Testing the Photoshop 2022 Object Selection Tool on a Variety of Nature Photographs

Adobe has released an exciting new Object Selection Feature with their Photoshop CC 2022 release. This feature will automatically create selections on different objects in your photographs making it easy to individually edit these objects. There is also a new Mask All Objects feature under the Layer Menu that will automatically create Layer groups with masks for each object.

But how well does this new feature work on a variety of nature photographs such Birds, Macro, Landscapes, and Wildlife photographs? For this blog, I’ve tested a wide variety of nature photographs to see how this new feature performs.

How to Use the Object Selection Tool in Photoshop

To use the Object Finder tool, select the Object Selection tool in the Tools Menu. At the top of the screen, click the check box for Object Finder. Photoshop will automatically identify different objects in your photograph.

Move your mouse across the image to see the selected objects. The objects will be highlighted with the color you’ve selected in the Properties menu (wheel icon) at the top of the page. You can also use the Show all Objects button at the top of the screen or hold down the N key to see all the selected objects in the photograph.

Here is how the Object Finder tool performed on a variety of different nature photographs.

Helping the Object Selection Tool

If the Object Selection Tool does not locate the object you are trying to select, you can assist the object selection tool in finding the object. To assist the object selection tool, choose either the Rectangle or Lasso Selection Tool in Selection Mode dropdown in the Top Menu then draw a loose selection around the area of the object. The Object Selection Tool will try to locate an object in the selected area.

Object Selection Tool - Selection Mode Dropdown — **Object Selection Tool – Selection Mode Dropdown**

How the Object Selection Tool Worked on Bird Photographs

Geese Selections with Object Finder — **Canada Geese Flock with Object Finder**

For this photograph of a flock of geese, Photoshop’s Object Finder identified each Goose as individual objects that can be edited individually. Object Finder did miss the tail feathers on one of the geese that was close to another goose in the photograph.

To create a selection for an object, just click on the object. Select and mask is included in the top menu so you can easily turn the selection into a layer mask.

Greater Yellowlegs Selections with Object Finder — **Greater Yellowlegs with Object Finder**

For this photograph of a Greater Yellowlegs Reflection, the Object Selection tool identified the bird and the reflection as separate objects so they can be edited independently.

Cedar Waxwings Object Locator Selections — **Cedar Waxwings with Object Finder**

In this photograph of two Cedar Waxwings, Photoshop identified both birds and the tree branches as 3 separate objects. It did get a bit confused and included the left Cedar Waxwing in the tree branch object.

How the Object Selection Tool Worked on Wildlife Photographs

Wolf - Bison Carcass Object Finder Selection — **Wolf – Bison Carcass with Object Finder**

The Object Finder identified separate objects for the Wolf and Bison Carcass. The right part of the Bison Carcass was not added to the selection. Also the selection on the right side of the wolf looks like it needs to be cleaned up.

Elk Rut Object Finder — **Elk during the Rut with Object Finder**

Object Finder identified each elk as a separate object. However, the antlers were not included in either elk object.

How the Object Selection Tool Worked on Macro Photographs

Bee Object Finder Selection — **Bee with Object Finder**

The Object Selection Tool did a nice job locating the bee in the busy background. It did, however, miss selecting the bee’s left wing.

Butterfly Object Finder Selection — **Monarch Butterfly with Object Finder**

Photoshop did a nice job locating this Monarch Butterfly with only a little clean up necessary on the antennae.

Hover Fly Object Locator Selection — **Hover Fly with Object Finder**

Photoshop identified only the Hover Fly as an object but did not create an object for the flower.

How the Object Selection Tool Worked on Landscapes

The Object Finder seemed to struggle the most with landscape photographs, mainly only determining prominent foreground items as objects.

Grand Teton Object Finder Selection — **Grand Teton with Object Finder**

In this classic Grand Teton mountain landscape, it only selected two trees as objects.

Mormon Row Object Finder — **Object Finder on Mormon Row Cabin**

The Object Selection tool located two objects in this Mormon Row photograph, one object with the cabin and another with the tree behind the cabin.

Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse Object Finder Selection — **Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse with Object Finder**

In this Michigan lighthouse photograph, Photoshop identified two objects – the lighthouse and a single tree on the left side of the photograph.

Sable Falls Object Finder Selection — **Sable Falls with Object Finder**

For this photograph of Sable Falls, the only object found was the pine tree in the left foreground.

Object Selection Tool – Overall Results

Overall, I was impressed with Adobe Photoshop’s new Object Finder Tool for bird, wildlife, and macro photographs. Even if the selections were not perfect, they provide a good start for creating a layer mask to individual edit the objects. However, I didn’t find the tool as useful for landscape photographs.

Written by Martin Belan

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