Working with Selections

Back in the Photoshop chapter, we spoke about the importance of making selections, and Illustrator is no different. In Photoshop, you were selecting pixels; here in Illustrator, you select objects. There are several selection tools and selection methods in Illustrator, so let's take a look at them.

The Selection Tool

The Selection tool (or the black arrow, as I like to call it, because of its appearance) is used to select entire objects. You select an object simply by clicking on it (see the sidebar "Selecting Objects"). When an object is selected, you can move it by dragging the object (see Figure 7.58).

Figure 7.58. Moving an object with the Selection tool.

You can select multiple objects by holding down the Shift key as you click on other objects.

The Shift key technique can really save time when you're making certain selections, such as when you want to select all objects in your file except for one of them. In this case, you can simply select all and then Shift-click the one you want to deselect, and you're done.

Another method of selecting objects with the Selection tool is called marquee selecting, in which you click on a blank area and then drag the mouse while holding down the mouse button. As you drag the mouse, a box appears. Any objects that fall within the marquee box become selected when you release the mouse button (see Figure 7.59). It's almost like catching fish with a net.

Figure 7.59. Selecting a range of objects using the marquee selection method.

Selecting Objects

By default, you can click anywhere inside a filled object to select it. However, if you turn on the option in General Preferences called Object Selection by Path Only (see Figure 7.60), you will be able to select a path only by clicking on its path or outline. I find it useful to turn on this preference when I'm working in very complex illustrations because this option makes it more difficult to accidentally select unwanted objects.

Figure 7.60. The Object Selection by Path Only preference in the General panel of the Preferences dialog box.

The Direct Selection Tool

The Direct Selection tool, or as I like to call it, the white arrow, is the selection tool used the most in Illustrator. In a few moments, you will see why. As you just learned, the Selection tool is used to select entire objects. The Direct Selection tool, on the other hand, is used to select parts of an object. If you click on a path and drag, only that path moves. The same applies when you click on an anchor pointonly that anchor point moves (see Figure 7.61).

Figure 7.61. Moving a single anchor point using the Direct Selection tool.

You can use either the Shift+click method or the marquee method to select multiple anchor points and move them at the same time.

Grouping Objects

Illustrator enables you to group several objects to make it easier to organize your artwork. However, the benefits of grouping objects go far beyond having art that is "neat" or organized. First, when you use the Selection tool to select one object in a group, the entire group is selected. This makes it easier to move objects around.

Second, as you'll see later in the chapter, a group itself can have certain attributes or effects applied to it. Finally, groups can be nested. That means you can have a group inside another group (and so on).

To make a group, select the objects you want to group, and choose Object, Group (see Figure 7.62). To release a group, select it and choose Object, Ungroup.

Figure 7.62. Choosing the Group command.

Groups are extremely helpful when you are working in complex documents, and grouping items as you create them is always a good idea. After you create a logo, for instance, group it. This way, you can move it around easily, and, more important, you won't accidentally lose parts by trying to select each and every piece every time (inevitably, you'll miss one or two parts).

When you double-click on any object in a group using the Selection tool, a gray box appears along the outside border of your grouped objects (see Figure 7.63). This gray box indicates that you're in group isolation mode, and any new shape that you now draw automatically becomes part of the group. To get out of group isolation mode, double-click anywhere outside the gray box. We talk more about group isolation mode when we cover Live Paint, later in the chapter.

Figure 7.63. The gray border indicates that you're in group isolation mode.

The Group Selection Tool

The Group Selection tool is a variation of the Direct Selection tool. You can find it by pressing and holding the mouse button on the Direct Selection tool in the toolbox (see Figure 7.64). In complex illustrations, you might have nested groups that contain many groups. The Group Selection tool makes working with these files easy.

Figure 7.64. Choosing the Group Selection tool.

Each time you click with the Group Selection tool, it selects the next higher group, giving you easy access to any group with a nested group.

As mentioned earlier, the Direct Selection tool is the most-used selection tool in Illustrator. If you switch back to the Direct Selection tool and press and hold the Option (Alt) key, you'll notice that the cursor for the Direct Selection tool on your screen turns into the Group Selection tool. Releasing the Option (Alt) key returns you to the Direct Selection tool.

Now you have the power to select parts of an object, or, by simply holding down the Option (Alt) key, you can select an entire object or entire groups of objects. For 90% of your work, you never have to go back to the Selection tool (black arrow).

The Lasso Tool

Using the marquee method for making selections with the Selection and the Direction Selection tools can be useful, but only if you're okay with selecting objects that fall into a rectangular marquee area. The Lasso tool enables you to draw irregularly shaped marquees to select objects or parts of objects.

The Lasso tool works much like the Direct Selection tool, in that if an object falls completely within the boundaries of the marquee, the entire object becomes selected. But if only a portion of the object falls into that marquee area, only that portion of the object becomes selected (see Figure 7.65).

Figure 7.65. Selecting only a portion of an object with the Lasso tool (left) results in only those parts of the object falling within the marquee being selected (right).

To use the Lasso tool, choose it from the toolbox and draw a marquee area. You don't have to complete the marquee by drawing back to the point you started from because the Lasso tool completes the marquee selection area after you release the mouse.

The Magic Wand Tool

Photoshop has a Magic Wand tool that's used to select pixels of similar color. Likewise, in Illustrator, the Magic Wand tool is used to select objects of similar attributes. Double-clicking on the Magic Wand tool in the toolbox opens the Magic Wand palette, where you can specify a Tolerance setting and specify which attributes the Magic Wand is sensitive to (see Figure 7.66).