Save your selections often to save yourself time

If you took some time to create a complex selection, it's a good idea to save that selection in case you need to reference it again. The common technique is to choose Select > Save Selection, and save and name your selection through the Save Selection dialog box. This adds a new channel to your image masking out everything but the area you defined as a selection.

However, for a much quicker way to save your selection for your current document only, you can go right to the Channels panel. 

To save your selection through the Channels Panel:

1. Choose Window > Channels to view your Channels panel if it isn't open already.
2. Click the Save Selection As A Channel button at the base of the Channels panel. This creates a new alpha channel with your selection.
3. Double-click on the word Alpha (or Alpha 1, Alpha 2, etc. depending on which alpha channel this new selection is in your document) and rename the channel if desired.

Note: As we mentioned before, this saves a selection for use in your current document only. If you wish to save your selection for use in another document, you'll have to choose Select > Save Selection and set your options in the Save Selection dialog box. 

When you need the selection again, access it by choosing Select > Load Selection, or quickly load it in with a keyboard command. To load it with a keyboard command, choose one of the following options:

• [command]-click ([Ctrl]-click in Windows) on the alpha channel in the Channels panel to load the selection.
• Press [command][option] ([Ctrl][Alt] in Windows) in conjunction with the channel number, such as [command][option]5 ([Ctrl][Alt]5 in Windows) to load a selection from channel 5.