Lasso tool
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The lasso (or "free form selection") is an selection tool available, with minor variations, in most digital image editing software[1] and some specific strategy games. It is often accessed from the standard main menu (in Photoshop,[2] Paint Tool SAI,[3] and GIMP,[4] as common examples), by clicking the icon of a rope lasso, from which the common name arises.
The lasso tool operates on the active layer of an image, and is used by clicking and dragging to trace the edges of a selection[5], typically represented as a dotted marching ants line. Most software supports multiple closed contours, which can be selected by crossing over the edge path multiple times. It is also typically not necessary to close the shape: releasing the mouse button triggers the software to close any open loop(s) automatically. The area enclosed by the cursor path will remain selected and open to various transform operators (shift, scale, cut, copy, and paste, for example) until elsewhere in the image is clicked. At this point, the lassoed selection will merge with the layer it was selected from.[citation needed]