Rotate rectangular marquee tool without moving the background?

[Roy_E]

System: MAC, OS 10.11

Sotware: Photoshop CS5

Problem: Removing a specific segment of a photograph

I have a file with multiple payers. One layer, call it Layer A, and another, Layer B. B is “on top of” layer A.

I want to remove a segment of Layer B to reveal part of Layer A. For this particular file I need to be able to create a straight line at an angle on one  side of Layer B. I can then continue to surround the disposable part of Layer A and delete the specific part of layer B.

Layer A is a book cover, thus the image is large. Layer B is a photograph on the cover and its image and canvas are much smaller that Layer A.

Help appreciated!!!

Lucca

[Norman Sanders · Accepted solution]

Make a rectangular selection on the top layer.

Choose Select > Transform Selection and, using one of the corner handles, rotate the selection and/or change its dimensions. Then click the Commit checkmark in the Options bar. You now have marching ants.

Strike the Delete key to remove that part of the top layer to reveal the area on the layer beneath.

As a recommended alternative, instead of striking the Delete key, inverse the Selection  (Select > Inverse)  and then strike the Mask symbol at the bottom of the Layers panel. The effect is the same as using the Delete key but the image in the top layer has not been altered.

[josephlavine]

Adding one note to norman.sander's response, after the Choose > Transform Selection, move the mouse to the corner and the curser will change to allow the rotation.

Another option is to use the Edit > Transform Rotate to spin the selection.

[swerd36397563]

Fuzzycloud awesome answer thank you