The tool that seems to be necessary for nearly every application in Photoshop is the selection tool.

The selection tool isolates objects for the purpose of editing specific areas of your image without effecting the entire image.

The selection tool in Photoshop is actually four tools depending on your particular task. The selection tool includes the Rectangular Marquee Tool, the Elliptical Marquee Tool, the Single Row Marquee Tool and the Single Column Marquee Tool.

What can you do with the selection tool in Photoshop? The following are just a few examples of projects or applications you might being doing in Photoshop and how the selection tool can make your life easier.

Cropping
Cropping images requires that you use the selection tool to designate the section of the image to be removed or cropped.

Adding Text to Images

If you plan to add text to an image or graphic design you can also designate the area to add the text using the selection tool.

Isolated Color Work

Let's say you want to adjust the saturation or hue of a particular object in a photography. The selection tool will allow you to isolate the object and then adjust the color as needed.

You can adjust the entire selected area or isolated color channels.

These examples are obviously a very small sample of the ways you might use the selection tool in Photoshop. In fact, the selection tool is used for hundreds of different photo editing projects or more.

The selection tool in Adobe Photoshop is probably one of the most important tools that you will use in your photo editing and graphic logo design work.

As you learn Photoshop be sure to develop a solid grounding in the use of the selection tool.