Introduction
Hello!! Welcome back, once again. This time we will look at some uses we can give to the selection tool. I'll tell you in advance that once you know it, you won't stop using it; it's very versatile, especially useful for correcting errors and saving time. I hope it is useful to you, without further ado...
Let's get started!!
1. Selection Tool
Selection is found in the tool palette, usually appearing with a dotted square icon. This tool has eight sub-tools, which are located in the sub-tool palette.
SHORTCUT: Press the “M” key to call the tool more quickly.
The selection tool allows you to define an area to work in, and everything outside that area will not be accessible for editing.
Another palette we should keep in mind is the “Tool Property” palette. In it, we will find useful settings for creating a new selection, adding to, deleting from, and selecting from a selection, among others.
NOTE: By default, it is set to “New selection”. And furthermore, each sub-tool has this section in that mode.
• MOVE SELECTION
After making a selection, we can move it. To do this, notice how the cursor icon changes; when the icon takes the shape of a square with a cross in the bottom right, moving the selection across the canvas will be possible.
NOTE: This can only be done when the selection mode is set to “New selection”.
• DESELECT
There are two methods to deselect; the first and easiest is to use the “CTRL plus D” keys. And the second is by pressing the first icon in the selection floating menu.
• HIDE SELECTION BORDER
If at any point the selection border is cumbersome, to hide it we must access the following path: View > Selection border. Clicking on this last option will make the border disappear.
NOTE: Even if it disappears, the selection will still be there, and consequently, we can make all modifications as a normal selection. Once that selection is concluded, the border will reappear the next time we use the tool.
► Manual Selection
To create a selection manually (in a later section we will see how to create an automatic selection), we can do so using any of the following sub-tools: Rectangle, Ellipse, Lasso, Polyline, Selection Pen, and Shrink Selection.
• RECTANGLE AND ELLIPSE
These two tools allow us to select using a predefined shape. Ideal for large selections or for selecting rectangular/square shapes. On the other hand, I recommend the ellipse for creating and filling shapes of this type.
NOTE: If you hold down the SHIFT key, perfect shapes will be created: a perfect square, rectangle, or circle.
An example: Creating shapes behind our characters.
Within the Tool Property palette, we find two options that are only present in these two sub-tools: “Aspect ratio settings” and “Adjust angle once decided”.
Aspect ratio settings: To use this option, simply click on the corresponding checkbox on the left side; with the “+” sign, sliding bars will be shown where we can choose the dimensions. This serves to determine a specific size for the selection. Within the options, there are two sections; the first allows choosing the “Specified ratio”.
And the other allows “Specify length”.
Adjust angle once decided: To use it, we must create the shape, then move the mouse until the desired angle is achieved.
NOTE: By pressing the SHIFT key, the area will rotate 45 degrees.
• LASSO AND POLYLINE
These two, for their part, provide greater control for determining specific areas.
(1) Polyline works with a series of straight lines; we start at one point, then move to another and mark it; finally, to close the sequence, we must click on the starting point.
(2) Lasso provides a free selection; in other words, we can draw the selection ourselves without using predetermined shapes. This greatly facilitates selection, it is a versatile and widely used sub-tool.
• SELECTION PEN
With this tool, you can create a selection as if you were using a brush. The width of the selection will correspond to the brush width.
• ERASE SELECTION
With this sub-tool, parts of the selection can be erased as if using a brush; this is because the selection mode is set to delete (I'll explain this mode later).
Within the tool properties, we find the same ones that a normal brush has, such as: Brush size, softness, hardness, brush density, and stabilization. Brush size does what its name says, and the stabilizer improves precision when painting.
Smoothing has four levels (none, weak, medium, and strong); the stronger it is, the softer the selection edge will be.
NOTE: This option is available in all selection sub-tools.
Hardness makes the selection blurry; it has five levels, level 1 being the blurriest and the fifth representing the strongest. This is not noticeable in the selection itself, only evident when it is filled.
Brush density, as its name indicates, modulates the transparency of the selection; once again, as with the previous one, the effect is not noticeable as such in the selection itself, but rather when it is filled.
• SHRINK SELECTION
This sub-tool allows us to make specific selections; to use it properly, we must know its tool properties. Let's see what functions it has and what they are for.
OBJECT COLOR: In this section, we find a dropdown menu; these functions allow us to specify what we want to select. Each of them explains its function by its name.
• Affect all colors
• Transparent only
• Area surrounded by transparent
• Black only
• Area surrounded by black
• White and transparent only
• Area surrounded by white and transparent
• Treat semi-transparent as transparent
• All closed areas except transparency
• All closed areas, including transparency
Let's look at an example: If I select the “Black only” option, all dark areas of the illustration will be selected.
CLOSE GAP AND TOLERANCE
Close gap allows ignoring small empty spaces between lines, while tolerance allows selecting a larger number of pixels.
AREA SCALING
This function allows expanding or reducing the selection; the scaling is within a range of -20 to 20.
REFER MULTIPLE
This function is very useful. Generally speaking, we can create selections regardless of which layer we are on. For example: if we make a selection on a layer different from, say, the line layer, it will not fill according to the selection unless we activate “All layers”. We can also do this with folders, reference layers, and the selected layer.
Another thing, if we open the menu by clicking on the cross on the left side, a series of options will appear that will allow excluding specific layers; among the options we have: Sketch layers, text, selected layers, paper layer, and locked layers.
FILL UP TO VECTOR PATH
This is a function aimed at vector layers; its operation is simple, it allows filling up to the center of the vector line. It only works on vector layers.
This is a very good option to avoid small white lines like those shown in the image below.
► New Selection
When this mode is active, we can create a selection, but when another is created, the previous one will disappear. Only one selection can be generated at a time.
► Add Selection
In the previous one, we saw that only one selection could be made at a time, but now, with the second option of the selection mode “Add selection,” we can have several. It's simple, we change the mode and that's it, we can make multiple selections or add to the same selection.
SHORTCUT: If you hold down the SHIFT key, you add without needing to change the tool settings. When the key is released, the settings will return to their base (if it's in new selection, it will return to selecting one at a time).
NOTE: Using this mode, we can combine the shapes provided by the different sub-tools.
► Delete from Selection
Similar to the previous one, except this removes parts of the selections. Let's say you want to make a donut, you make a circular selection, then change the mode to delete and remove the center with the same ellipse tool.
SHORTCUT: Holding down the ALT key subtracts.
► Select from Selection
In this case, if we have a selection and activate this function, when we make another one over the first, only the part where both selections overlap will remain; the rest disappears. For example, if we have a circle and apply a square over it, only the intersection between the square and circle will remain.
SHORTCUT: Using the SHIFT plus ALT keys can be used without using the tool panel.
► Auto Select
Auto selection can be found in the tool palette, shaped like a wand. This tool is very practical for quickly selecting areas, but it is not highly recommended if you have a style with loose and unconnected lines.
There are three sub-tools; in essence, they are the same, but with their “multiple reference” modes adjusted differently, so it is not necessary to explain them; by knowing what each mode is for, we will know what each one does.
This tool allows you to touch an area, and everything of that color within the area surrounding the click's epicenter will be automatically selected. For example: In the image on the right, we have that everything transparent was selected until it met the black border; while on the left, only a certain part of the pink color was selected.
With the “Tool Property” palette, you can modify the gap, tolerance, area scaling, smoothing, and multiple reference. These are options that I explained in previous sections.
For example, if we have the gap option at minimum and select the figure, if the line is not well closed, when we fill the color, it will go outside the limits. But if it has a greater tolerance, that space will be overlooked.
REMINDER: With keyboard shortcuts you can: SHIFT (add selection), ALT (delete selection).
► Lasso Fill
As the last selection sub-tool, we have “Lasso fill”; unlike the others, this one can be located in another section. It is found within the “Figure” sub-tools.
The tool properties it has are simple: Opacity, blending mode, smoothing, and stabilizer.
Now, what can we do with it? Well, its operation is concrete. We select as if it were a normal lasso selection, and it automatically fills with the color we have set in the color circle. With this tool, we will not have the floating bar or any of its features.
As for the selection, it must be continuous; if you lift your hand, the selection will automatically close, leaving a straight line between the starting point and where the end was set.
Because my hand is not very steady and I find it difficult to make continuous strokes for a long time, I don't use it for filling, but I find it extremely useful for quick erasing.
To erase, we must set the color to “Transparency” within the “Color circle” palette in the bottom left. Done, now just select what you want, and it will be erased.
• MOVE THE TOOL
If we want this tool to be together with the other selection tools, we must click and hold on it and drag it over the selection icon in the tool palette; the icon will turn red, at which point we release it. Then we will enter the sub-tool palette of the selection tool, there we will take the tool we moved and, following the same process, move it into the folder where the others are located.
► Selection Floating Menu
The floating menu is the bar located at the bottom of every selection.
If this bar does not appear or you wish for it to disappear, you can achieve this by accessing the following path: View > Selection floating menu. A checkmark will appear and disappear.
This menu offers a shortcut to certain useful selection functions; let's see what they are:
(1) Deselect: Exits selection mode.
(2) Crop: Removes everything outside the selection from the canvas.
(3) Invert selected area: The selection becomes everything outside the first one.
(4) Expand selected area: Increases the desired number of pixels for the selection.
(5) Shrink selected area: Reduces the desired number of pixels for the selection.
(6) Clear: Deletes everything within the selection from the layer.
(7) Delete outside selected area: Deletes everything outside the selection from the layer.
(8) Cut and paste: Removes the selected part from the original layer, creates a new layer above it where the cut part is placed.
(9) Copy and paste: Generates a copy of the selected part and pastes it onto a new layer above.
Cut, copy, and paste are very useful for sectioning layers. For example, if we have a sketch or a complete illustration on a single layer, but we want to have certain parts on separate layers, we just need to select, cut/copy, and paste.
(10) Scale/Rotate
(11) Fill: A quick way to apply color to everything within a selection.
(12) New tone: Tones are added. A window will appear with all the necessary settings to customize the tone.
(13) Selection floating menu settings: Clicking on this option will open a window where we can search through all CLIP STUDIO PAINT tools and add them to the menu.
For example: We search for and add the Gaussian blur filter option; it will appear in the bar, now every time we want to blur what is inside the selection, we just click on the function icon.
If we delete this icon, we have two other options to access the settings:
(1) Right-clicking on the floating bar will bring up a menu; the option we need to access the window is: “Selection floating menu settings”.
(2) In the top bar, we will go to: View > Selection floating menu settings. This option is only active when “Selection floating menu” is also active.
• DELETE/MOVE ICONS
To delete, right-click on the desired icon; a menu will appear where we will find options that allow us to customize the bar, including delete. To move the order of the icons, there are two ways: the default, which is to press the “CTRL plus drag” keys, or to go to the previously explained menu and change the option to “Drag” within the “Change order (T)” sub-menu.
• MOVE FLOATING BAR
Sometimes, when we are selecting, the floating bar appears and gets in the way; we need to remove it without losing the selection. Doing so is very simple. We must press and hold the small line located at the bottom; now it's just a matter of moving it across the canvas.
2. What can we do with the selection tool?
Throughout the explanation of the use of all sub-tools, some examples of use were presented; now let's look at some more applications we can give to this tool.
► Transform
Sometimes parts of illustrations are not well proportioned, but it would be very slow and tedious to erase and then repaint; so, for convenience, we can select the area we want to correct and then use the transform tool. I advise using the lasso tool for these types of selections.
NOTE: We can use the transform tool via the “CTRL plus T” keys.
Another aspect we can apply to the selection is rotation, inversion, in addition to all the transform functions such as mesh, perspective, etc.
IMPORTANT: Transformation can only be done on layers where content exists.
REMEMBER: It is also possible to access transform mode from the selection floating menu using the corresponding icon; although with this, you will only be able to access rotation and scaling functions. Once inside this transform mode, right-clicking on the canvas will bring up a menu where you can switch between different transform modes: Mesh, perspective, free transform, etc.
► Fill
As explained earlier, this tool is extremely efficient for filling large sections with a solid color. First, you need to select the area; if it has closed lines, it is most advisable to use the auto-selection wand and finally, apply the color with the paint bucket.
To add color with any selection tool, except the auto-selection wand, I recommend creating a layer below the lineart, and in it, select and fill.
If you want to have the color on a layer separate from the line layer using the auto-selection tool, there are two methods:
(1) Change the “Refer multiple” option to “All layers” in the tool properties.
(2) Mark the line layer as a reference (lighthouse icon) and set the reference option to “Reference layer” (with this second method, we will ensure that the color is applied correctly only within the parameters of the referenced layers).
NOTE: Refer multiple is only available for the following tools: Auto select and Shrink selection.
Regarding making specific selections, the same process is performed. In this case, to make the shadows, I marked the shapes and then applied the color.
• INVERT SELECTION
If what we want is for the complete figure to be filled so that we can then gradually apply color with brushes without going outside the limits, we must select the background with the selection wand, then invert the selection, and apply color with the paint bucket.
► Select Layer
By clicking while pressing the “CTRL” key on the layer thumbnail, all pixels contained within it will be selected.
Uses: (1) From here, we can fill it with the paint bucket (this will make all those pixels paint the same color). A quick way to paint all the lineart lines the same color.
(2) Another way is by using the brush; it's a slow method, but it allows dedicating a color to each section.
(3) Create shadows: We perform the entire process explained before; when it's time to fill, we will do it on a new layer below. Finally, we will move this layer to the desired shadow angle.
NOTE: For this to work well, we must have a layer with unified color and lines. Therefore, a copy is required. It will be on this unified layer where we apply the selection along with the fill.
► Layer Mask
A quick way to use layer masks is by using the selection tools. But why do this? Simple, sometimes we don't want to lose all the information of what is painted, just hide certain parts, and that is precisely what layer masks do, they hide; and with the tool, we can hide those parts faster. If you want to know more about these masks, I invite you to visit this TIPS:
EXAMPLE: I have my character to whom I want to apply a pattern on the clothes. When I drag the pattern, it covers the entire canvas, but to apply it directly to the clothes area, what I do is select the clothes; in my case, I used “Auto selection” to save time. Now I just drag the pattern to the canvas; as you can see, a new layer is created above with the pattern and a clipping mask, and in the latter, you can see how what is not selected is hidden.
I repeat this several times so that the pattern looks cut as it would on a garment's fabric.
Undoubtedly a great help for hiding parts. I especially like to use it for screentones because this way I don't lose information, I just hide with a false clip, and if I need to modify it later, everything will still be there.
► Select Color Range
This is a function I didn't explain before, but now it's time to learn about it. In the top menu, there's a section called “Selection”; if you click on it, a series of options will unfold, most of which have already been explained in previous sections. The one that concerns us now is “Select color range”.
This function selects all pixels of the chosen color. This serves to easily and quickly modify specific colors.
When opened, the following window will appear where you can adjust the tolerance regarding how many pixels to consider for the selection, the type of selection: New selection, Add or delete, and refer to other layers.
With the window open, we will choose the type of selection and click on the desired color, then click accept. Done, all areas containing that color will be selected.
To quickly change these colors, we must use one of the tonal correction tools; in this case, I used “Hue/saturation/luminosity” (to open it quickly, use the keyboard shortcut “CTRL plus U”). Below is a tutorial where I cover each of them:
► Filters
Selection is useful to combine with filters when we want to have an effect in a specific area of the illustration. The process is simple: choose a section and apply the filter.
A problem arises with the previous process: when we apply it, the blur effect is very harsh at the edges, but we can solve this by creating a gradient. This is done using a previously seen option: Selection Pen, in its settings we must set its hardness to minimum.
There is yet another method to generate a gradient, and this one in particular allows us to obtain a total diffusion, without any abrupt jumps.
To start, we will create a layer above it, where we will use the airbrush with its hardness set to minimum and low brush density, painting the entire desired area with any color. Now, we will select the layer thumbnail by pressing “CLICK plus CTRL”. Once selected, we will delete the layer where we painted with the airbrush; all that remains is to apply the filter.
► Gradients
We create a selection, then apply the gradient within it. It's simple, yet effective. With selection and gradients, we will be able to quickly generate flat illustrations. For example, some buildings:
► Eraser
Lastly, we have an indispensable functionality: erasing large segments in an instant or several scattered segments across the canvas simultaneously.
To do this, we will select the parts to erase, and then press the “DEL” key on the keyboard. Done, everything disappears.
3. Let's paint a landscape
The selection tool is extremely useful in digital illustration; perhaps it's not as flashy as others, but its uses are fundamental, for example: for transforming, something that is done very frequently. The following illustration is made with the lasso tool and the paint bucket. With it, I tried to exemplify the indispensability of the lasso tool. Here is the process:
(1) I made a quick sketch of a landscape; sketches don't have to be precise or highly detailed; for example, in this one, I included elements like the cat and the cliff that I discarded during the illustration process.
NOTE: For the composition, I used some resources from the rules of composition. If you are interested in learning more about this topic, I invite you to check out another TIPS I made discussing it.
(2) Working with white backgrounds is somewhat annoying, as it distracts and tires the eyes; it is best to use a gray color. In this case, I used a turquoise blue color for the background, a color that seems appropriate for the sky. I decided to put this color from the beginning so that it would be my atmospheric reference, and based on it, place the others, although I also used other pre-created color palettes.
To light the mountains, I selected their shape, which I filled with the paint bucket; I separated each plane into different layers, the farthest plane being the first layer after the background layer, and so on. As for the lights and shadows, I created layers above the base color of each element, and I set these layers to “Clip to layer below” so as not to have to be so precise with the selection and avoid going outside the limits in the process.
As seen in the GIF below, with the lasso, I make sharp shapes to create the texture forms. I didn't think much about these shapes; I simply set the lasso tool mode to “Add selection” and made quick lines in the same direction; once created, I simply filled them.
Regarding the mountains, let me explain a little about how to create rock shapes. First, we start by understanding that rocks are themselves geometric shapes; they can be grouped rectangles or triangles. Once we have their shape, we erode the edges, making them irregular.
The second step is to generate volume; imagine it like a cube, one side of the face will receive light better than the other. To give the mountain a three-dimensional shape, you need to divide it into two parts in a non-linear way, with a certain curvature, and also create a series of cracks on both faces that follow the direction of the curvatures. Finally, we decide the direction of the light.
(3) With the clouds, I followed the same process, but now, after selecting and filling, I used a brush to soften the edges of the color block; it turns out that with the lasso, the edges that remain after filling are rigid, but a stroke of the brush solves it. Of course, if your style is rigid, then there's no problem.
The shape of the clouds can be simplified with a series of circles piled against each other, but not all of the same size, some enormous, others small, so that the contrast of shapes is visible. After the shape, we lay down the base color.
TIP: To choose colors for the clouds, we must consider the atmosphere, for example: if it's a sunset, the colors will be orange/pink.
Then we choose the direction of the light; in this case, the light comes from above, so the lower part of the cloud will be darker, and progressively upwards the colors will become lighter. Finally, we softly outline the shape of the circles we made at the beginning with the colors, but these must in some parts show a fusion between two or more adjacent circles.
(4) The next step is details: I applied a mist effect with the help of the airbrush at minimum hardness, which I then blended with the “Blur” tool.
For the water, as I didn't want to lose the layer separation, I created a copy of all of them and unified them with the purpose of rotating it to act as a mirror. I distorted this copy with the “Liquify” and “Motion blur” tools, in addition to lowering its opacity. This is what I do to simulate a reflection in the water.
(5) For this penultimate part, I once again used the brush to soften the edges of the mountains and the shadows of the clouds. Finally, I used a tree brush that is predefined within the program, and I applied a blur to these trees. I made them a dark color to frame the environment, following some composition rules, as in this case, atmospheric perspective, which dictates that as we move away, we see this object with reduced clarity, value, and saturation. The colors in the foreground are very saturated and dark, while those in the background lose saturation, so we should see them with reduced clarity, value, and saturation.
I blurred the trees with “Gaussian blur” so that the view focuses on the mountains and largely ignores the foreground bushes.
(6) Finally, I added two textures, which I set to “Overlay texture” mode within the layer properties in the “Effect” section. Additionally, I made an adjustment to the global colors with the help of tonal correction tools.
The result is the following:
Farewell
I hope that what you've seen in this tutorial is to your liking and helpful. Well, without anything else to say, thank you for making it this far! ପ(๑•̀ुᴗ•̀ु) ॣ৳৸ᵃᵑᵏ Ꮍ৹੫ᵎ ॣॣ
See you next time ( •⌄• ू )✧
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