SimpleSnip tutorial

How to Use the Magic Wand Tool

Learn how SimpleSnip's magic wand selects regions by color, with adjustable tolerance and a smart auto mode, so you can cut a subject out of its background.

1. Open the Select tool

   Click Select in the toolbar (or press M), then pick the magic-wand icon from the selection-shape buttons.

2. Click what you want to select

   Click anywhere on the canvas. SimpleSnip finds the region of similar color around that point using a perceptual color match, not just an exact pixel match.

3. Turn on Smart mode

   Smart mode automatically tries several tolerances and an edge-aware region, then keeps the best-fitting one. It's a good default when you're cutting a subject out of its background. Turn it off to set your own Tolerance (0 to 100); higher picks up more shades.

4. Choose Contiguous or not

   With Contiguous on, only the connected area under your click gets selected. Turn it off to select every matching pixel in the whole image at once, even in separate areas.

5. Refine the selection

   Hold Shift and click to add another area to the selection, Alt and click to subtract, and Shift+Alt and click to keep only the overlap.

6. Do something with it

   Every tool respects the active selection. Press Delete to clear the selected pixels, or switch to Brush, Fill, or a filter: the effect only applies inside the selection.

💡 Tip: To remove a background: click it with the magic wand, press Delete, then export as PNG so the transparent area is preserved.