Saving Selections
Here's many way to select and save your valuable selections when working on a project.

1. The classic method is the use of a Quick Mask or the Selection Brush in Photoshop Elements.

Zoom in and use either a hard or soft edge brush.

2. In Photoshop, go to the Channels Menu and create a Duplicate of your Quick Mask. With it you'll be able to retrieve your selection at any given time... even after switching back to the Standard Mode .

3. With Photoshop Elements, you can save a duplicate of your selected area on a separate Layer. Make it invisble (the eye), CTRL+Click on the Extracted Layer to retrieve your selection at any given time.

You can do the same thing with Photoshop, after using the Quick Mask or the Extract feature.

4. Photoshop offers another easy method: The use of a Vector Mask on a Layer.

5. In Photoshop, you can also save your selection as Work Paths.

Read more about Quick Masks, Layer Masks and Saving Selections