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timosamiw
Participating Frequently
February 24, 2019
Question

selection marker

  • February 24, 2019
  • 1 reply
  • 992 views

when i try to select or use a crop i cannot see the dotted line.  Its VERY VERY faint.  How can this marker be changed to an easily seen WHITE dottted line - as in previous editions of PSE

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    1 reply

    Greg_S.
    Community Expert
    Greg_S.Community Expert
    Community Expert
    February 24, 2019

    I assume you are using Elements 2019.  I have not noticed any difference in visibility of the "marching ants" if that is what you are talking about.  The crop tool has a "shield" to display the cropped away sections of the image.  The opacity of the shield can be changed in Preferences.  As for the selection tool visibility, I think it depends on the image itself.  In this screenshot, the top part of the selection (1) has sufficient visibility, but the bottom part (2) is not so easy to see.  If you are having difficulty seeing your selection, try using the refine edge option and you will have various ways to see it.

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    timosamiwAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    March 1, 2019

    Many thanks for your response.

    I don’t have a problem with seeing the ‘dancing ants’ when you use the ‘Selection’ tools.  What I can’t see is the dotted Crop selection line when I’m actually deciding the area to be cropped.  I often have to release the crop to see what my selection is and then, where necessary, redo the Crop.

    I’m using PSE 14.  I’m sure on earlier versions it was possible to clearly see the Crop selection being used.

    Regards

    Tim

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    timosamiwAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    March 7, 2019

    Sorry, but I'm not seeing your problem with PSE 14.  In the following screenshots, (1) shows the dotted line that appears when you are holding down the mouse button to crop; (2) shows the shielded box of what you have selected to crop (with Preferences>Display and Cursor setting the Shield box to 1% transparency); and (3) shows the Shield box set to about 70% transparency.

    It sounds to me that if you are not happy with the crop, you start the process over by clicking and dragging with the mouse from scratch.  To me, it is much easier to adjust the crop by dragging the bounding boxes around the crop.  If you want to see the underlying image more clearly while the shield is present, reduce the opacity of the shield.


    Greg

    I very much appreciate your helping hand in this matter.  You’ve enabled me to express the exact nature of the problem I refer to and I have attached 2 examples to illustrate my point.

    The problem is me being able to see the Crop I’m attempting to achieve – in other words the dotted line displaying the boundary.

    In the extract of the LIGHT screen shot I did, you can just see the crop selection – between the green foliage and the Blue flower pot and up to the top of the image.  It’s very faint because of the Light background.

    In the extract of the DARK screen shot the chosen dotted boundary is easy to see against the Dark background.

    I often seem to run up against this problem when editing my photos.  So my quest was, is there any way to boost the clarity of the crop selection, when its being decided, before executing that selection.  E.g. making the dots either bigger and brighter or a colour that will stand out against any background.

    I’m fairly certain that having explained my problem I have also answered my own question.  The answer from my interpretation of ‘Preferences’ is NO.

    Thank again for your assistance

    Regards

    Tim

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