How do I save a selection in Photoshop for later use?

[stephanie28346195yge9]

I would like to save a selection that I make in one photoshop file that I can open in another file.

Currently the only thing I can do is make, save then load a selection that is restricted to the file I saved the selection in. IE: I load picture A and make a selection called selection A. Then I want to use that exact shape/selection in picture B. At the moment, the only time I can "load" selection is when I open the same file I created the selection in, ie, picture A. When I open picture B and try to load selection, the option is greyed out. I have Photoshop CS5.

I expected the whole point of saving a selection is so I have the ability to load that selection for later use - in any file. That's not the case here, at least not for me.

[Chuck Uebele · Accepted solution]

With CS5, I think the only thing you can do is save the selection as either a channel or layer in a separate file. Then you can open that file and import the channel or layer into your working file. It's not ideal.

[D Fosse · Accepted solution]

I don't know of any direct way (for all I know one may exist) - but it's easy enough to copy the alpha channel and paste into a new channel in the other document.

[jane-e · Accepted solution]

My method is similar. I save the selection in one document, then drag and drop the alpha channel from one to the other. Same as with layers, the Shift key will center the alpha channel in the new document.

Jane

[Lumigraphics]

There is a bug where view magnification affects how a dragged layer is aligned. If magnification is not equal, a dragged layer, even one of identical dimensions, won't align properly.

[stephanie28346195yge9]

This isn't relevant to my original question, but: is that why when I click and drag an image into an already open image, it is offset slightly by a few pixels and not perfectly aligned with the original image? It is quite annoying because I have to manually drag the new image so the edges are perfectly aligned.

I have a lazy shortcut where if I want to downsize an image for say web, I open a small image in photoshop, then I drag the large image I want to shrink into that image so it fits the existing canvas size, forcing the large image to become small. When I do this, the new larger image is always offset a little and is very obvious if I place more than one image in one go as each is offset a little more than the previous. In this case the size of the two images are not the same (if that is what you mean by magnification).

However it also happens when I click and drag to place an image on another one of the same size.

[Lumigraphics]

Set the view on both (25%, 50%, etc) the same before dragging.

[stephanie28346195yge9]

Thanks for this idea, sorry for my late reply, all the noitifications went to my spam folder.

Question: When I click and drag the channel to a new file, it automatically crops in the same relative position the selection used to be. Say I made a selection in the top right corner of one image, and I want to crop an area of that exact shape in the bottom left of another file - when I click and drag the channel, only the top right  of the new file is cropped because that is where the selection is in the original file where it was made. Is there a way to reposition the selection once I load it into the new file?

[stephanie28346195yge9]

Nevermind, I just figured out you can drag the mask/selection around in the new file once you click and drag + place it into the new file as suggested by everyone in the accepted answers and and then convert it to a clipping mask or optionally saving it as a separate file. Thank you everyone!

Leaving this for future reference since I can't edit previous comments.

[Semaphoric]

It depends on the pixel dimensions of the source and destination documents. They have to be identical to be able to copy or load selections.

You can save a selection as a new document via Select >  Save Selection, but again, it can only be loaded into documents of the same pixel dimension. It also has to be open at the same time as the destination doc.

[stephanie28346195yge9]

Thanks for this answer, it partially answers my issue. Sorry for the late response on my part, all the notifications went to my spam folder.

I tried to create a test selection in an image with a given dimension, then opened another image with the exact same dimension and I was able to load the test selection I saved earlier from another image.  It does not let me load the selection in a new file that has a different dimension than the file where I got the original saved selection from, so it seems you are right about the two files needing to be the same dimensions.

However, when I load the previously saved test selection in a new file, I cannot move the selection around and the selection cuts in the same location relative to the canvas bounding box. To illustrate my point, say there was a nice pattern in one image in the top right corner that I made a selection of and I wanted to crop a piece of that exact shape from another image of the same dimensions. The area that I want to crop from in the second image is in the bottom left. By loading the selection in the new image, the entier selection and bounding box is loaded and I can only crop from the top right, where the original selection was, and not repositioned to the bottom left. This is the same when I use the click and drag of the alpha channel method recommended by D Fosse.

[Semaphoric]

You say the selection and bounding box — are you using the Move tool to reposition the selection? That will move the contents of the selection. Try using one of the Selection tools; you should see just the selection, and the cursor will turn into a move arrow when positioned inside the selection. Note this does not work if it has been positioned with the Move tool.