Most accounts of the formation of an object representation emphasize the importance of perceptual grouping cues, such as similarity and connectedness (e.g., Baylis & Driver, 1993; Kramer & Jacobson, 1991; Watson & Kramer, 1999). However, few have examined their influence on object-based visual attention, which selects object representations. Also, previous research has demonstrated the importance of edges and their orientation in forming objects when the representation is degraded (i.e. occluded). However, other grouping cues, such as color similarity, may influence the ability to complete an object. We examined the role of this surface feature on forming object representations under optimal and under degraded conditions. Using a modified object-based attention task (e.g., Egly et al., 1994; Vecera, 1994), observers demonstrated an object-based effect for unoccluded objects containing dissimilar surface information when continuous edge information was present. When part of these same objects was degraded by occlusion, however, the object-based effect was no longer present, suggesting that edge information alone is not sufficient to form the objects of attention when the object representations are degraded.