i can't use the lasso because it's a lot of really fine areas, and it takes too long, and sincw you can't go back and redo parts, it has never worked yet.  

i tried the magic selector tool, but that selects too broad of an area, no matter how many times i try to redo it...  

halp?

Up on the top left, there's a bit where it says 'tolerance', and then a number. If you decrease the number, then it'll select less.

I'm not sure what the tool is you're talking about :/

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Down is the other direction.