Julieanne Kost's Blog

Tap the “D” key to set the background/foreground colors to black/white.

To select similar colors throughout the image with the Magic Want tool (as opposed to being restricted to those similar pixels that are touching) uncheck the “Contiguous” option in the Options bar.

Also, while using the Magic Wand tool, tapping the return/enter key will automatically highlight the Tolerance option for the tool in the Options bar and allow you to enter a numeric value.

Both the Quick Selection and Magic Wand tools make selections based on the color sampled. When using the Quick Selection tool, checking Auto-Enhance can help reduce rough edges of the selection in transitional areas. For more control after making a selection, (when using either Quick Selection or the Magic Wand tool), select Refine Edge from the Options bar and use the dialog box to further fine tune your selection.

Both tools will also sample similar colors on multiple layers – simply check the “Sample All Layers” feature in the Options bar.

When using either the magnetic Lasso or the Magnetic Pen, the following shortcuts can help to quickly change tool options:

[ or ] decreases/increases the lasso width
[ or ] + Shift goes to the minimum/maximum lasso width
‘,’ (comma) or ‘.’ (period) decreases/increases the edge contrast
‘,’ (comma) or ‘.’ (period) + Shift goes to the minimum/maximum edge contrast
‘;’ (semicolon) or ”’ (apostrophe) decreases/increases the frequency
‘;’ (semicolon) or ”’ (apostrophe) + Shift goes to the minimum/maximum frequency

While using the Lasso tool, tapping the return/enter key will automatically highlight the Feather amount in the Options bar. This feather is applied to the NEXT selection that you draw with the Lasso tool.

Holding the Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) key while dragging the Lasso tool will toggle to the Polygonal Lasso tool and vice versa. When starting with the Lasso tool, this previous shortcut might take a few tries to master as you have to be careful to release the Option key (to return from the Polygonal Lasso tool to the regular Lasso) while holding the mouse down.
In addition, holding the Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) key while dragging the Magnetic Lasso will toggle to the regular Lasso if you drag with the cursor and the Polygonal Lasso if you click with the cursor.