Selection & Transform

Fence off part of a canvas to move, erase, transform, or paint inside.

A selection fences off part of a canvas. Move those pixels, erase them, transform them, or keep your brush inside the lines.

Lasso#

L, then drag a closed shape. Switch to rectangle mode in the toolbar for straight edges.

Modifier Does
(none) Replace
Shift + drag Add
Ctrl + drag Subtract (literal Control on macOS too)
Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + I Invert
Cmd/Ctrl + D Clear

There is one selection for the whole board, not one per canvas. It stays put in board space. Move between Image nodes and it clips to whichever one you paint on.

With a selection active#

Action How
Erase inside Delete / Backspace
Move pixels V, drag inside
Move a copy V + Alt/Option, drag
Free transform Cmd/Ctrl + T
Copy, cut, paste Cmd/Ctrl + C / X / V. Pasted pixels arrive with transform handles.
Paint inside Just paint. Brush, eraser and smudge stay in.

Right-click inside the selection for the same actions in a menu. Copy also lands on the system clipboard, ready for other apps.

Free transform#

Cmd/Ctrl + T lifts the pixels onto a floating layer with handles.

Drag Effect
Body Move
Corner Scale. Shift keeps proportions.
Edge midpoint Scale one side
Rotation stem Rotate. Shift snaps to 15 degrees.
Pivot dot Move the rotation center

Drag a corner or edge past the opposite side to mirror the piece. Right-click it for Flip Horizontal, Flip Vertical and Rotate 90° CW, around the pivot dot. Cmd/Ctrl + Z steps back one change at a time while the handles are up.

Enter commits. Esc puts the pixels back. One undo step.

For a repeatable or animated move, use a Transform node instead.

Where to next#