Ok, I have the photo I want to work on opened. I want to create a selection around the part of the image I want in focus and the best way to do this is with the "Magnetic Lasso Tool". The "Magnetic Lasso Tool" works by creating a selection that binds to a defined edge. This is a great tool to select an object with. I can select the "Magnetic Lasso Tool" by hitting the "L" button(you may have to hit "Shift+L" one or two times to get the "Magnetic Lasso Tool") or by going to the tools palette and clicking on the icon that is second down from the top on the left. The "Magnetic Lasso Tool" by default is buried under two other lasso tools, so you may have to left-click and hold down the button to pull out a menu and pick the third tool down.



With the "Magnetic Lasso Tool" selected, I will begin to create a selection around the flowers in the foreground and the butterfly. I will start at the left-hand side of the image in the middle where the flowers' edge starts and left click to create the first point and carefully drag around the edge of the flowers and then the edge of the butterfly. The "Magnetic Lasso Tool" will automatically cling to the edges and create points along the way. Sometimes it doesn't create a point where you want it to though, but you can click to create points anywhere you need to. If you mess up, you can hit the "Backspace" key to delete a point and go back. To complete the selection I need to go back to my original point and click on it to form the selection.



Ok, "marching ants" are around the area I want to be in focus and only that part of the image is selected.