Adjust selections
Last updated
Pixelmator Pro User Guide
Last updated
After making a selection, you can adjust it in various ways — for example, you can move the selection outline, add or subtract from the selection, or resize it.
If you already have a selection and would like to make changes to a different part of an image, you can create a new selection or move the existing selection to the area you want to adjust.
To move a selection outline:
With an active selection, choose one of the selection tools.
Select the New selection mode in the Tool Options pane. Alternatively, you can Control ⌃ – click inside the selection and choose Transform Selection.
Move the mouse pointer inside the selection outline and drag it.
💡 Tip: You can also move a selection using the arrow keys on your keyboard. Pressing an arrow key moves the selection by one pixel in that direction. To move it by ten pixels, press and hold the Shift ⇧ key, then press an arrow key.
Make a selection.
Drag the selection handles to change the shape or size of the selection.
💡 Tip: You can press and hold the Shift ⇧ key to constrain the proportions of your selection as you resize it. You can also adjust the selection using the Transform tool. Control ⌃ – click the selection and choose Transform Selection from the shortcut menu to do so.
Inverting a selection deselects all the selected parts of an image and vice versa. To invert a selection, do one of the following:
Choose Edit > Invert Selection.
Choose a selection tool, then click the Invert button at the bottom of the Tool Options pane.
Choose a selection tool, then Control ⌃ – click anywhere in your image and choose Invert Selection from the shortcut menu.
Press Shift ⇧ + Command ⌘ + I on your keyboard.
To deselect any active selections on a canvas, do one of the following:
Choose Edit > Deselect from the Edit menu at the top of your screen.
Press Command ⌘ + D on your keyboard.
Adding to a selection adds any new areas you select to your existing selection.
To add to an existing selection, do one of the following:
Change the selection mode to Add in the Tool Options pane.
Press and hold Shift ⇧ before starting to select.
To see the size information when drawing selections, make sure information labels are turned on in the Pixelmator Pro settings.
Subtracting from a selection deselects the areas you draw over, keeping the rest of your existing selection.
To subtract from an existing selection, do one of the following:
Change the selection mode to Subtract in the Tool Options pane.
Press and hold the Option ⌥ key before starting to select.
When using the Intersect selection mode, any currently selected areas you draw over will be kept and any currently selected areas outside your new selection will be removed from the selection.
To intersect an existing selection, do one of the following:
Change the selection mode to Intersect in the Tool Options pane.
Press and hold the Shift ⇧ and Option ⌥ keys before starting to select.
Hiding the selection handles will help avoid accidentally resizing a selection.
Choose any of the selection tools.
Control ⌃ – click your image and deselect Show Selection Handles from the shortcut menu.
