Make selections

Selections are used in image editing when you want to focus all your edits on specific areas of an image without altering any of the areas around it. An active selection is represented by a moving, dashed line, sometimes also called the marching ants.

Once a selection has been created, any painting, color adjustments, or effects you apply to an image will only have an effect inside the selection. To work outside the boundaries of a selection, you can invert the selection or deselect it completely.

Pixelmator Pro has 9 different selection tools, all offering different methods for selecting areas of an image.

Selection Tools

Tool	Description
Rectangular Selection	Makes square and rectangular selections.
Elliptical Selection	Makes round and elliptical selections.
Row Selection	Makes horizontal selections of a custom height.
Column Selection	Makes vertical selections of a custom width.
Free Selection	Allows you to draw freehand selections.
Polygonal Selection	Allows you to draw polygonal, jagged selections.
Magnetic Selection	Makes selections that snap to object edges.
Color Selection	Selects similarly-colored areas in an image.
Quick Selection	Selects object in an image as you draw over them.