Quote (Agonist @ Nov 30 2015 11:44am)
If you need to make a precise selection, use the pen tool, it creates a path but you can convert it to a selection by right clicking after you finish it and selecting "create selection"
If you just need a rough selection, any of the other tools will do (lasso, quick select, magic wand, etc)
The polygonal lasso tool would be better for things that have straight lines and no curves, and the pen tool is anything especially if you need to make curves
You can select colors specifically if you use Color Range, under the Select drop down menu at the top
Also there is a "Refine Selection" option (not sure it it's only on newer versions) that you can use to refine a rough selection (basically readjust how much you want shown, whether you wanna smooth/feather/contrast the edges, etc)
And as said above, you can cancel selections by using CTRL+D, you can add/subtract to and from selections (if using a marquee/select tool) by holding SHIFT/ALT, and you can save and load selections if you need them for later
To save a section, after you make it, go to Selection and choose "save selection", it'll create a new channel in your document (next to layers tab) and to load selections, using CTRL+click on any layer icon will automatically select everything in the layer (same with channels)
Pretty much this, just play around with them and eventually it'll just come naturally what you should use in a certain scenario.