Getting More Control Over The Magic Wand

By default, the Eyedropper tool’s Sample Size option (in the Options Bar) is set to Point Sample, which comes into play if you’re using it to read values for color correction. But for now, it’s important to know that the Sample Size option chosen for the Eyedropper tool (I) actually affects how the Magic Wand tool (W) makes its selection (the two have an undocumented relationship). If you increase the Eyedropper’s Sample Size to 3 by 3 or 5 by 5 Average, the Magic Wand will select an average of a much larger range of pixels in the sample area. This is important to know, because if you don’t have Point Sample chosen and you set the Magic Wand Tolerance to 0, it won’t just select the individual pixel you click on—it will select all of the pixels that match any of the pixels in a 3 by 3 or 5 by 5 area. The next time your Magic Wand isn’t behaving the way it used to, check and see if you have changed the Eyedropper tool’s Sample Size.