updated on 05 August 2022 | reading time: 5 minutes

Tools and menus

Selection tools

  1. Pointer tool – allows you to select and manipulate an entire object or group of objects
  2. Subselect tool – allows you to select and manipulate parts of an object
  3. Lasso tool – allows you to select a custom set of anchor points within an object
  4. Layer tool – allows you to select all objects within a particular Layer Group.
  5. Slice tool – allows you to select a custom area of your canvas. You can then export this area as PNG, JPEG, SVG, or PDF document

Pointer Tool

You can use the Pointer Tool V to select, drag, copy, rotate or resize an entire object or a group of objects.

Select an Object with the Pointer Tool

Move your cursor towards an object you want to select and click the Left Mouse Button key.

By default, it brings up a bounding box with transform handles.

Note: if you want to select a particular anchor point use the Subselect Tool.

Select Multiple Objects with the Pointer Tool

Hold down / SHIFT key on your keyboard to add more objects to your selection.

Tip:  you can select multiple objects within a particular area by holding the Left Mouse Button key and drawing a marquee around these objects.

 

Hold / ALT while drawing the marquee to select only objects completely enclosed in the marquee.

Move with the Pointer Tool

Hold the Left Mouse Button key to drag an object or a group of objects.

Note: If you want to move an object to a specific distance use the Transform Panel instead.

 

Tip: Hold / SHIFT  key to keep things perfectly straight down.

 

Copy an Object with the Pointer Tool

Hold / ALT key and drag an object to produce a copy.

Rotate an Object With the Pointer Tool

  1. Select an object to bring up a bounding box.
  2. Head over to the small bullet point on top of it. Notice that the cursor is changed to the rotation arrow.
  3. Hold the Left Mouse Button key to rotate an object.

 

Tip: Hold / SHIFT to constrain the angle of the rotation to 15 degrees. Use Transform Panel to set a custom angle or a reference point of transformation.

 

Scale an object with the Pointer Tool

  1. Select an object to bring up a bounding box.
  2. Head over to any of the blue bullet points (called Transform handles) within the bounding box. Notice that your cursor is changed to the double arrow.
  3. Hold the Left Mouse Button key to scale an object.

 

Tip: Hold / SHIFT key to constrain the proportions between width and height.

 

Subselect Tool

Use the Subselect Tool D to select, edit, add and delete anchor points within the path.

Select Anchor Points with Subselect Tool

To select an anchor point follow two simple steps:

Select the path to reveal all available anchor points. All anchor points are depicted by a white shape (rectangle, circle, or diamond) with a blue outline.

Click on the particular anchor point to select it. Notice, that the selected anchor point is depicted with blue in Corel Vector.

 

Note: To select anchor points within the basic shape, such as rectangle, ellipse or polygon, it should be first converted to path  / CTRL / SHIFT + P.

 

Select Multiple Anchor Points with the Subselect Tool

Hold Shift to add more anchor points to your selection.

 

Note: To select multiple anchor points within a particular area hold the Left Mouse Button key to draw a marquee around.

 

Small Tip: use the Lasso Tool for more complex selections.

Edit Anchor Points with the Subselect Tool

Holding the Left Mouse Button key you can drag the anchor point and reshape the path.

Click  / BACKSPACE or  Delete key to get rid of selected anchor points.

Adding New Points to the Path with the Subselect Tool

To add an anchor point to the existing path, you need to follow these steps:

  1. Head over to the segment you want to add an anchor point to.
  2. Select the path. Notice a slight change in the cursor appearance. Now it has a small Tilda in the right bottom corner.
  3. Click with the Left Mouse Button Key to add a new anchor point

 

Note: You can also edit direction handles with the Subselect Tool. Please visit vector anatomy topic to learn more about anchor points and direction handles.

 

 

Tip: You can edit a segment of the path directly with the Subselect Tool. Hold the Left Mouse Button key to drag the segment in and out and create awesome curvy lines.

 

Lasso Tool

Use Lasso Tool O for freehand selection of objects or their parts.

To create a freehand selection hold the Left Mouse Button key and draw an area around the objects.

Hold / SHIFT key to add more objects to your selection.

 

Tip: Hold / SHIFT key and draw an area within the selected object to exclude this portion from your selection.

 

Layer Tool

You can use Layer Tool M to select all objects within the Layer Group. Take a look at the image below to see a Layer Tool in action.

To learn more about how the Layer Groups work, please visit the Layer Group section within the Organizing your design topic.

Slice Tool

Use the Slice Tool S to define a specific area of your artwork for export in any of the supported formats.

To learn more about the supported file formats, please, visit the Document section within the General topic.

To prepare and export the slice follow these simple steps.

Grab the Slice Tool and holding the Left Mouse Button key select the area for export.

Click the tiny Plus icon opposite the Make Exportable in the lower left corner of the document.

Select the format and dimensions of the slice. Type a suffix if you are planning to make more slices of the same area.

Click the Export icon on the left of the Plus icon and give a name to your design.