The Selection Tools For more details on the various selection operations that can be performed, see the selections section. Rectangular Marquee Keyboard shortcut: M Double-click shortcut: The whole icon is selected. Modifiers: Before the mouse is clicked, shift turns on additive mode while option turns on subtractive mode. After it is clicked, option causes the initial point to be used as the center of the rectangle. Shift constrains the drawing of the rectangle to a 1:1 aspect ratio. Description: The rectangular marquee tool is used to make rectangular selections with one of the corners at the starting point (the place where the mouse was first pressed) and the ending point (the place where the mouse was let go of). Move Keyboard shortcut: V Modifiers: Option causes a copy to be left behind at the original location. Shift constrains the movement to 45° intervals. Description: The move tool is used to displace selections. It causes a selection to be floated (if it isn't already) and make it glide over the rest of the contents of the drawing. Also note that the selection can be moved around in one pixel increments (or 10 if the shift key is held down) by using the arrow keys. Lasso Keyboard shortcut: L Double-click shortcut: The polygonal lasso mode is enabled. Modifiers: Before the mouse is clicked, shift turns on additive mode while option turns on subtractive mode. After the mouse is clicked, option toggles polygonal mode on. Description: The lasso tool is used to draw an irregular selection shape which then "tightens" around the contents. The tightening is done by looking at which pixels match the background color, and then "going through" those pixels. Magic Wand Keyboard shortcut: W Modifiers: Before the mouse is clicked, shift turns on additive mode while option turns on subtractive mode. Description: : The magic wand is used to select areas of the same color. When you click on a pixel, all adjacent pixels which have the same color will be selected. The Drawing Tools The drawing tools normally operate on the whole icon, except when a selection is present, when they are restricted to the boundaries of the selection. Pencil Keyboard shortcut: N Modifiers: Option temporarily transforms the tool into an eye-dropper. Shift constrains the movement to the vertical or the horizontal only. Description: The pencil tool operates while the mouse button is held down over the drawing area. It leaves a trail of pixels on the locations over which the mouse has passed. Normally it sets pixels to the foreground color, but if the initial pixel was already that color, then the background color is used. Eye Dropper Keyboard shortcut: I Modifiers: Options makes the color be stored in the background color slot. Description: The eyedropper tool is used to sample the colors already in the drawing. By moving the cursor over a pixel and clicking, the foreground color is set to the color of that pixel. Paint Bucket Keyboard shortcut: K Modifiers: Option temporarily transforms the tool into an eye-dropper. Description: The paint bucket tool is used to fill areas with the foreground and background colors (the mixing is specified by the pattern selected in the pattern swatch). The area that is to be filled is determined by the area which is continuous (same color) to the starting point. Eraser Keyboard shortcut: E Double-click shortcut: The whole icon is erased. Modifiers: Option temporarily transforms the tool into an eye-dropper. Shift constrains the movement to the vertical or the horizontal only. Description: The eraser tool acts just like the pencil tool, except that it sets the pixels to the background color. Rectangle Keyboard shortcut: R Double-click shortcut: Toggles between drawing rectangles empty or filled with the background color and the pattern specified in the pattern swatch. Modifiers: Before the mouse is clicked, option temporarily transforms the tool into an eye-dropper. After it clicked, option causes the initial point to be used as the center of the rectangle. Shift constrains the drawing of the rectangle to a 1:1 aspect ratio. Description: The rectangle tool draws a rectangle with one of the corners at the starting point (the place where the mouse was first pressed) and the ending point (the place where the mouse was let go of). Oval Keyboard shortcut: O Double-click shortcut: Toggles between drawing ovals empty or filled with the background color and the pattern specified in the pattern swatch. Modifiers: Before the mouse is clicked, option temporarily transforms the tool into an eye-dropper. After it clicked, option causes the initial point to be used as the center of the oval. Shift constrains the drawing of the oval to a 1:1 aspect ratio. Description: The oval tool draws an oval with one of the corners at the starting point (the place where the mouse was first pressed) and the ending point (the place where the mouse was let go of). Line Keyboard Shortcut: Y Modifiers: Option temporarily transforms the tool into an eye-dropper. Shift constrains the line drawing to 45° intervals. Description: The line tool draws a line connecting the initial point (the point where the mouse was first pressed) and the ending point (the place where the mouse was let go of). Polygon Keyboard Shortcut: P Double-click shortcut: Toggles between drawing polygons empty or filled with the background color and the pattern specified in the pattern swatch. Modifiers: Option temporarily transforms the tool into an eye-dropper. After the mouse is down, shift constrains the line drawing to 45° intervals. Description: The polygon tool is used to draw irregularly shaped polygons. After the initial click which establishes the starting point, each additional click adds a vertex to the polygon. To complete the polygon, either click back at the starting point, or double-click to connect the current point with the initial vertex. Gradient Keyboard Shortcut: G Double-click shortcut: Toggles between drawing gradients linearly or radially. Modifiers: Option temporarily transforms the tool into an eye-dropper. After the mouse is down, shift constrains the gradient direction to 45° intervals. Description: The gradient tool is used to draw smooth transitions between the foreground and background colors. In a manner similar to the line tool, a starting and an ending point are chosen, and then a gradient is drawn between them. Text Keyboard Shortcut: T Modifiers: Option temporarily transforms the tool into an eye-dropper. Description: The text tool is used to draw text on the icon. After the mouse is clicked, a dialog which allows you to choose the font, size, style and the text is shown. After that dialog is dismissed, the text is inserted into a selection placed at the point that was clicked. Table of Contents