Action Bar

Quick-access slots for colors, brushes, lasso selections, and node groups.

Action Bar

A 10-slot bar pinned to the bottom-center of the board. Drop a color, brush, lasso selection, or node group into a slot, then recall it with a number key. Each graph (the main board and every subgraph) has its own bar, saved with the document.

Slots#

Ten slots, keyed 1 to 9 then 0, left to right. The bar only shows filled slots. Recall a slot by clicking its chip or pressing its number key. Recall also switches the active tool to match the slot.

Slot holds Add it Recall does
Color Drag the color swatch from the paint toolbar onto a slot Sets the active paint color
Brush Drag a brush from the brush picker or the Omni Library onto a slot Picks that brush (activating the Brush tool)
Node group Select nodes, press Cmd/Ctrl + # Reselects them; press again to frame (zoom to fit)
Lasso With the Lasso tool active, press Cmd/Ctrl + # Restores the selection and switches to the Lasso tool

# is the slot's number key (1 to 9, 0).

Adding items#

Colors and brushes go in by drag. Start dragging the color swatch (in the paint toolbar) or a brush (from the brush picker dropdown or the Omni Library), and the bar reveals all ten slots as drop targets. Drop on any one to assign it; the empty slots hide again when you let go.

Node groups and lasso selections are captured by keyboard. Cmd/Ctrl + # saves whatever is active: the live lasso when the Lasso tool is up, otherwise the current node selection.

Recalling#

  • Press the number (1 to 0), or click the chip. Number keys work anywhere on the board, even mid-stroke.
  • The chip flashes when you trigger it.
  • A brush slot holding the active brush gets a subtle highlight, following whichever brush tool is in use (Brush, Smudge, Erase).
  • Each chip shows what it holds: a color swatch, a brush thumbnail, a lasso icon, or the item count for a node group.

Clearing a slot#

Right-click a chip and choose Clear. That is the only way to empty a color or brush slot. (Cmd/Ctrl + # only ever assigns node groups and lassos.)

Per-graph and portable#

Each graph keeps its own bar, saved inside the .mage file. Dive into a subgraph and you get that subgraph's bar.

Brushes placed from the current document or the Magerie Asset Library travel with the file and resolve anywhere. A brush from your personal User Library is per-machine: open the document on another computer and that slot shows a fallback icon (the brush itself is not embedded). See User Library.

Next#