Selection Cursor

When this button is checked you will be using the Selection Cursor which is the normal cursor used for selecting, dragging and resizing objects. To return to this cursor at any time press the Escape key on your keyboard.

There are 2 ways to select an object using the Selection Cursor:

• Click on it.  Note that you must click on a drawn object, e.g. a line or text object, to select an item.  Clicking inside, say, a rectangle will not select it - you must click on the outline of the rectangle.

• Click and drag to create a selection rectangle around the object or objects. To select objects the selection rectangle must completely enclose those objects.

Selections can be modified using the Shift keys on your keyboard.

• Shift+click, shift+click+drag to add to the selection.

• Alt+click, alt+click+drag to remove a selected object from the selection.

• Shift+alt+click+drag to toggle the selected states, i.e. if something is currently selected it will be de-selected and vice versa

• To move a selection, place the cursor directly over any drawn object e.g. a line or text. When you are over an object, the Selection cursor changes shape to indicate Move mode by the addition of a 4-way arrow. Only when Move mode is displayed can you pick up an object and drag it. Click and hold down the left mouse button then move your mouse to drag the object.

It is important to understand that, to drag an object or a collection of objects, the cursor must be over a part of the object that is drawn on screen. For example, to drag a circle to a new location the cursor must be directly over the outline of the circle (i.e. the line which is drawn to represent the circle's circumference). You cannot pick up a circle by clicking on the empty space inside its perimeter line. Additionally, if you try to do so you will lose the selection and Stardraw Design 7 will begin defining a new selection rectangle. Only the drawn components of objects offer a point where the cursor can pick them up and drag them.

Resizing

You can use the Selection Cursor to resize an object. Select the object then, when your Selection Cursor is directly over a handle, the cursor will change shape to indicate Resize mode.  When you see this cursor you can click on the handle and drag to resize the object.

Hold down the Shift key and drag a corner handle to maintain the proportions of the object while resizing.

You can only resize single entities: if you want to resize multiple, unrelated objects you can Group them, resize the group, and then Ungroup them again.

Symbols are drawn to a particular size or scale so Stardraw Design 7 prevents accidental resizing of symbols. A symbol can only be resized if:

• it is part of a group, or
• in the Properties Grid you change Handle Behavior from "Move" to "Resize".

Dynamic Copying

You can use the Selection cursor to create a copy of any object or selection dynamically.  Move the cursor over an object or a selection then use Ctrl+click+drag to drag a copy.  When dragging in Dynamic Copy mode you will see a '+' added to the cursor.  Release the left mouse button before the Ctrl key to position the copy.  If you release Ctrl before the mouse button you will return to Move mode; a copy will not be created and but the original object or selection will simply move to the new location.