Edit Menu

Select All

Creates a rectangular selection that is the same size as the image.

Select None

Deactivates the selection in the active image.

Restore Selection

Restores the previous selection to its original position. A selection is saved when you:

• Delete the selection by clicking outside of it
• Draw a new selection
• De-activate the image containing the selection
• Close the image containing the selection
• Open a new selection using File>New
• Use a command that deletes or modifies the selection

You can transfer a selection from one image to another by activating the image with the selection, activating the destination image, then pressing shift-e (the keyboard shortcut for Restore Selection).

Fit Spline

Fits a cubic spline curve to a polygon or polyline selection.

Fit Ellipse

Replaces an area selection with the best fit ellipse. The ellipse will have the same area, orientation and centroid as the original selection. The same fitting algorithm is used to measure the major and minor axis lengths and angle when "Fit Ellipse" is selected in Analyze>Set Measurements.

Convex Hull

Replaces a polygon of freehand selection with its convex hull, which can be thought of as a rubber band wrapped tightly around the points that define the selection.

Make Inverse

Creates an inverse selection. What was "inside" the selection is now "outside", and vis versa.

Create Mask

Creates a new 8-bit image called "Mask" whose pixels have a value of 255 inside the selection and 0 outside. By default, this image has an inverting LUT, so black is 255 and white is 0. Check "Black Background" in Process>Binary>Options before using Create Mask and an inverting LUT will not be used (black will be 0 and white 255).

Create Selection

Creates a selection from a thresholded image or a binary mask. This command is based on the Threshold_To_Selection plugin written by Johannes Schindelin.

Rotate...

Rotates the selection by the specified number of degrees (negative number indicate counter-clockwise rotation).

Enlarge...

Grows an area selection by a specified number of pixels. Enter a negative value to shrink the selection. Enter zero to convert a composite selection into a polygon selection.

Make Band...

Takes an area selection and creates a band with a thickness of the specified number of pixels. If you imagine the band as a doughnut shape, then the original selection corresponds to the hole (i.e. the band is made by growing out the original selection).

Specify...

Opens a dialog that allows your to define a rectangular or elliptical selection. Width and Height are the dimensions of the selection. X Coordinate and Y Coordinate define the position of the selection. Check Oval to create an elliptical selection. If Centered is checked, the selection is positioned so X Coordinate and Y Coordinate define the center of the selection, otherwise they define the upper left corner.

Add to Manager

Adds the current selection to the ROI Manager. If there is no selection then it opens the ROI Manager. As a shortcut, press "t". (Except when using the text editor, you do not have to hold down the control key to use menu shortcuts).