Inverting selection in Photoshop is a powerful technique that can significantly enhance your photo editing workflow, allowing you to easily select the opposite area of what’s currently selected. This can be especially useful for complex editing tasks, such as adjusting backgrounds, refining edges, or applying effects to specific parts of your image. In this guide, we’ll explore three methods to invert selection in Photoshop, both with and without using shortcuts.
How to Invert Selection in Photoshop With Shortcut
When you make a selection in Photoshop, it specifies the area that you want to edit. However, there can be times when you want to work on the background area and not the one you initially selected. Selection inversion comes into play here, where it just flips the selected and unselected areas in an instance. So you do not need to again carefully trace the edges of the main element and separate the background from it. Practically it becomes useful when working with layer marks as you can precisely control which parts of an image are affected by the adjustments or changes made.
Adobe Photoshop offers its users a convenient and efficient way to invert a selection in Photoshop. All you need is to use the shortcut key combination of Ctrl+Shift+I (Windows) or Command + Shift + I (Mac) and your selection will be inverted, effortlessly.
How to Manually Invert Selection in Photoshop Without Shortcut
Inverting the selection select the opposite of what was initially chosen. Hence you can highlight the area that you want to focus on. If you are facing issues using the shortcut keys, let’s do it in other ways.
Method 1: Use Right-click Menu
Photoshop offers multiple selection tools such as the Marquee tool, Lasso tool, or the Magic Wand tool. However, the Select Object, Select Subject, or other Quick Selection tools are just easier to use. You can choose any of them as required. If the background areas are included in the selection area of the subject colors merge with the backdrop, choosing a manual selection tool is better.
Note: We have used the Marquee tool for demonstration.
Follow the steps below:
1. Open Adobe Photoshop and select the image from the device you want to work on.
2. Select the Marquee selection tool from the toolbar, located on the right-hand side of the screen.
This tool will help you create borders around the portion of the image.
3. Create a border around the desired area of your image and once done, right-click on the selection.
4. Choose the Select Inverse option from the context menu to invert the selection.
Method 2: Use the Menu Bar
Alternatively, you can also use the menu bar at the top of the screen.
1. Follow the same steps as earlier to select the area for inversion.
2. Click on the Select tab from the menu bar and select Inverse from the context menu.
You can confirm that the selection has been successfully inverted when you see the marching ants around the border of the image.
Also Read: How to Add Texture in Photoshop
How to Invert Layer Mask Selection in Photoshop
Now if you want to create a layer mask with the selection, adding the layer mask and inverting the selection at the same time makes the process easier. Follow the steps below:
1. With the same steps as mentioned above, create the selection area.
2. Now, press and hold the Alt key (Windows) or Option key (Mac) and click on the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom.
The unselected area in the image would be hidden now by the layer mask. Once inverted, the selected area will be hidden while the unselected one will become visible.
3. Select the layer mask in the Layers section.
4. Click on Image in the menu bar, followed by Adjustments, and select Invert from the context menu.
Once done, the layer mask will be inverted. Alternatively, you can also use the shortcut keys: Ctrl + I (Windows) or Command + I (Mac).
Also Read: How to Add Someone into a Picture without Photoshop
How to Delete Invert Selection in Photoshop
In the above heading, we have shown you how to invert selection in Photoshop. However, if you made a mistake and want to create a new invert selection by deleting the area selected in Photoshop, you can easily do so by deselecting the inverse. Here is how to do it:
1. With your selection made, navigate to the top of the screen and click on the Select menu.
2. A list of options will appear. From this list, choose the Deselect option.
Your current selection will be deleted, returning you to square one.
Alternatively, you can also use the shortcut key from your keyboard to delete the inverted selection. Simply press the Ctrl+ D (Windows) or Cmd + D (Mac) keys on your keyboard. This will remove the inverted selection in Photoshop.
Also See: GIMP vs Krita: Which is a Better Photoshop Alternative?
Why Should You Invert a Selection in Photoshop?
Invert selection in Photoshop provides users flexibility in editing their images and makes the process easier as it changes the unselected areas into selected ones. It is useful when you want to isolate a subject from its background, or the background from the main subject.
- Inverted selection is useful when you want to add selection to a layer mask.
- In scenarios where an image has multiple combined elements from different photos, this helps you work on the added elements while preserving the original background.
We hope our guide helped you invert a selection in Photoshop with and without the shortcut. If you have any queries or suggestions for us, do let us know in the comments section below. Stay connected to TechCult for more such tips and tricks
