Select Text in Photoshop Elements- Instructions

How to Select Text in Photoshop Elements: Video

            This video lesson, titled “Learn How to Select Text in Adobe Photoshop Elements 2023: A Training Tutorial,” shows you how to select text in Photoshop Elements. This video lesson is from our complete Photoshop Elements tutorial, titled “Mastering Photoshop Elements Made Easy v.2023.”

Overview of How to Select Text in Photoshop Elements:

            You can select text in Photoshop Elements when you edit vector text in selected vector type layers in the Layers panel of Photoshop Elements. To select text in Photoshop Elements, select the Type Tool you used to create the text in the Toolbox. Then click into the text in the type layer to place the text in the selected type layer into its “Edit” mode.

            Then click and drag over the text to select in the text bounding box or within the lines of point text. Doing this then highlights and selects the text. Then use the buttons in the Tool Options Bar to change the formatting of the selected text. Alternatively, use your keyboard to correct typos in the text.

            There are also several other ways to select text after clicking into the text to place it into its “Edit” mode. To select all the text in the type layer, choose “Select| All” from the Menu Bar. Also, just as when using word processing applications, to select a single word, double-click a single word. To select a line of text, triple-click a line of text to select it. To select a paragraph, quadruple-click a paragraph. Most of the traditional methods of text selection used in word-processing programs can also be applied to text layers.

            Also, note that you cannot edit text created using the Type Mask Tools after you confirm it. Once confirmed, these tools create text that is raster-based, so you can only use pixel-based editing tools to edit that type of text. This is one reason why it is often better to create text as vector text in Photoshop Elements and then rasterize it only if or when needed within a Photoshop Elements document.

A picture showing how to select text in Photoshop Elements within a bounding box in a type layer.

Instructions on How to Select Text in Photoshop Elements:

1. To select text in Photoshop Elements by editing vector text in a selected vector type layer in the Layers panel, select the Type Tool you used to create the text in the Toolbox.
2. Then click into the text in the type layer to place the text in the selected type layer into its “Edit” mode.
3. Then click and drag over the text to select in the text bounding box or within the lines of point text to highlight the text.
4. Then use the buttons in the Tool Options Bar to change the formatting of the selected text or use your keyboard to correct typos in the text.
5. There are also several other ways to select text after clicking into the text to place it into its “Edit” mode.
6. To select all the text in the type layer, choose “Select| All” from the Menu Bar.
7. To select a single word, double-click a single word.
8. To select a line of text, triple-click a line of text to select it.
9. To select a paragraph, quadruple-click a paragraph.
10. Also, note that you cannot edit text created using the Type Mask Tools after you confirm it. Once confirmed, these tools create text that is raster-based, so you can only use pixel-based editing tools to edit that type of text.