How do i make the rectangle select tool only select the image and not the background?

[AKASupernoober]

Whenever i use the rectangle select tool on something with a transparent background, for example in the image i want it only to select the colors, but it also selects the background and whenever i put it near something else, the background cuts off a part of the other image due to the background also being selected, is it possible to make it so it only selects the image and not the background, even if the background is in the square? i can't just put the square on the exact image because sometimes i want to select multiple to not make my life a pain and it basically always selects the bckground, sorry if this is a dumb question

[Tactilis]

An easy way to do this is to select the transparent pixels and then invert the selection.

1. Click the Magic Wand tool

2. Click in the transparent area.

3. At the top of the screen, slide the Tolerance down to 0% to ensure that only the transparent pixels are included in the selection.

4. Menu  Edit | Invert Selection (or use the shortcut CTRL+I). Now all the non-transparent pixels will be selected.

Take a look at the Documentation:

https://www.getpaint.net/doc/latest/MagicWand.html

 

Edited January 19, 2023 by Tactilis

[Alexolotlechuga]

You can

rectangle-select the part you want,

cut it (Ctrl+X),

create a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N),

and paste your selection (Ctrl+V).

You will be able to move it next to anything without the transparent part cutting off the other part of the image. You can merge the layers once you're done.

Edited January 20, 2023 by Alexolotlechuga

[Tactilis]

1 hour ago, Alexolotlechuga said:

You can

rectangle-select the part you want...

I think you may be misunderstanding the problem that @AKASupernoober wants to solve:
 

Quote

i can't just put the [selection] square on the exact image...

As I have indicated, they need to select the transparent 'background' and then Invert the selection.

They may need to make multiple 'Add(union)' selections of the transparent regions or set the Flood Mode to Global (as described on the Documentation page I linked to) if they have multiple non-connected transparent regions.