Photoshop Tutorial: Save and Reuse a Selection

Saving and reusing selections is a valuable time-saving technique in Photoshop. It allows you to quickly and easily apply edits to the same area of an image repeatedly, without having to recreate the selection each time.

Saving a Selection

To save a selection, follow these steps:

1. Create a selection: Use any of the selection tools in Photoshop to create the selection you want to save.
2. Choose Select > Save Selection.
3. Name the selection: Enter a name for the selection in the Save Selection dialog box.
4. Choose a channel: Select a channel to store the selection in. You can choose from the following channels: New, Red, Green, Blue, and Alpha.
5. Click Save.

Reusing a Selection

To reuse a saved selection, follow these steps:

1. Choose Select > Load Selection.
2. Locate the selection: Select the channel that contains the saved selection in the Load Selection dialog box.
3. Choose a selection mode: Select whether you want to add, subtract, or intersect the saved selection with the current selection.
4. Click OK.

The saved selection will be loaded and applied to the image.

Tips for Saving and Reusing Selections

• Save frequently used selections to save time and effort.
• Name your selections clearly so you can easily identify them later.
• Use different channels for different types of selections. For example, you could use the Red channel for selections that affect the red color in an image, and the Alpha channel for selections that affect the entire image.
• Use selection masks to preview your selections before applying them.

By saving and reusing selections, you can streamline your workflow and achieve more efficient and professional results in your Photoshop editing.