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There are an assortment of Selection tools. Use some of these for choosing a type of selection. Use others to help once a selection’s been made.

Beyond the typical use of selection tools, did you know they can be used like masks. You can select an area and constrain the paint to the selection. You won’t need to worry about paint going outside the bounds of the selection.

In SketchBook Pro Desktop, a selection can also be used to select an area, then with the V key open the Transform Puck to move, scale or rotate your selection.

Original

Selection without the V key

Selection with the V key

Need to remove large areas from your image? Use Selection tools to make quick work of that. For example, an image has a white background, but you don’t want any pixels in the background. Use Magic Wand to select the background and either an eraser or Clear to delete the background.

The different types of selections

The version of SketchBook you are using determines the types of selection available.

Lasso

Great for tracing around an object to precisely select it. Tap-drag and trace around the object to select it.

Oval

Great for selecting circular areas. Place your finger where you would like the center of the selection to be, then tap-drag to expand the selection.

Rectangle

Great for selecting square or rectangular areas. Place your finger where you would like the bottom right corner of the selection to be, then tap-drag to expand the selection.

Polyline

Great for selecting oddly shaped areas. Click to add points to the polyline, then click your first point to complete the selection.

Magic Wand

Great for selecting a region based on pixels of color. Tap to select a region of color. Use the Tolerance slider to expand the range of color selected (by increasing the tolerance) or limit it (by deceasing the tolerance). Use Sample Layers to choose whether to select color from the current layer or all layers. Tap an area with the color you want selected. If more colors need to be added to the selection, drag the Tolerance slider to the right add more to the selection. If the selection has too broad a range selected, drag the *Tolerance *slider to the left.

Selection editing tools

The Selection tool selected determines whether there are any selection editing tools and which are available. Some tools are also exclusive to the subscription version.

Tolerance

Tap-drag this slider to change the tolerance to add more color to a selection or reduce the range of color added to a selection.

Sample one layer/Sample all layers

When is displayed, you will be selecting color from the current selected layer. Tap to change it to and select color from all layers.

Replace

Tap Replace, then tap-drag to replace the current selection with a new one.

Add

Tap Add, then tap-drag or click an area to add to the current selection. Use this when your selection is almost perfect and it would be easier to add to it, than to start again.

Remove

Tap Remove, then tap-drag or click areas to remove them from the current selection. Use this when you’ve included too much content to your selection and it would be easier to remove it, than to start again.

Invert

Tap Invert to switch the selection. The current unselected content will become the selection, once you’ve tapped Invert. Use this when it’s easier to select what you don’t want.

Deselect

Tap Deselect to deselect everything. Use this when finished with the Selection tools. Tap it to completely exit Selection mode.

Nudge

Tap Nudge to move the selection itself, NOT its content. It can be used in conjunction with Invert. Make a selection, tap , then drag the puck to place the selection. If you want to use another tool, such as Symmetry, select and used it. Then accept or decline the changes.

Move

Tap Move to move the selection and the content it encompasses. Once is selected, another toolbar appears for helping with the placement of the content.

You can move, flip, mirror, and rotate the selected content. If you want to use another tool, such as Symmetry, select and used it. Then accept or decline the changes.

Selection tools in SketchBook Pro Desktop

There are five selections tools to choose from: Rectangle, Oval, Lasso, Polyline, and Magic Wand. Make changes to your selections with tools, such as Add, Remove, Replace, Invert, and Deselect, which are in the Selection toolbar. To make tweaks to your Magic Wand selection, use Tolerance. Don't forget you can use a selection like a mask. For more details, see How to use your selection like a mask.

Making a selection

1. Tap .

2. Select one of the Selection tools.

   

   If you've used the Magic Wand and the range of color selected needs to be either expanded or reduced, use the Tolerance slider. To expand the range of color selected, increase the tolerance. To limit it, decease the tolerance.

3. If you need to add, remove, replace, invert, or deselect the current selection, and transform the selection, use the additional tools within the Selection toolbar.

   Remember, you can use your selection as a mask and paint or fill it, distort, or crop it. To select everything, select Edit > Select all or press Cmd+A for Mac or Ctrl+A for Windows.

Using Quick Selections

In the toolbar, tap to accesses the Quick Selection tools:

• Rectangle (M) – Tap in the toolbar or press the M key, then tap-drag to select an area.
• Lasso (L) – Tap in the toolbar or press the L key, then tap-drag to select an area.

Remember, you can use your selection as a mask and paint or fill it, distort, or crop it.

Once you've made a selection, the Transform puck appears for moving, rotating, and/or scaling the selected content.

Selection tools in SketchBook Pro Mobile

The device you are using will determine the method used for accessing the Selection tools, since the toolbar may be different. Once you access the Selection tools on your device, the workflows are the same from there.

Making a selection for handheld device users

1. In the toolbar, tap , then and select to access the Selection tools.

   

2. Some of the tools have additional options. Use any additional selection editing tools you need.

   

3. When finished with your selection, to keep it tap or X to exit the tool and ignore the selection.

   If you are on a tablet:

   1. In the toolbar, tap and select a tool from the Selection toolbar.

      

   2. Some of the tools have additional options. Use any additional selection editing tools you need.

Selection tools in SketchBook Pro Windows 10

There are three types of selection to choose from: Lasso, Rectangle, and Magic Wand. Make changes to your selections with tools, such as Replace, Add, Remove, Invert, and Deselect, which are in the Selection toolbar. To make tweaks to your Magic Wand selection, use Tolerance. Don't forget you can use a selection like a mask. For more details, see How to use your selection like a mask.

Making a selection on Windows 10

1. Tap , then choose one of the following types of selection: Lasso, Rectangle, or Magic Wand.
2. If you need to add to, remove, or replace the current selection, or invert and transform the selection, use the additional tools within the Selection toolbar.