| » Forum Index » Problems and solutions » Topic: Select entire visible window, as opposed to entire image? |
|
Posted on 02/11/06 02:11:22 AM |
|
ForestCat
* Posts: 4 Reply |
Select entire visible window, as opposed to entire image?
I apologize if this is trivial, but I've searched long & hard to no avail... Suppose you have an image open in a non-maximized window. The document is much larger than the window, i.e. w/ scroll bars. Is there some quick way to set the selection marquee to the entire visible window? CTRL-A simply selects the whole image, not what I want. Thanks for any insight... Forestcat |
Posted on 02/11/06 03:33:42 AM |
|
Pierre
Constructional Confabulator Posts: 637 Reply  |
Re: Select entire visible window, as opposed to entire image?
I understand what you want to do (and I don't have the answer) but why? There may be something else that can be used depending on what you want to acheive...  _________________ |
Posted on 02/11/06 07:05:32 AM |
|
Babybiker
Shadow Spectaculator Posts: 151 Reply  |
Re: Select entire visible window, as opposed to entire image?
Set up a suitably large grid as a reference (ie one that rougly marks out the area you are interested in working in), Zoom out once (Ctrl -) so that your chosen working area is slightly smaller within the non maximised window, and then use the rectangular marquee tool to select the area required? By zooming out slightly, you should be able to easily use the rectangular marquee tool easily without the image scrolling off the visable area. This solution may be too simple for what you are doing, I don't know? Again, a little more info on what you are trying to achive - why you need to do this and what your next action is, might help... BB |
Posted on 02/11/06 1:45:50 PM |
|
ForestCat
* Posts: 4 Reply |
Re: Select entire visible window, as opposed to entire image?
Sorry, I probably should have explained this first. I find that there are many times when I would either like to crop an image to the current window size, or copy & paste the exact window contents. When using the Rectangular Marquee tool, as you know, merely touching the window edge causes the window to scroll. losing your "place", if you will. The same applies to the Crop tool. Often, there are pallettes that are covering a window corner, etc. If there were some way to temporarily (alt-ctrl, etc) turn off the "auto-scroll" function when using the crop or marquee tools, that would help. Ideally, I was just hoping to find some hidden "set selection to window size" shortcut. I'm surprised it doesn't exist... |
Posted on 02/11/06 3:25:52 PM |
|
Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7052 Reply  |
Re: Select entire visible window, as opposed to entire image?
Ok, here's a workaround. 1. Drag the marquee so it almost goes to the edges of the window. 2. Go into QuickMask (Q). 3. Make another rectangular selection, as wide as you can, and hold command+option/ctrl+alt as you drag the selection. As you're moving the QuickMask selection, you can hold it in the middle of the selection as you drag. That way, you won't be dragging the cursor near the edge, and you can see exactly where the edge will fall. 4. Repeat for the other sides, and exit QuickMask. It's a little clumsy, but it will work! |
Posted on 02/11/06 3:39:24 PM |
|
Babybiker
Shadow Spectaculator Posts: 151 Reply |
Re: Select entire visible window, as opposed to entire image?
An easy way would be to use the Print Screen key and paste this into a new image, but I do not know if you will lose quality on this. (does Print Screen copy at Screen res as opposed to document res?) Alternatively, try making a selection slightly smaller than you want and then use Transform selection to enlarge it carefully - this seems to make the tool more controlable. BB |
Posted on 02/11/06 6:29:20 PM |
|
ForestCat
* Posts: 4 Reply |
Re: Select entire visible window, as opposed to entire image?
Thanks for the replies, guys. I suppose I'm being a bit lazy. I'm articulate enough with a mouse/wacom where I _could_ just move the pallettes out of the way, and create a selection/crop without actually touching the edges of the window (+/- a pixel or so...). I can do that reasonably fast, but nowhere near as fast as a non-mouse solution. Ultimately, I was looking for a way to select the active window's visible contents without touching the mouse, simply for the sake of speed & speed alone. Any time I can substitute keystrokes for mouse/tablet input, it invariably speeds up my workflow. Have you ever opened up an 8 megapixel photo in PS, with the default window size, zoom a bit, hit the spacebar & drag the image a bit, an voila!, the perfect composition? I just figured it would be logical to be able to "freeze"(crop) that with a keystroke or two. BTW, I shoot a lot of wildlife, and no lens is ever long enough, certainly not my 100-400L, hence the constant cropping... P.S. Steve, great book. It was my first PS book, in 2003, and greatly shaped my expectations/usage of PS. Extremely well written/laid out. Was my "beach book" that summer. After reading your description, I set out to track down a copy of Propeller Paint Engine for windows, which was already extinct (Nowhouse vanished from the face of the earth...) I consider it "abandonware". If anyone wants to try it, I don't think I'd be committing an unforgiveable crime by sending a copy their way. It is extremely cool, and a shame that it's no longer available, & very tough to find a complete, working version. |
Posted on 03/11/06 6:22:31 PM |
|
vibeke
Kreative Kiwi Posts: 2166 Reply  |
Re: Select entire visible window, as opposed to entire image?
"I _could_ just move the pallettes out of the way," You do know that you can do that my just hitting the Tab key? |
Posted on 04/11/06 03:10:21 AM |
|
Babybiker
Shadow Spectaculator Posts: 151 Reply |
Re: Select entire visible window, as opposed to entire image?
You learn something new everyday! It has been noted for future use, thankyou Vibeke. I have only just found out that holding down spacebar toggles "drag" on and off... Seems I have so much to learn. BB |
Posted on 07/11/06 2:56:57 PM |
|
ForestCat
* Posts: 4 Reply |
Re: Select entire visible window, as opposed to entire image?
"You do know that you can do that my just hitting the Tab key? " Embarrassingly, no. That little trick is a huge timesaver. It's probably something I read here or there & "filed" for future reference. Oh well... Thanks |