Select, move, resize, and rotate.
Whatever you edit, you select it first. Drag a selected object to move it, drag a handle to resize it, and drag just outside a corner to rotate it.
It’s easier to follow along with two or three objects in the scene. Draw a few with Rectangle in the toolbar.
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Select an object
Choose Select in the toolbar, or press V. Click an object, and a blue selection box with white handles appears. The Object panel opens in the right panel. To deselect, click an empty spot or press esc. If you just drew a shape, it’s already selected.
Clicking the rectangle shows the selection box and handles, and clicking an empty spot hides them. Video: Clicking a rectangle with the Select tool shows a blue selection box with eight white handles, and the Object panel opens on the right. Clicking an empty spot makes them all go away. -
Add objects one at a time
Hold ⇧ and click another object to add it to the selection. Hold ⇧ and click a selected object again to take it out. When several objects are selected, one box surrounds them all, and the handles sit on that box.
Holding ⇧ and clicking the circle and the text selects all three together. Video: With a rectangle selected, holding Shift and clicking a circle and a text object selects all three, and one box with handles surrounds them all. -
Select several at once with a box
Start on an empty spot and drag. A light blue box appears as you drag, and every object the box touches is selected. Drag any one of the selected objects to move them all together. To line several up neatly, see Align and number keys.
Dragging from an empty spot selects several objects, and dragging one of them moves them all together. Video: Dragging from an empty spot selects all the objects inside the box at once, and they then move together. -
Move an object
Drag an object to move it. An unselected object is selected the moment you press it, and it follows the pointer. When it nears another object or the edge or center of the scene, it snaps there and a pink guide line appears. Hold ⇧ while you drag to move only horizontally or vertically.
Dragging the rectangle snaps it to the top edge of the rectangle beside it, and a pink guide line appears. Video: A rectangle sitting low is dragged up and snaps level with the top edge of the rectangle on the left, and a pink horizontal guide appears. On release, the two top edges line up. -
Resize an object
Drag a white handle on the selection box. Corner handles change width and height together, and handles in the middle of an edge change only the width or the height. Hold ⇧ while you drag a corner to keep the proportions. Hold ⌥ while you drag to resize from the center.
Dragging the bottom-right corner makes the rectangle bigger, and dragging with ⇧ held keeps its proportions. Video: The bottom-right handle of the selected rectangle is dragged to widen it. Then dragging the same handle with Shift held makes it bigger while keeping its proportions. -
Rotate an object
Place the pointer just outside a corner handle. There’s no separate rotation handle: the pointer changes to a curved arrow. Drag at that point to rotate. Hold ⇧ while you drag to rotate in 15° steps.
Just outside the corner, the pointer turns into a curved arrow, and dragging with ⇧ held rotates the rectangle in 15° steps. Video: Just outside the top-right corner of the selected rectangle, the pointer turns into a curved arrow. Dragging with Shift held rotates the rectangle in 15° steps, and it stops at 45°. -
Duplicate an object
Hold ⌥ and drag an object. The original stays in place, and a duplicate follows the pointer. The duplicate gets a new number, such as ‘Rectangle 2’. ⌘D makes a duplicate right on top of the original.
Dragging with ⌥ held makes a duplicate, and ‘Rectangle 2’ is added to the Objects list. Video: Holding ⌥ and dragging the rectangle to the right leaves the original in place while a duplicate follows, and Rectangle 2 is added to the Objects list at the bottom left.
Typing values, arrow keys, and moving without snapping
To set exact numbers. In the Object panel in the right panel, type numbers in W and H under Size, X and Y under Position, or Z under Rotation, and press ↩. You can also change a value by dragging the letter in front of its field, such as W or X, left or right. In a field, ↑ and ↓ change the value one step at a time, or ten steps with ⇧.
To move 1px at a time. Press an arrow key to move the object 1px at a time, or hold ⇧ and press it to move 10px at a time.
To move without snapping. Hold ⌘ while you drag, and the object follows the pointer exactly without snapping to guides. The same works when you resize.
Right-clicking selects the object
Right-clicking an object on the canvas selects it, just as a click does, and the right-click menu acts on it. If you selected several objects, right-click one of the selected objects: the selection stays, and the menu acts on all of them. Right-clicking an object outside the selection selects just that object.
When selecting doesn’t go as expected
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Can’t select an object by clicking?
Locked or hidden objects can’t be selected on the canvas. If you see only a gray outline when you hover over an object, it’s locked. To unlock it, hover over its row in the Objects list and click the lock button. -
Clicking selects the whole group?
Clicking an object inside a group selects the whole group. To edit just one object, hold ⌘ and click it, or double-click the group and then click the object. -
Arrow keys don’t move the object?
After you click a row in the Objects list or a field in the right panel, the arrow keys work in that list or field. Click the object once on the canvas, then press them. -
Selection still there after you press esc?
esc first closes an open panel or leaves a list. Press it again until the selection clears. If the cursor is in a number field in the right panel, the first esc leaves the field and puts back any value you didn’t confirm with ↩.
Shortcuts on this page
| Select tool | V |
|---|---|
| Add to or remove from the selection | ⇧+click an object |
| Select all | ⌘A |
| Deselect | esc |
| Duplicate in place | ⌘D |
| Delete | Deleteor⌫ |
Updated 10/15/2026 · The videos on this page were recorded in the current editor.