Majestic scenes with the Magic Wand

James Paterson uses Photoshop’s Magic Wand and demonstrates how to craft composite images with fast and accurate selections

- James Paterson

THE MISSION

Learn how to use the Magic Wand tool in Photoshop to its full potential

Time needed 10 minutes

Skill level Beginner

Kit needed Photoshop CC

The Magic Wand is one of Adobe Photoshop’s best selection tools, especially if you need to target an area of an image that is uniform in colour or tone, like the backdrop to the bonsai tree image here. The tool works by seeking out similar pixels to the point that you click on, so it can be a huge help while you’re creating a fantastical composite like this, or for any time when you need to quickly lock on to part of an image.

Making a good selection in Photoshop is often about choosing the right tool for the job. There are lots of great tools to choose from: the Quick Selection tool, the automated Object Selection tool, the spookily brilliant Select Subject command. The latter two employ fancy new AI to seek out the subject, but there’s still a place for the good old Magic Wand.