2.7. Select By Color

The Select by Color tool is designed to select areas of an image based on color similarity. It works a lot like the Fuzzy Select tool. The main difference between them is that the Fuzzy Select tool selects contiguous regions, with all parts connected to the starting point by paths containing no large gaps; while the Select by Color tool selects all pixels that are sufficiently similar in color to the pixel you click on, regardless of where they are located.

2.7.1. Activating the Tool

There are different possibilities to activate the tool:

  • From the main menu: ToolsSelection ToolsBy Color Select.

  • By clicking the tool icon in the Toolbox.

  • By pressing the Shift+O keyboard shortcut.

2.7.2. Key modifiers (Defaults)

The select by color tool does not have any special key modifiers, only the ones that affect all selection tools in the same way. See Selection Tools for help with these.

2.7.3. Handling tool

14.23. ábra - Using Select by Color tool: selected pixels are not only contiguous

Using Select by Color tool: selected pixels are not only contiguous

As with the Fuzzy Select tool, the selection starts as soon as you click and the reference is the first clicked pixel. If you click and drag, you can change the threshold by the same way as with the Fuzzy Select tool.

You can move the selection outline with the arrow keys, not with the mouse.

2.7.4. Options

14.24. ábra - Tool Options for the Select by Color tool

Tool Options for the Select by Color tool

Normally, tool options are displayed in a window attached under the Toolbox as soon as you activate a tool. If they are not, you can access them from the main menu through WindowsDockable WindowsTool Options which opens the option window of the selected tool.

Mode, Antialiasing, Feather edges
[Megjegyzés] Megjegyzés

See Selection Tools Options for help with options that are common to all these tools. Only options that are specific to this tool are explained here.

Select transparent areas, Sample merged, Threshold, Select by, Draw mask

These three options work exactly the same way they were described for the Fuzzy Select tool already. See 2.6.4. szakasz - Options for details.