Well Jack, i wanted to hear from others as well ;)

Hoof is very knowledgeable as is many others that frequent the forum. i was just concerned the discussion would stop if i added my 2cents (as happens to a lot of posts ;)) so i held my tongue...

I agree with you when you said "there are a lot of different ways to achieve the same results..." but the key is to know which works best for the need.

i noticed there weren't many adding input for the Pen Tool. anyone working with PageMaker or InDesign will know there are times when you need to isolate an object and this is when "clipping paths" come in real handy (the difference between making a selection and copying it and creating a clipping path is with the path, it's stored with the image and can be reused), and the best tool to make a clipping path is the pen tool.

There are a couple different pen tools and each have there strengths, the basic pen tool draws lines and bezier curves, and the freeform tool allows you to draw around an object quickly. If you have enough contrast on the edge you can select the "magnetic" option which works like the magnetic lasso (which a lot of people find useless, but stick with me on this). Once you've drawn your path, you can "add" or "delete" anchor points and refine your path. when you're done you'll have an outline called "work path", you need to save it before you can do anything with it cause it's only a temp path. i've had them disappear and had to do it all over again because i forgot to save it. To make it into a clipping path, select it from the drop-down menu and give it a "flatness" value. (side note: the lower the number the more accurate the curve, BUT if you have trouble printing, change your flatness value.) Photoshop now converts the path into a clipping path and you should notice the title change from regular type into outline type. Save the image as an EPS and you're all set to use it in PageMaker or InDesign or Quark...

If you don't want to deal with the pen tool you can do this same thing by making a selection with the "marquee tool" or the "magic wand" and from the Paths menu select New Path, name the path, and convert it into a clipping path, so the key is finding the best tool for YOU to use to get the results YOU want, cause there are MANY ways to do "any-one-thing".
my 2cents

;)
scott