Stykz • Help - Selecting Figures on the Stage

# Working With Figures (Select Tool)

## Selecting Figures on the Stage

Last updated on 11/7/2010

There are two methods to select figures on the stage: clicking on a figure or using the selection rectangle to select one or more figures. In both situations, you need to have the Select tool active in order to select figure(s).

## Selecting by Clicking

Clicking once anywhere on a figure will select that figure. You can tell the difference because the nodes of non-static segments turn red if the figure is selected, or blue if the figure is not selected:

Like other programs, selecting an item by clicking on it deselects any other currently selected items. You can add figures to the current selection by holding down the Shift key and clicking another figure.

## Selecting WIth the Selection Rectangle

Another way to select one or more figures is to click on the Stage (not one a figure) and drag with the mouse to create a selection rectangle. By default, any figures that are touched or enclosed by the rectangle will become selected:

You can change this to only select enclosed figures by adjusting your Preferences (Edit* > Preferences >> General > Selection method). For more information, see Setting Preferences (General).

## Selecting All Figures On the Stage

To select all of the figures on the Stage, you can create an drag out a selection rectangle, but it is more efficient to use the menubar. Choose Edit > Select All and every figure on the Stage will be selected.

## Working With Multiple Selected Figures

Almost everything you can do with a single figure (move it, delete it, change properties, copy, duplicate, etc.) can be done to multiple figures. There are a few exceptions, however:

Exception | Reason
Add to Library | You cannot add multiple selected figures to the Library (in fact both the main menu item (Figure > Add to Library...) and the context menu item (Add to Library...) will be disabled if you try).
Adjusting Figures | Clicking and dragging on a pivot node of one of the selected figures will only affect that figure; other figures in the selection will not be affected. Note, however, that you can click and drag on a drag node and it will move all of the figures at once.
Flipping Figures | If you click on either of the Flip buttons in the Properties palette when you have multiple figures selected, each figure is flipped in place - Stykz does not flip the whole "group". | Move to Center Stage | If you select Arrange > Move to Center Stage when you have multiple figures selected, each figure is moved individually to center stage - Stykz does not move the whole "group".