select

Definition: Software command or process of identifying part of a larger object. * The object may be a page-layout, image, text, database, etc. * Once selected, the items within the selection can be operated on without affecting the rest of the object e.g. selected pixels may be made brighter, selected text may be enlarged, and so on. * Hence a selection is that part of a file or object which is selected. Going soft on favouritism When working with images you may have a choice of selecting with a hard edge or a gently feathered one: which is best depends on the job in hand. Usually you have to decide how soft or feathered you want to selection before making it. Sometimes over-softened selections can be counter-productive -- usually if there is not enough data to prevent posterisation, then artefactual fringes may appear.

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