the toolbox.
DM
dave_milbut
Feb 4, 2009
is your mouse set up as left handed?
JS
John_Sciarrino
Feb 5, 2009
Hi Ed, I never used the pen tool as a selection tool. I just tried it and it does not select but just blacks out the image. I want to perform selections so I can either apply a layer mask to that selection or copy that selection.

Dave, this is a right handed, wireless, Logitech mouse. It is over 3 years old and I’m begining to suspect that maybe it is defective.

Just to recap: I use the Poly Lasso a lot for selections, sometimes the magnetic lasso and sometimes the magic wand when the situation allows it. But for selecting part of an image I find the Poly Lasso tool the best for most purposes. Recently now it wants to complete the joining of the selection before I am finished. Joining the two ends of the lasso can be done by one of two methods: either by double cliking and the two ends will be joined no matter where they are or how far apart they are or by bringing the cursor and lasso to the starting pointing and when in close proximity they join by one click. It would be great to be able to turn off the double click method of joining and only have the ends join by the close proximity method. That would solve my problem regardless of what is causing it in the first place. Thanks for all your suggestions. John
JJ
John Joslin
Feb 5, 2009
Regardless of whether you go on using stone age tools or not, be aware that the Pen tool makes paths, shape layers or filled pixels according to the option selected in the Options Bar. Paths are accurate and can be converted to selections with a single click.

If you intend to progress with Photoshop it’s a good idea to learn how to use the pen tool. It takes time, practice and patience, but it pays off in the end.
JS
John_Sciarrino
Feb 5, 2009
John, I guess I should learn more about it. Thanks for the advice. I’ll start with PS help and also search for various tutorials in other forums. Unless you or someone else can recommend a good tutorial. Thanks
DM
dave_milbut
Feb 5, 2009
I used to get the problem with a alkaline batteried logitech mouse when the bat. was low. haven’t seen it since i got the mx1000 (rechargable).

have you tried turning down the video acceleration on your card just to eliminate a vid driver problem?
K
KatWoman
Feb 5, 2009
first go to the mouse driver and check the click rate (control panel>mouse) make sure you have a current manufacturer driver not the windows generic one

make sure you don’t have it set to one click
make sure you are not inadvertantly clicking any side buttons

set your select tool to ADD mode (+) and just keep going

when using the pen do not set it on shape or fill …at top bar>>choose path any pen path can be turned into a selection using the path palette click icon at bottom that looks like little dotted circle very useful!!
PJ
Paul_J_Farr
Feb 7, 2009
Hi All – I’ve followed this problem through versions CS3 and CS4, regularly cursing when my selection self closes early. Today, I figured out a work-around that lets me make extensive and intricate selections using the polygonal selection tool. What I tried today was to make partial selections and save each as an Alpha Mask. Then, I make another partial selection and save it as an Alpha Mask. After I’ve made several such partial selections, I then use the "add to" function of the polygonal selection tool and draw through the earlier selections and connect them all together, again saving as an Alpha Mask. Although a bit of a pain with the need to trash prior Alpha Masks, since only the latest one is necessary, I’ve now found that I can keep going AND, when an early close occurs, I simply load my last saved Alpha Mask and I’m then good to go.

I was so pleased with this approach that I had to share with you all. I hope it works for you as it does for me. -Paul
JJ
John Joslin
Feb 7, 2009
It would be far simpler to learn to use the Pen tool!

And you’d have a far better selection tool at your disposal.

Here’s my tip to pen beginners: make a quick, wide selection using the normal Lasso tool; turn the selection into a path (one click) and then tweak the path to fit the outline.

Once you’ve used the tool for a bit it becomes easier.
P
Phosphor
Feb 7, 2009
Yes, or also simpler to just hold down Shift and add to the selection. No need for long elaborate tricks.
JS
John_Sciarrino
Feb 7, 2009
Interesting work around Paul, but it seems too many extra steps to perform what used to be a fairly simple selection process. I foresee another problem with this solution also. Sometimes when the selection closes early it goes outside the area I want to select. It takes the shortest, straight path, so even if I saved it as an Alpha Mask I would have so much work correcting and deselecting those areas I didn’t want to select.

I have been playing around with the pen tool and mainly using it in the same capacity as the Poly Lasso tool. Although I am starting to understand the full potential of what the tool can do with curved shapes I still haven’t mastered the technique. Those anchor points are tricky.

It’s too bad the Pen tool doesn’t activate an automatic move when you reach the end of the page like the lasso does. No problem, just use the hand. But it was a handy feature. I will continue to use the pen tool and then convert it to a selection. It’s nice to be able to move those anchor points around and fine tune also.

I’m disappointed to learn from Paul that the early closing is an issue with both CS3 and 4, I was hoping I just had some settings wrong or some feature turned on or needed to be turned off. Thanks for all the help.
DS
Dennis_S
Feb 7, 2009
The pen tool is great but the PL has its uses. I have not seen this behavior in CS3 nor CS4. If I was you, I would borrow or buy a cheap wired mouse and see if you have the same problem. Sounds like a mouse/mouse sensitivity problem to me.
P
Phosphor
Feb 7, 2009
You can’t beat a Wacom for this kind of work.
JS
John_Sciarrino
Feb 7, 2009
I think I will try another mouse and see if that’s it. I’ll report what I find. Never felt comfortable with the Wacom, I know it takes practice but I guess I’m old fashioned. Thanks.
CC
Christopher_Carvalho
Feb 10, 2009
You want your mouse double-click speed to be slower, not faster. The thread below may be of some help and describes some workarounds.
<http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.59b4df83/7>

The polygonal lasso has some strange code that tries to sense closing the selection based on the distance between clicks and the speed of clicks. If you click subsequent points too fast or don’t move the cursor far enough between points, you can fall into the trap.

Setting double-click speed in the operating system can improve things, but cause frustration elsewhere. It is not a complete solution but may help.

-Chris.
JS
John_Sciarrino
Feb 10, 2009
Hi Chris, thanks for that suggestion. I thought the obvious thing was to speed up the double click setting. I will try it the other way
..
However I think I may have figured out the main source of the problem. We have all been directing out attention to the mouse and I didn’t even consider the mouse pad. About a week ago I bought a new mouse pad and thought that it could be the problem. I thought all pad were created equal. This new pad is very thin and has a texture. It’s called Wowpad and is oversized also. I switched
back to my old pad to test the theory and so far I have not had any early closes with the lasso tool. That may have been the problem.
Too bad, I really love this new pad. Maybe I’ll use the new pad for everything and when I am doing some intricate selecting with the lasso and not the pen I will just switch back to the old pad. Thanks for all the input.
B
Buko
Feb 10, 2009
If you are using CS3 or CS4 you should be using the quick selection tool.

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