- Illustrator User Guide
- Go to know Illustrator
- Introduction to Illustrator
- What’s new in Illustrator
- Common questions
- Illustrator organization requirements
- Illustrator for Apple silicon
- Workspace
- Workspace basics
- Create documents
- Toolbar
- Default keyboard shortcuts
- Customize keyboard shortcuts
- Introduction to artboards
- Manage artboards
- Customize the workspace
- Properties console
- Prepare preferences
- Touch Workspace
- Microsoft Surface Dial back up in Illustrator
- Recovery, disengage, history, and automation
- Rotate view
- Rulers, grids, and guides
- Accessibility in Illustrator
- Prophylactic Fashion
- View artwork
- Utilize the Touch Bar with Illustrator
- Files and templates
- Tools in Illustrator
- Tools at a glance
- Select tools
- Selection
- Direct Selection
- Grouping Choice
- Magic Wand
- Lasso
- Artboard
- Navigate tools
- Hand
- Rotate View
- Zoom
- Paint tools
- Gradient
- Mesh
- Shape Builder
- Text tools
- Type
- Type on a Path
- Vertical Type
- Draw tools
- Pen
- Add Anchor Betoken
- Delete Anchor Point
- Ballast Point
- Curvature
- Line Segment
- Rectangle
- Rounded Rectangle
- Ellipse
- Polygon
- Star
- Paintbrush
- Blob Brush
- Pencil
- Shaper
- Piece
- Alter tools
- Rotate
- Reflect
- Scale
- Shear
- Width
- Free Transform
- Eyedropper
- Blend
- Eraser
- Pair of scissors
- Introduction to Illustrator
- Illustrator on the iPad
- Introduction to Illustrator on the iPad
- Illustrator on the iPad overview
- Illustrator on the iPad FAQs
- Organization requirements | Illustrator on the iPad
- What you can or cannot do on Illustrator on the iPad
- Workspace
- Illustrator on the iPad workspace
- Touch shortcuts and gestures
- Keyboard shortcuts for Illustrator on the iPad
- Manage your app settings
- Documents
- Work with documents in Illustrator on the iPad
- Import Photoshop and Fresco documents
- Select and suit objects
- Create echo objects
- Alloy objects
- Drawing
- Draw and edit paths
- Draw and edit shapes
- Type
- Work with type and fonts
- Create text designs along a path
- Add your own fonts
- Work with images
- Vectorize raster images
- Color
- Employ colors and gradients
- Introduction to Illustrator on the iPad
- Deject documents
- Basics
- Work with Illustrator cloud documents
- Share and interact on Illustrator deject documents
- Upgrade cloud storage for Adobe Illustrator
- Illustrator cloud documents | Mutual questions
- Troubleshooting
- Troubleshoot create or save issues for Illustrator cloud documents
- Troubleshoot Illustrator deject documents bug
- Basics
- Add and edit content
- Drawing
- Drawing nuts
- Edit paths
- Depict pixel-perfect art
- Draw with the Pen, Curvature, or Pencil tool
- Describe unproblematic lines and shapes
- Image Trace
- Simplify a path
- Define perspective grids
- Symbolism tools and symbol sets
- Arrange path segments
- Design a flower in 5 easy steps
- Perspective drawing
- Symbols
- Describe pixel-aligned paths for web workflows
- 3D effects and Adobe Substance materials
- Almost 3D furnishings in Illustrator
- Create 3D graphics
- Map artwork over 3D objects
- Create 3D objects
- Create 3D Text
- Color
- About colour
- Select colors
- Utilize and create swatches
- Adapt colors
- Utilize the Adobe Color Themes panel
- Color groups (harmonies)
- Colour Themes panel
- Recolor your artwork
- Painting
- Near painting
- Paint with fills and strokes
- Live Pigment groups
- Gradients
- Brushes
- Transparency and blending modes
- Utilize stroke on an object
- Create and edit patterns
- Meshes
- Patterns
- Select and arrange objects
- Select objects
- Layers
- Grouping and expand objects
- Move, align, and distribute objects
- Stack objects
- Lock, hide, and delete objects
- Duplicate objects
- Rotate and reflect objects
- Reshape objects
- Crop images
- Transform objects
- Combine objects
- Cut, split, and trim objects
- Puppet Warp
- Scale, shear, and misconstrue objects
- Blend objects
- Reshape using envelopes
- Reshape objects with effects
- Build new shapes with Shaper and Shape Architect tools
- Work with Live Corners
- Enhanced reshape workflows with bear on support
- Edit clipping masks
- Alive shapes
- Create shapes using the Shape Builder tool
- Global editing
- Type
- Add text and work with type objects
- Create bulleted and numbered lists
- Manage text area
- Fonts and typography
- Format type
- Import and export text
- Format paragraphs
- Special characters
- Create blazon on a path
- Grapheme and paragraph styles
- Tabs
- Text and type
- Notice missing fonts (Typekit workflow)
- Update text from Illustrator 10
- Arabic and Hebrew type
- Fonts | FAQ and troubleshooting tips
- Create 3D text effect
- Creative typography designs
- Scale and rotate type
- Line and character spacing
- Hyphenation and line breaks
- Text enhancements
- Spelling and language dictionaries
- Format Asian characters
- Composers for Asian scripts
- Create text designs with blend objects
- Create a text affiche using Image Trace
- Create special effects
- Work with effects
- Graphic styles
- Create a drop shadow
- Advent attributes
- Create sketches and mosaics
- Driblet shadows, glows, and feathering
- Summary of effects
- Web graphics
- Best practices for creating web graphics
- Graphs
- SVG
- Create animations
- Slices and image maps
- Drawing
- Import, export, and save
- Import
- Place multiple files
- Manage linked and embedded files
- Links data
- Unembed images
- Import artwork from Photoshop
- Import bitmap images
- Import Adobe PDF files
- Import EPS, DCS, and AutoCAD files
- Creative Cloud Libraries in Illustrator
- Artistic Cloud Libraries in Illustrator
- Salvage
- Save artwork
- Export
- Apply Illustrator artwork in Photoshop
- Export artwork
- Collect assets and export in batches
- Package files
- Create Adobe PDF files
- Extract CSS | Illustrator CC
- Adobe PDF options
- File information and metadata
- Import
- Printing
- Set up for printing
- Fix documents for printing
- Change the page size and orientation
- Specify crop marks for trimming or aligning
- Go started with big canvas
- Printing
- Overprint
- Print with colour management
- PostScript printing
- Impress presets
- Printer’s marks and bleeds
- Print and save transparent artwork
- Trapping
- Print color separations
- Print gradients, meshes, and colour blends
- White Overprint
- Set up for printing
- Automate tasks
- Data merge using the Variables console
- Automation with scripts
- Automation with actions
- Troubleshooting
- Crash issues
- Recover files after crash
- File issues
- Supported file formats
- GPU device driver problems
- Wacom device issues
- DLL file issues
- Memory bug
- Preferences file issues
- Font problems
- Printer bug
- Share crash report with Adobe
- Improve Illustrator performance
To organize and lay out your artwork, you use tools for selecting, positioning, and stacking objects precisely. You tin measure out and align objects; group objects and so that they are treated every bit a single unit; and selectively isolate, lock, or hide objects.
Selection options and preferences
Options for selecting objects
Before you can change an object, you must distinguish it from the objects around information technology. Yous practice that by
selecting
the object. Once you’ve selected an object, or a office of an object, yous can edit it.
Illustrator provides the post-obit selection methods and tools:
Layers panel
Lets yous quickly and precisely select private or multiple objects. You can select a single object (even if information technology’s in a group), all objects within a layer, and unabridged groups.
Choice tool
Lets you lot select objects and groups past clicking or dragging over them. You can as well select groups inside groups and objects within groups.
Group Option tool
Lets you select an object within a group, a unmarried grouping within multiple groups, or a set of groups within the artwork. Each boosted click adds all objects from the side by side group in the hierarchy.
Perspective Pick tool
Lets you bring objects and text in perspective, switch active planes, move objects in perspective, and move objects in perpendicular direction.
Lasso tool
Lets you select objects, anchor points, or path segments by dragging around all or function of the object.
Magic Wand tool
Lets y’all select objects of the aforementioned color, stroke weight, stroke colour, opacity, or blending mode past clicking the object.
Live Paint Selection tool
Lets you lot select faces (areas enclosed by paths) and edges (portions of paths betwixt intersections) of Live Pigment groups.
Selection commands
(located in the Select carte du jour) Let you quickly select or deselect all objects, and select objects based on their position relative to other objects. You can select all objects of a specific type or that share specific attributes, and save or load selections. You can also select all objects in the active artboard.
Specify pick preferences
Selecting paths and points in complex images can exist challenging. Using the Selection and Anchor Brandish preferences, you tin can specify the tolerance for pixel selection and cull other options that tin can make selection easier for a particular document.
-
Choose
Edit >
Preferences >
Selection & Anchor Display
(Windows) or
Illustrator >
Preferences >
Selection & Ballast Display
(macOS). -
Specify whatever of the following Pick options:
Tolerance
Specifies the pixel range for selecting anchor points. College values increase the width of the area around an anchor point that y’all tin can click to select it.
Object Selection By Path Only
Specifies whether you tin select a filled object by clicking anywhere in the object or whether you have to click a path.
Snap To Betoken
Snaps objects to anchor points and guides. Specify the distance betwixt the object and anchor point or guide when the snap occurs.
Isolate artwork for editing
Isolation mode isolates objects so that you can hands select and edit item objects or parts of objects. Yous can isolate any of the post-obit: layers, sublayers, groups, symbols, clipping masks, compound paths, gradient meshes, and paths.
In Isolation mode, you can delete, replace, and add new art relative to the isolated art. When y’all exit isolation mode, replaced or new art is added at the same location as the original isolated art. Isolation mode automatically locks all other objects so that simply the objects in isolation way are affected past the edits you make— you don’t must worry well-nigh what layer an object is on, nor practise you must manually lock or hide the objects you don’t want affected by your edits.
When isolation mode is active, the isolated object appears in full color, while the balance of the artwork appears grayed out. The isolated object’s proper noun and location (sometimes referred to as bread crumbs) appears in the isolation way edge, and the
Layers
panel displays merely the artwork in the isolated sublayer or grouping. When you go out isolation mode, the other layers and groups reappear in the
Layers
panel.
You can view isolated objects in outline way or preview mode.
See the video Apply isolation mode to isolate artwork for editing.
Isolate a path, object, or group
-
-
Double-click the path or group using the
Selection
tool. -
Select the group, object, or path and click the
Isolate Selected Object
button
in the
Command
panel. -
Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (macOS) the group and clickIsolate Selected Grouping.
-
Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (macOS) the path and click
Isolate Selected Path. -
Select the group, object, or path in the
Layers
panel and choose
Enter Isolation Style
from the
Layers
panel menu or click the
Isolate Selected Object
button in the
Control
panel.
-
Isolate a path inside a group
-
Select the path past using the
Direct-Option
tool or by targeting it in the
Layers
panel. -
Click the
Isolate Selected Object
button
in the
Command
panel.
Isolate a layer or sublayer
-
Select the layer or sublayer in the
Layers
panel, and click
Enter Isolation Mode
from the
Layers
panel menu.
Exit isolation mode
-
-
Press
Esc. -
ClickExit Isolation Style
one or more than times (if you lot’ve isolated a sublayer, ane click takes you lot back a level, ii clicks exits isolation fashion). -
Click anywhere in the isolation way bar.
-
Click
Exit Isolation Way
in the
Control
console. -
Using the
Selection
tool, double-click exterior of the isolated group. -
Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (macOS) and click
Exit Isolation Way.
-
Select behind objects
In Illustrator, you can select objects that lie underneath other objects using Ctrl+click (Windows) or Command+click (macOS). The pointer changes to
Select Behind
on the showtime Ctrl+click (Windows) or Command+click (macOS). On subsequent usage of Ctrl+click (Windows) or Command+click (macOS), the selection iterates through the objects directly underneath the pointer position.
Select the next object in the stacking order
You lot can select an object higher up or below a selected object in the stacking order. These commands exercise not work when in isolation style.
-
To select the nearest object higher up or beneath the selected object, click
Select >
Adjacent Object In a higher place,
or
Select >
Next Object Below.
Select objects using the Layers panel
-
In the
Layers
panel, locate the object you want to select. You may take to click a toggle arrow to expand a layer or grouping, or scroll upwardly or down in the panel to locate the object. -
-
To select private objects, click in the object’s option cavalcade (between the target push button and the ringlet bar). Shift-click to add or to remove objects from the selection.
-
To select all artwork in a layer or group, click in the layer’s or group’south choice cavalcade.
-
To select all artwork in a layer based on the currently selected artwork, click
Select >
Object >
All On Same Layers.Choice color boxes announced next to each selected particular in the console.
-
-
Select the
Selection
tool.
-
Exercise either of the post-obit:
-
Click an object.
-
Elevate a marquee around role or all of i or more objects.
-
-
To add or remove objects from the selection, concord down
Shift
and click or drag effectually the objects yous want to add or remove.
Tip: When the
Selection
tool is over a deselected object or group, it changes to. When it is over a selected object or group, the tool changes to
. When it is over an ballast point on a deselected object, a hollow square appears next to the arrow
.
Dragging over objects to select them
-
Select the
Lasso
tool.
-
Drag effectually or beyond the objects.
Use the Magic Wand tool to select all objects in a document with the same or like fill up attributes (such as colour and pattern).
You can customize the Magic Wand tool to select objects based on stroke weight, stroke color, opacity, or blending manner. You tin also change the tolerances used by the Magic Wand tool to identify similar objects.
Select objects based on fill color with the Magic Wand tool
-
Select the
Magic Wand
tool.
-
-
To create a choice, click the object containing the attributes y’all want to select. All objects with the same attributes that were clicked are selected.
-
To add together to the current option, press
Shift
and click another object containing the attributes y’all want to add. All objects with the aforementioned attributes that were clicked are also selected. -
To subtract from the electric current selection, press
Alt
(Windows) or
Option
(macOS) and click the object containing the attributes you want to subtract. All objects with the same attributes are removed from the choice.
-
Customize the Magic Wand tool
-
Exercise one of the post-obit to open the Magic Wand panel:
-
Double-click the
Magic Wand
tool in the tool panel. -
SelectWindow >
Magic Wand.
-
-
To select objects according to their fill colour, select
Make full Colour, and and so enter a Tolerance value from 0 through 255 pixels for RGB or 0 and 100 pixels for CMYK.Low tolerance values select objects that are similar to the object you click; college tolerance values select objects with a broader range of the selected property.
-
Choose
Show Stroke Options
from the
Magic Wand
console bill of fare, and practice whatever of the following:-
To select objects according to their stroke colour, select
Stroke Colour, and and so enter a Tolerance value from 0 through 255 pixels for RGB or 0 and 100 pixels for CMYK. -
To select objects according to their stroke weight, select
Stroke Weight, and so enter a Tolerance value from 0 through 1000 points.
-
-
Click
Show Transparency Options
from the
Magic Wand
console card and practise any of the following:-
To select objects according to their transparency or blending mode, select
Opacity, and so enter a Tolerance value from 0 through 100%. -
To select objects according to their blending way, select
Blending Mode.
-
Select filled objects
The
Object Option By Path Only
preference determines whether you lot can select a filled object by clicking anywhere within the object’s area with the
Selection
or
Directly Selection
tools, or whether you must click a path segment or anchor signal with these tools. By default, this preference is off. Sometimes, yous may desire to plow on the preference—for example, when yous work with overlapping filled objects and you want to easily select underlying objects.
The
Object Selection Past Path Merely
preference is non applicable when selecting unfilled objects or when viewing artwork as outlines. In these cases, you tin never select an object by clicking within the object’southward path. (Come across View artwork as outlines.)
-
Click
Edit >
Preferences >
Pick & Ballast Display
(Windows) or
Illustrator >
Preferences >
Choice & Anchor Display
(macOS), and select
Object Selection Past Path Simply.
Select groups and objects in a group
Once objects are grouped, selecting any office of the grouping with the
Choice
tool or the
Lasso
tool selects the unabridged group. If you are unsure whether an object is a function of a grouping, select it with the
Selection
tool.
The
Direct-Choice
tool and
Lasso
tool let you select a unmarried path or object that is part of one group or several groups. If you lot have groups of objects inside other groups, you can select the adjacent grouping in the grouping hierarchy past using the
Grouping-Selection
tool. Each successive click adds another subset of grouped objects to the pick.
-
Click the
Selection
tool.
-
Do 1 of the following to any object that’s within the group:
-
Click the object.
-
Elevate around office or all of the object.
-
-
To add or remove a group to the choice, hold downwards
Shift
while clicking the group to add or remove.
-
Select the
Selection
tool.
-
Double-click a group. The grouping appears in isolation way.
-
-
Double-click to select further down into the grouping structure.
Tip: Double-clicking is a handy way to select objects (every bit opposed to faces and edges) inside a Live Paint group.
-
Click to select an object within the selected group.
-
Draw to add together an object to the selected group.
-
-
Double-click exterior the group to deselect the group.
Select a single object within a group
-
-
Select the
Group Option
tool, and click the object.
-
Select the
Lasso
tool, and drag around or across the object’southward path.
-
Select the
Direct Choice
tool, and click within the object, or drag a marquee around role or all of the object’s path.
-
-
To add or remove an object or group to or from the selection (with any choice tool), hold down
Shift
and select the object to add or remove.
-
Select the
Group Choice
tool, and click an object that’s within the grouping y’all want to select. The object is selected.
-
To select the object’s parent group, click the same object once more.
-
Click the same object once more to select more groups that are grouped with the selected group until y’all take selected everything y’all want to include in your pick.
The beginning click with the Group Selection tool selects an object in a group (left); the second click selects the object’s group (right). The 3rd click adds the next grouping to the selection (left); the 4th click adds the third group (right).
Select faces and edges in a Live Paint group
You select faces and edges of a Live Paint tool using the
Live Paint Selection
tool. If y’all want to select the entire Alive Paint group, just click it with the
Selection
tool.
-
Select the
Live Paint Selection
tool.
-
Move the tool over the
Live Paint
group until the face up or edge you lot want to select is highlighted. (When the
Live Paint Pick
tool is over an edge, the tool changes to.)
-
-
Click to select the highlighted face or edge.
-
Elevate a marquee around multiple faces or edges. Any face or edge that is fully or partially enclosed by the marquee is included in the choice.
-
Double-click a face or border to select all connected faces/edges of the aforementioned color (flood select).
-
Triple-click a face or edge to select all faces/edges of the same color (select same).
Tip: If you accept difficulty selecting a small-scale face or edge, magnify the view or set up the
Live Paint Option
tool options to select simply fills or strokes.
-
-
To add or remove faces and edges from the selection, hold downwards Shift and click the faces/edges you want to add or remove.
You access the Live Paint selection tool options past double-clicking the tool in the tool panel.
Select Fills
Selects the faces (the area within edges) of
Live Paint
groups.
Select Strokes
Selects the edges of
Alive Paint
groups.
Color
Sets the color for the highlight. You can choose a color from the card or click the paint swatch to specify a custom colour.
Width
Specifies how thick to make the selection highlight.
Select objects by feature
You can select objects based on various groupings, including by formatting attribute, past layer, or past kind, such as brush strokes or clipping masks.
-
To select all objects in a file, click
Select >
All. (To deselect all objects, choose Select > Deselect.) -
To select all objects with the aforementioned attributes, select ane with the attribute you want, click
Select >
Same, and and then select an attribute from the list:
Blending Mode,
Fill up & Stroke,
Fill up Color,
Opacity,
Stroke Colour,
Stroke Weight,
Style,
Symbol Instance, or
Link Block Serial.Link Cake Series automatically selects threaded text boxes. You can select 1 of the text boxes and then utilise this control to select all the other text boxes linked to that ane. For more information, see Threading text between objects.
You can likewise utilise the
Magic Wand
tool to select all objects with the same color, stroke weight, stroke color, opacity, or blending fashion. -
To select all objects of a certain kind, deselect all artwork, click
Select >
Object, and then choose an object type (Brush Strokes, Clipping Masks, Stray Points, or Text Objects).
Select Same past text characteristics
You can now modify the backdrop of all selected text boxes of a certificate at a time. You lot tin select the text of multiple text objects based on the text characteristics like font size, text fill up color, font manner, font, and and then on.
Sentry this xv-seconds video to acquire how to change the font color of a text at multiple locations in a document at one go.
To select all text objects with the same attribute, select a text,click
Select
>
Aforementioned
, and so choose an aspect from the listing:
- Font Family
- Font Family & Way
- Font Family unit, Manner & Size
- Font Size
- Text Fill Colour
- Text Stroke Color
- Examination Fill & Stroke Color
All the text boxes with similar attributes are selected. You tin can now modify the font, size, and so on, from the
Properties >
Character
console. The changes are reflected in all the selected text boxes.
Yous can create keyboard shortcuts or create actions for each of the
Select > Aforementioned
text tasks based on each attribute.
Echo, capsize, or save a pick
Repeat or invert a selection
-
To repeat the last selection command used, cull
Select >
Reselect. -
To select all deselected objects, and deselect all selected objects, choose
Select >
Inverse.
Salve a choice
-
Select one or more objects, and click
Select >
Salvage Option. -
In the
Salve Choice
dialog box, blazon a name in the
Proper name
text box, and clickOK.You can reload a saved pick past choosing the selection proper noun from the lesser of the
Select
menu. You can also delete or rename a selection by choosing
Select >
Edit Selection.
Source: https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/selecting-objects.html