GIMP selection help?

Question

I use GIMP for all my editing, and I'm not going to switch to Photo Shop. Anyway, I need to find a better way of selecting sections of the picture. I normally hit the little square in the bottom left corner to turn the whole picture a reddish color. I then erase the red on the parts I want selected. This can take hours on a very detailed picture and if you're being precise. Is there any other way to select parts of the picture, but still be precise? I just get annoyed having to sit there for hours just to make one banner/design.

Answer 1

You are definitely doing it the hard way.  

I think the best all-around tool for detailed selection is the path tool. (B key)

It allows you to build a very complex selection by clicking a series of points on the image.  Each point can be moved, and you can manipulate the points to create curved lines between them.  The paths tool then has a 'convert to selection' button that easily converts your path into a selection.  

I made a video about using paths here:

rtsp://wally.cs.iupui.edu/n351/N351-5f...