Guide to Understanding and Using Every Selection Group Tool in Photoshop

Have you opened Adobe Photoshop CS2 and then suddenly paused because you realize you don't get anything thats in front of you. If this is you, then I'll try to help. I wanted to create a series of tutorials and FAQ's on just getting to understand all the tools of photoshop and what they do. I'll focus on Adobe Photoshop CS2 for these "How-to's", but you should be aware that most of the same tools are present in previous versions of photoshop.

This specific post deals with just giving you guys an overview of what's in photoshop and why. I will go into greater detail of each individual tool in future - special, "How-to's". These "How-to's" will be completely dedicated to one tool each, so you'll understand the tool completely and not be confused by discriptions or info reguarding other tools.

PHOTOSHOP TOOLS
There are about 32 visible tools in the CS2 toolbox. I Say these are visble tools because if you look closely you will notice a tiny black triange in the corner of some of the tools. When this triangle is selected by HOLDING THE LEFT MOUSE BUTTON DOWN WHILE OVER THESE TRIANGLES - a separate set of additional hidden tools will be revealed.

START WITH THE VISIBLE TOOLS FIRST
Will start with just the tools that are visble. If you hold your mouse over the icon for each tool a name should appear. That name is what the tool is called and often the name gives you some idea of what the tool actually does.

The first tool in the toolbox is the: MARQUEE TOOL
The marguee tool is basically what you use to make a selection.

2ND TOOL: MOVE TOOL
This tool allows you to move what is selected

3RD TOOL: LASSO TOOL
This tool allows you to draw a freeform selection of any shape and size around an object.

4TH TOOL: MAGIC WAND
The magic wand is a complex tool thats easy to understand. Basically it allows you to make a very specific kind of selection based on color or tonality, and the parameters you set for the tool.

5TH TOOL: CROP TOOL
This does exactly what its called. It allows you to crop an image.

6TH TOOL: SLICE TOOL
This is probably gonna be the tool you use the least because its specifically used for WEB DESIGN work. If you edit a family photo you won't use it. What it does is slice an image into individual parts that can then be saved as graphics for a website. A url can be associated with each slice. THATS ABOUT AS FAR INTO THIS TOOL AS I WILL GO AT THIS POINT.

NOTE ABOUT TOOLS 1-6
The tools we've just gone over all have one thing in common - they are tools to make selections. Thats right!. If you look at the toolbox the first 6 tools seem to be in there own little group, thats because this is the selection group.

TO BE CONTINUED: I will continue with the next group of tools in the next posting.(That's right every tool belongs to a group. We've just gone over the SELECTION GROUP.)