Today’s Question: I’ve been trying to understand the Selection Brush tool compared to the Quick Selection tool in Photoshop. They seem similar, in that they can be used to paint a selection shape. Do I need to know how to use both tools?
Tim’s Quick Answer: While the Selection Brush and Quick Selection tools in Photoshop are quite similar in many respects, there are two key differences that can make it beneficial to understand both tools and use them in different situations.
More Detail: The Quick Selection tool is a little more automated, in that when you paint with the Quick Selection tool Photoshop will attempt to find the edges of the object you’re painting over. So, you can paint over a sampling of the area or object in the image you want to select, and the tool will attempt to select the appropriate area automatically. With the Quick Selection tool, you’ll see your selection appear as the animated dashed line often referred to as the “marching ants” display.
The Selection tool operates more like a simple brush tool, allowing you to paint to define areas that you want to select versus not select. In this way it is somewhat similar to the Lasso tool, in that you can draw a closed shape and the area you draw around will be entirely included in the selection.
While you’re working with the Selection Brush your selection will appear as a colored overlay (you can adjust the settings for the overlay by clicking the gear icon on the Options bar). This behavior reveals that the Selection Brush tool is really something of a “shortcut” for a selection option that has been available for a long time: the Quick Mask mode that can be used in conjunction with the normal Brush tool to create or modify selections.
The Selection Brush and Quick Selection tools are somewhat similar, so you could certainly restrict yourself to using only one or the other. However, these tools are also different enough that you can absolutely put both to use in different situations. I find the Quick Selection tool very helpful for creating initial selections when you want to select an object or area that stands out reasonably well against the background. I find the Selection Brush tool helpful for situations where you need to refine the edge of a selection, and painting along that edge is easier or more comfortable compared to tracing along the edge as you would with a tool like the Lasso tool.
There are more than a few tools and commands for creating and refining selections in Photoshop. While there are some I use much more than others (and some that I rarely use), all of them tend to be useful in particular situations, and so it can be helpful to be familiar with all of them.
