Adobe ILLUSTRATOR CS2 - Chapter 11: Arranging Objects; Selecting Objects

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Chapter 11: Arranging objects
Selecting objects
Selecting objects
Before you can modify an object, you need to distinguish it from the objects around it. You do that by selecting the
object. Once you’ve selected an object, or a part of an object, you can edit it.
Illustrator provides the following selection methods and tools:
• The Layers palette lets you quickly and precisely select individual or multiple objects. You can select a single object
(even if it’s in a group), all objects within a layer, and entire groups.
• The Selection tool lets you select objects and groups by clicking or dragging over them. You can also select
groups within groups and objects within groups.
• The Direct Selection tool lets you select individual anchor points or path segments by clicking on them, or
select an entire path or group by selecting any other spot on the item. You can also select one or more objects in a
group of objects.
• TheGroup Selectiontool lets youselectanobjectwithinagroup, asinglegroup within multiple groups,ora
set of groups within the artwork. Each additional click adds all objects from the next group in the hierarchy.
• The Lasso tool lets you select objects, anchor points, or path segments by dragging around all or part of the
object.
• The Magic Wand tool lets you select objects of the same color, stroke weight, stroke color, opacity, or blending
mode by clicking the object.
• The Live Paint Selection tool lets you select faces (areas enclosed by paths) and edges (portions of paths
between intersections) of Live Paint groups.
• Selection commands (located in the Select menu) let you quickly select or deselect all objects, and select objects
based on their position relative to other objects. You can also select all objects of a specific type or that share
specific attributes, and save or load selections.
To temporarily activate the last-used selection tool when using another type of tool, hold down Ctrl (Windows) or
Command (Mac OS).
Selection tool gallery
Illustrator provides the following selection tools: