Selecting and Transforming
The Select tool — the arrow button at the left of the toolbar — is the tool you will spend most of your time in. Press Esc from any other tool to return to it.
Selecting
| To do this | Do this |
|---|---|
| Select an object | Click it |
| Add an object to the selection | ⌘-click it |
| Remove an object from the selection | ⌘-click it again |
| Select several objects | Drag a marquee across empty canvas |
| Select everything | ⌘A |
| Select an object that is hidden underneath others | ⇧-click repeatedly to cycle through the stack |
| Select exactly the objects fully inside the marquee | Hold ⇧ while dragging the marquee |
| Deselect | Click empty canvas, or press Esc |
When several objects are selected, one of them is the reference object — the anchor that alignment and distribution measure against. It is the object you clicked first.
Moving
Drag a selected object to move it. Hold ⇧ to constrain the movement to one axis.
Nudge with the arrow keys for single-point precision, or hold ⇧ with an arrow key to move ten times as far.
Hold ⌥ and drag to leave a copy behind — the original stays where it was and you are now dragging a duplicate.
Resizing and rotating
A selected object shows handles around its bounding box. Drag a corner or edge handle to resize, or a corner handle outside the box to rotate.
| Modifier | Effect |
|---|---|
| ⇧ | Keep the aspect ratio while resizing; constrain rotation to 15° steps |
| ⌘ | Resize around the centre, mirroring the opposite side |
Modifier keys at a glance
These modifiers work consistently across the canvas:
| Modifier | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ⌘ | Add to or remove from the selection; resize around the centre; edit anchors |
| ⌥ | Duplicate while dragging |
| ⇧ | Cycle through overlapping objects; require full marquee containment; constrain to an axis; keep aspect ratio; move ten times as far |
| ⌃ | With the scroll wheel, zoom the canvas |
Double-clicking
Double-clicking reaches inside an object:
- On text, it starts editing that text.
- On a group or frame, it selects the child directly under the pointer, so you can move one piece without ungrouping.
- On a boolean group, it enters the group so you can select individual operands.
- On a shape, it switches to vertex editing for that shape's outline.
Deleting
Press Delete or Backspace to delete the selection. This is a real deletion — undo it with ⌘Z if you change your mind. To take an object out of the way without destroying it, hide it instead; see Layers.
Working in the Layers list
The Layers list in the sidebar supports the same selection model: click a row to select, ⌘-click to extend the selection, and click an already-selected row to rename it. See Layers for the rest.