Tools: Selection Tool

The Selection Tool allows you to accomplish a number of things. It is used to select, resize, rotate, shear, and move objects.

Selecting Objects

To select an object, click once on the object in any view window. To select multiple objects, drag a box around the items in any 2D View and press the ENTER key. The selection box can be resized by dragging the selection handles before you press ENTER. The following image shows the creation of a selection box:

You can add objects to the selection by holding the CTRL key and clicking on other objects in any view window. Objects can likewise be removed from the selection by CTRL+clicking them.

Note: While using the Selection Tool, you can select multiple objects by dragging a selection box around them and pressing ENTER. If Automatic infinite selection is toggled on, pressing ENTER is not necessary.

Moving and Cloning Objects

You can move selected objects using the Selection Tool by clicking in the center area of the selection box, and dragging the objects to a new location.

Cloning provides a simple way to quickly duplicate an object or group of objects. This includes both brushes and entities, and groups can contain a mixture of both. You can clone a selected object by holding down the shift button and click-dragging the object.

To clone an object or group of objects:

  1. Select the Selection Tool.
  2. Select the object (brush, entity, or group of brushes and/or entities) that you would like to clone.
  3. Hold SHIFT, and click and drag the selected object to its new position with the left mouse button.
  4. While SHIFT is still being held, release the mouse button. The object has now been cloned.

Clicking inside the selection box cycles through the three basic transformation modes: resize, rotate, and shear. The handles around the selection change to reflect the current transformation mode. The following image shows the three modes for the Selection Tool. Objects can be selected and moved in any of the modes.

Resize Mode

Resize mode allows you to grab any corner or edge of the selected object and resize it by pulling it to the desired size. The Status Bar shows the current width and height of the object while you resize it.

To resize an object:

  1. Select the Selection Tool and left-click to select the object (brush, entity, or group of brushes and/or entities) that you would like to resize.
  2. Click and drag one of the corner selection handles to start the resize.
  3. When the object is the size you want, release the mouse button. The object has now been resized.

Rotate Mode

In rotate mode, you can grab any corner of a selected object and pull it around to rotate the object into any position you wish. The status bar shows the current angle of rotation while you rotate the object.

Tip: If you have the rotations set to 15 degrees by default, this can be overridden by holding SHIFT while you rotate the object, and vice-versa. You can set this option in the Options dialog box under 2D Views.

To rotate an object:

  1. Select the Selection Tool and left-click to select the object (brush, entity, or group of brushes and/or entities) that you would like to rotate.
  2. Click inside the selection to set the transformation mode to rotate.
  3. Click and drag one of the selection handles to start the rotation.
  4. When the object is rotated to the angle you want, release the mouse button. The object has now been rotated.

Shear Mode

Shear mode lets drag the edges of an object parallel to its surface, angling the object. For example, if you grab the top edge of a selected object while in shear mode, you would be able to drag that edge right or left.

To shear an object:

  1. Select the Selection Tool and left-click to select the object (brush, entity, or group of brushes and/or entities) that you would like to shear.
  2. Click inside the selection to set the transformation mode to shear.
  3. Click and drag one of the selection handles to create the shear.
  4. When the object is sheared to the angle you want, release the mouse button. The object has now been cloned.