Move, copy, and delete selected areas

Once you have made a selection, you can move, copy, delete, or cut the selected areas, apply effects or adjustments to them, create masks, crop images, and more.

Move a selected area

1. Choose the Arrange tool by doing one of the following:

   • Click the Arrange tool in the Tools sidebar.

   • Choose Tools > Arrange from the Tools menu at the top of your screen.

   • Press the V key on your keyboard.

2. Move the pointer inside the selection and drag the selected area to a new position.

Copy or cut and paste a selected area

1. Make a selection of the area you want to copy.

2. To copy the area, choose Edit > Copy or Edit > Cut.

3. To paste the area, choose Edit > Paste.


You can cut, copy, and paste from Pixelmator Pro into other apps, or from other apps into Pixelmator Pro.

💡 Tip: If, after pasting a selection, you notice any trace of the previous background color you want to remove, you can use the Decontaminate Colors feature. Choose Format > Image > Decontaminate Colors to apply it.

Copy or cut and paste a selected area as a new layer

1. Make a selection of the area you want to copy.

2. With any selection tool active, Control ⌃ – click the image and choose Copy and Paste as Layer or Cut and Paste as Layer.

You can also press the Command ⌘ + J and Shift ⇧ + Command ⌘ + J keyboard shortcuts to copy or cut and paste selections as new layers.

💡 Tip: If, after pasting a selection, you notice any trace of the previous background color you want to remove, you can use the Decontaminate Colors feature. Choose Format > Image > Decontaminate Colors to apply it.

Delete a selected area

1. Make a selection of the area you want to delete.

2. Do one of the following:

   • Choose Edit > Delete.

   • Press the Delete key on your keyboard.

   • Press the Backspace ⌫ key on your keyboard.

Delete everything outside a selected area

1. Make a selection of the area you want to keep.

2. Choose Edit > Invert Selection.

3. Do one of the following:

   • Choose Edit > Delete.

   • Press the Delete key on your keyboard.

   • Press the Backspace ⌫ key on your keyboard.

Crop the image using a selection

1. Make a selection of the area you want to keep.

2. Control ⌃ – click the image and choose Crop.

3. Click Apply in the Tool Options pane to crop the image.

📘 Note: Doing this crops the entire image, rather than deleting areas from just your selected layer. To crop the selected layer, you’d need to delete everything outside the selected area.