Paths are basically complex lines that you can turn into selections. They're very good for selecting complicated things that you couldn't otherwise select with the Rectangle Selection Tool or the Circular Selection Tool.


This is a picture of my desktop background (it comes with Vista!).





Let's say I want to select the rock in the middle, but without the surrounding water and sand. What do I do? I use the Paths tool!


To start, I select the tool in the toolbox.





When you click on the picture, you will see a circle come up. This is what I like to call a path point. Click on the path point and you will be able to move it around.


When you make a second path point, there will be a line connecting the first and the second.





Now, if I am going to select the rock, I am going to have to make path points all around it. Warning: This can get time consuming.





Once I'm done creating my path points, I go to the layers menu. There will be a Paths tab on the top of it. Click on it.


There will be a path named "Unnamed". This is the path that you just made with all of your path points. If you right click on it, there will be an option called "Path to Selection".





Click on it, then your path points will turn into the dotted lines! Now you can move it around, copy and paste it, and mess around with it without it affecting the rest of the picture!





This is the rock by itself. The path tool is pretty neat, don't you think?

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