GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free and open-source image editing software. It is a powerful tool for photo editing, creating graphics and logos, resizing images, cropping photos, and more. One essential GIMP skill is knowing how to select areas of an image to edit while leaving other areas untouched. Just as important is being able to deselect areas when you are done editing the selection.
Fortunately, GIMP provides several quick methods to deselect areas that have been selected previously. Whether you used one of the selection tools (Rectangle, Ellipse, Free Select, etc.) or selected a path or channel, you can remove the selection right away using these techniques.
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Why Deselecting is Important
Deselecting a selection allows you to continue working on other parts of the image freely without accidentally making changes to the area you previously had selected. For example, you may have selected a person’s face to lighten it or change the colors. When done, deselecting that facial area then lets you select and edit the background without worrying about accidentally changing the face you already edited.
Benefits of deselecting include:
- Edit other image areas freely
- Avoid accidentally changing edited sections
- Prepare for making a new selection
- See full image without selection overlay
So learning quick ways to deselect is a valuable time-saving skill.
Deselect Using Menu Options
The easiest way to deselect is to use the menu bar:
- On Windows/Linux – Go to
Select > None - On Mac – Go to
Select > Deselect
This will instantly get rid of the marching ants (selection outline) and deselect whatever part of the image you had chosen. The keyboard shortcut for this is Control+Shift+A (Command+Shift+A on Mac).
Deselect with Click or Brush
Clicking anywhere on the image canvas outside of the selected region will also deselect it. This is useful for quickly removing a selection and continuing to edit other areas.
You can hold the Ctrl key while clicking to turn the mouse cursor into a paint brush. Then brushing over a selection will automatically deselect that area. This is handy for deselecting just parts of an existing selection.
Deselect All Then Make New Selection
Sometimes it’s easier to start fresh rather than try to subtract from an existing selection.
You can go to Select > None to deselect, then make a new selection using any of GIMP’s selection tools – Rectangle Select, Ellipse Select, Free Select (lasso), Fuzzy Select, Select by Color, or others. This clears everything and lets you select a new region from scratch.
Invert a Selection to Deselect Area
If you want to keep most of a selection but deselect just a portion of it, use the Select > Invert option. This keeps the current selection outline but swaps the selected and non-selected areas within it.
For example, if you selected a person but want to deselect just their face, use Invert to swap the face and body, then use any selection tool to remove the newly non-selected body portion.
Use QuickMask to Brush Away Selections
One of the fastest ways to deselect areas is QuickMask mode. QuickMask lets you use a brush to paint away selections rather than subtracting or inverting selections precisely.
To use QuickMask:
- Make any selection on your image
- Click the QuickMask button at the bottom of the toolbox (or press Q)
- The selection will be covered by a red overlay
- Select the Paintbrush tool (or Eraser tool)
- Brush over the red overlay areas to remove selection in those parts
- Click QuickMask button again to exit back to normal selection view
Anywhere you brushed away the red overlay will no longer be part of the selection.
Deselect Channels, Paths, and Layer Masks
As well as image selections, you can select components like channels, paths, and layer masks in GIMP. To deselect one of these, use the appropriate menu option:
- Deselect Channel:
Channels > Deselect Channel - Deselect Path: Click the Paths dialog then click path name
- Deselect Layer Mask: Click the Layers dialog then click layer name
Or use keyboard shortcuts:
- Channel: Control+Shift+A
- Path: Control+Shift+A
- Layer Mask: Control+Shift+A
Deselecting these components returns to the full layer or image.
Conclusion
Learning to quickly deselect areas in GIMP is an essential time-saving skill that gives you flexibility and control while editing images. Whether you need to deselect an entire selection, part of one, channels, paths, or layer masks, use these handy methods to speed up your workflow:
- Use the Select > None menu option
- Click or brush outside the selected region
- Start fresh by deselecting then making new selection
- Invert a selection to swap selected/non-selected areas
- Enable QuickMask mode to paint away selections
- Use keyboard shortcuts for deselecting channels, paths, and masks
