Marquee Tool Question - Pse5

[lucian]

Is there a way to rotate the area that is defined by the marquee tool?

Bad way to phrase but I'm not able to come up with anything better.

For example:

In the middle of an 8x10 I used the marquee tool to click and drag a 3x3 square.

After the click and drag I get a 3x3 square of marching ants.

Now I want to rotate the marching ants by 45 degrees BUT only the marching ants NOT the image underneath.

I think I have done this before in PSE1 and PhotoShop. But I can't figure how to do this in PSE5.

Thanks.

[TonyW]

You can but it takes an add-in to do it. You need to transform the selection to rotate the selection without also rotating the underlying image. Grant's Tools or Graffi's Handi Actions both have Transform Selection which will let you do it (the same way you can do it in full Photoshop)

Tony

[Wendy]

Hi ...

There is also a workaround if you donlt want to install a tool set:

Create a new layer
Use the marquee tool and then fill the selection
Rotate the shape that you just filled until it is in place
Then discard the layer ..

... if you lose the selection just go to the layers palette and Contril Click (Mac Command Click on the thumbnail to regain it ... before you discard the layer)

Wendy :)

[lucianj]

Thanks for the reply, Wendy.

I did the selection using a work around similar to what you described. I'll give your work around a go later today.

As to the rotation on the selection - I thought it was workable in the past. I sometimes think the new and the improvements come at a cost of what you get used to.

Thanks again.

[Wendy]

Hi ...

Transform is something that hasn't been in previous versions either and I think that for this and masks then it really is worth installing an addon like Grant's Tools :)

Wendy

[cats4jan]

I know some of us don't like to add a lot of "stuff" to Elements, but of all the "stuff" I've seen out there - Grant's Tools - the basic set which includes the mask and the transform selection - are a must and should be included in every copy of Photoshop Elements.

It's so nice to just click on the selection transform rather than having to do the work around.