Make selections with simple brush strokes

Learn two common use cases for the Selection Brush tool– refining a selection and guiding Generative Fill.

Published January 12, 2026

Learn two common use cases for the Selection Brush Tool–refining a selection and guiding Generative Fill.

00:01

Introduction

One of the simplest ways to make a selection in Photoshop is to just brush over a part of an image with the Selection Brush.

In this tutorial, we'll explore some common editing situations where this technique comes in really handy.

Hey everybody, Seán Duggan here from the Adobe Learn team.

In this video, you'll learn how to use the Selection Brush with the Generative Fill to remove or create new content, as well as refine the selection that you've made with an automatic selection method like Select subject.

00:33

Refining automatic selections with the Selection Brush

Let's start by fine-tuning a selection, which is a pretty common Photoshop task.

In the Contextual Task Bar, I'll click Select subject to create a selection of the woman.

That does a pretty good job, but the table obviously needs to be subtracted.

And I can also see that part of her wrist needs to be added to the selection.

For simple modifications like that, the Selection Brush is the perfect tool.

In the Toolbar, it's grouped with the Lasso Tools.

When the Selection Brush is active, any selection will appear as a colored overlay.

You can change the overlay color by clicking on the Gear icon in the Options Bar.

Now, since this selection includes the red dress, I think that a contrasting color like green or chartreuse might work better.

And it does, because now I can see the part of the dress at the bottom of the image has not been selected.

In the Options Bar are the controls for Brush Size and Hardness.

For this selection, I'll leave the Hardness set to 50%.

I usually like to adjust the Brush Size with a shortcut by tapping the right bracket key to make the brush larger, and the left bracket key to make it smaller.

In the upper left of the Options Bar, you can choose Add or Subtract.

I'll leave it set to Add, and I'll zoom in for a closer view.

I'll hold down the Spacebar and I'll drag on the image so I can see the bottom of her dress, and I'll brush over this with the Selection Brush to add that to the selection.

Next, I'll come up to where I can see her wrist, and I'll do the same thing here, brushing over the wrist to add that to the selection.

Next, I'll subtract the table.

I'll use the keyboard shortcut of Alt on Windows or Option on Mac to switch to Subtract mode.

Now I can brush along the edge of her sleeve and subtract that part of the table next to her arm from the selection.

I'll zoom out, and now I can hold down Option or Alt and brush over the rest of the table to subtract that from the selection.

If you click on another tool, the colored overlay will be replaced with the usual selection outline.

So that's how you can modify a selection with the Selection Brush.

Now let's explore how to use the Selection Brush

02:54

Removing objects using the Selection Brush and Generative Fill

to remove or add elements using Generative Fill.

I'm not a big fan of the white plastic chairs in this image, so let's remove them.

With the Selection Brush, I'll start with the chair on the right and brush around it.

When you're making selections to guide Generative Fill, you don't need to be very precise, so the Selection Brush is well suited to this task.

Next, I'll select the other chairs using the same approach.

When you're making a selection to use with Generative Fill, it's always a good idea to include some of the details just outside the area that you want to fill.

If you're circling an area with a continuous brush stroke, the Selection Brush will fill the area inside the brush stroke when you release the cursor.

With the chair selected, I'll go to the Contextual Task Bar, and I'll click Generative Fill.

And then I'll click Generate.

If you want to remove something from an image, there's no need to enter a prompt, just click Generate.

I can click through the three variations in the Contextual Task Bar, or I can also do the same thing by clicking on the thumbnails in the Properties panel.

04:17

Replacing elements with Generative Fill prompts

I think that this bench works pretty good, but let's try turning that bench into a chair.

I'll use the Selection Brush to define the area that I want to replace, I'll come up along her back here where I think the back of the chair might be, and let's also fill in the corner of the bench here, just to make sure that that gets removed, and I'll click Generative Fill in the Contextual Task Bar and I'll enter the prompt, a modern wooden chair.

And I'll click Generate.

Over in the Properties panel I can see the three variations and check them out.

And they all look pretty good, but I think I'm going to go with that one right there.

Now that you know how easy it is to use the Selection Brush, give it a try when you need to make simple refinements to a selection or quickly create selections that you can use with Generative Fill.

Once again, I'm Seán Duggan with the Adobe Learn team.

Thanks for watching.

Note: Stock assets provided are for practice purposes only. See terms.

What you’ll learn

Refine a selection with the Selection Brush Tool

The Selection Brush is useful for fine-tuning selections made with other selection methods. This tool displays a selection as a color overlay, making it easy for you to see where a selection needs a touch up. Then you can use familiar brush strokes to quickly add or subtract from a selection with the Selection Brush.

Use the Selection Brush Tool with Generative Fill

The Selection Brush is the ideal selection method to use with Generative Fill, since removing or adding content with Generative Fill doesn’t require a precise selection. Roughly brush over an object or outline an area with the Selection Brush to create a selection. Then use Generative Fill to remove, replace, or add content in the selected area.

Instruction by: Seán Duggan
Adobe Stock Contributors: Selenit

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