Stroke Selection

Is something not working like it should? Let us know.
User avatar

2018-03-12 15:59:01

I feel like every time I try to work on a project in Pixelmator Pro I spend an unbelievable amount of time trying to get things working. It never took me this long in the old Pixelmator. I simply want to create the outline of an oval. I create an oval selection, choose Stroke, and nothing happens.(Nor does Fill do anything.) I try making a new Shape, and it only has Color Fill as an option, not Stroke. How do I do a simple thing like this?
User avatar

2018-03-12 19:41:45

Hi Mitchla.

It took me a while to get used to Pixelmator Pro but, now that I use it regularly I struggle with classic Pixelmator whenever I go back to it.

In case you're still having problems, the two controls you'll need most often are Style and Arrange, they're the to two on the right and have shortcut keys of S and V respectively.

To set the fill and outline of an object select it, either in the layers panel on the left or by clicking on it directly on the canvas. Then click on Style or press S and change the Stroke, Fill, Inner Shadow or Shadow. If any of these are missing, or if you want to stack styles, you can add more by clicking Add in the top right.

Hope this helps.

- Stef.

(edit)
Oh... wait, are you drawing the ellipse using the Draw Shape tool? Or making a selection using the Elliptical Selection tool. The first will draw an ellipse. The second will draw nothing but will select the pixels enclosed by the ellipse.
User avatar

2018-03-12 20:14:55

Hi Stef. Thanks very much for your help. I had tried both techniques—Draw Shape and Elliptical Selection. I presumed Elliptical Selection could be stroked because that's the way one does it in Photoshop. I had given up on Draw Shape because there was only a Fill option, and not a Stroke option. But you clarified what the problem is—I need to click ADD to add in the option to Stroke. (I don't know why that wouldn't always be there by default... but whatever.) Thanks so much.
User avatar

2018-03-12 20:28:37

No worries. I'm glad to help. It does seem a little weird that you have to add the Stroke so keep an eye on that. There might still be something strange going on.

- Stef.
User avatar

2018-03-15 12:09:44

The basic reason things work this way is the Style tool is nondestructive and if you stroke a selection, you'd either be doing so on an empty layer or an existing layer with, most likely, a different shape and in each case, something would have to be painted in destructively. However, creating a shape with a stroke could potentially be just as quick with an added bonus of being nondestructive. The first thing you'd probably need to do is create a layer style preset of just a stroke:

1. Select the Style tool.
2. Turn on the Stroke layer style (and, optionally, customize it).
3. Scroll down to the bottom of the Presets bar and add this layer style as a preset.

Then, you could do this:

1. Choose Insert > Shape > Ellipse.
2. Draw a circle.
3. Select the Style tool and apply your newly created preset.
User avatar

2018-12-24 13:46:35

I still don't get it. Sorry, I really can't figure it out.
1. I've spent 5 minutes to make a nice selection, refined it, and now want to stroke it.
2. I created a new layer, I'm now on an empty layer.
3. I selected the "Style" tool, added "Stroke", checked the checkbox, yet nothing. I can't make a stroke around my selection.
What am I doing wrong? Thank you.
Image
User avatar

2019-06-29 03:44:34

There is definitely a problem. I have made a selection and wish to place an outline or stroke around it. I go through all the necessary adjustments in Style, select the stroke width, color, opacity, yet nothing happens. There is no way to apply this stroke once I've done all that. Surely this should be a relatively simple task?
User avatar

2019-06-29 05:34:37

Different apps have different philosophies and work in different ways. Pixelmator Pro applies strokes non-destructively and only to persistent objects. A selection is not a persistent object.

If you have a selection and want to create a stroke in that shape, right click on the selection and pick 'Convert into Shape'. This will create a shape from your selection that can have a stroke, fill and a whole variety of other effects applied to it.

Hope this helps.

- Stef
User avatar

2020-06-27 17:54:43

Hello,

I'm still struggling with this. When I create a selection that I want to have 'stroked', ie have the marching ants highlighted in a colour of my choice, if I choose Format - Convert into shape, the marching ants gets 'stroked', BUT, the selection is filled in as well with a pinky colour which I don't want. Can't fathom how to turn this part off?

Thanks for any elucidation of this matter.

Pad
User avatar

2020-06-27 18:04:33

Simply open the style tool and deselect the fill checkbox.
Image
User avatar

2021-10-09 04:12:06

I am having the same issue.
I can open up the styles, select the colour etc... but there is no way to apply it to the selection.
User avatar

2021-10-10 08:30:55

There´s no "Apply" button because it will appear instantly at your selection and can be adjusted on the fly in real time.
User avatar

2021-10-11 11:39:10

by chandlerart 2021-10-09 01:12:06 I am having the same issue.
I can open up the styles, select the colour etc... but there is no way to apply it to the selection.
Do you make sure to convert your selection into a shape first as suggested by st3f above (Control-click the selection > Convert into Shape)?
User avatar

2021-11-23 20:24:43

Actually, I just found the solution that I didn't expect.
I needed to make an empty selection on a blank page, so I made my selection, and then I went up to Format at the top, I just clicked on "Stroke With Brush" and BOOM! It finally did it. LOL
Thank you tho for what everyone has suggested. It's all still very useful information I've jotted down.
User avatar

2021-11-24 08:55:26

by chandlerart Actually, I just found the solution that I didn't expect.
I needed to make an empty selection on a blank page, so I made my selection, and then I went up to Format at the top, I just clicked on "Stroke With Brush" and BOOM! It finally did it. LOL
Thank you tho for what everyone has suggested. It's all still very useful information I've jotted down.
That's a nice workaround! Especially if you don't need to keep the stroke nondestructive and editable. 'Stroke with Brush' essentially paints a stroke around selections or layers (as if painting with a brush) so in order to change the stroke properties, you'd have to reapply it.
User avatar

2022-02-09 11:01:02

Two years later and I'm back asking the same question because I'm still having the same frustrations with converting a selected dotted line into a solid line? What is the best method? I draw a shape with the polygonal selection tool and I just want to highlight the outline in a colour of my choice (NOT fill in the shape). Someone above suggested Stroke With Brush but that filled most of the photo with the selected colour. I also tried Convert into Pixels but nothing happens. Nothing. I tried Convert Into Shape but that fills the selection with a solid colour. I don't want that. Someone said deselect the fill check box, what fill check box?

Anybody got anything 'simple'?

Thanks
User avatar

2022-02-09 11:45:22

Someone above suggested Stroke With Brush but that filled most of the photo with the selected colour.
Once you stroke a selection with a brush, you'll also want to additionally adjust settings like the brush type or size in the Tool Options pane. The Stroke with Brush most likely filled your entire image because a fairly large brush was selected in the list of brushes. Here's a recording of what you can do in a similar scenario.
I tried Convert Into Shape but that fills the selection with a solid colour. I don't want that.
If you convert a selection into shape and it's filled with a color or gradient, you'd need to turn off the fill in the shape style settings and turn on Stroke instead. If that helps, I've also recorded this workflow here.

If you get to try either one of these methods, let me know how it goes. :wink:
User avatar

2022-02-09 19:50:29

Thanks for your patience once again. The workflow link worked so I have booked marked this for the future. Very much appreciated.
User avatar

2022-02-11 14:18:08

by pad swift 2022-02-09 17:50:29 Thanks for your patience once again. The workflow link worked so I have booked marked this for the future. Very much appreciated.
Happy to help. :ok_hand:
User avatar

2023-02-20 19:43:37

Yeah, I found the same "stroke with brush." For those of us who have been stroking selections forEVER in photoshop, this seems to be the quickest. Converting to a shape feels like an unnecessary step for my uses, often when I use it to temp. highlight an area for a viewer. This has been a 3 second process in photoshop, and I look forward to when it's a similar no brainer in pixelmator ;)
User avatar

2023-07-24 03:31:04

Just a quick question... when stroking a selection, is there way to select stroking the inside, outside or directly centred on the selection?
User avatar

2023-07-25 12:44:56

@chandlerart. I don´t think that´s possible right now: technically it´s a brush and not a vector path. But converting the selection into a shape will just let you do what you´re asking for; aligning a Stroke to Inside/Center/Outside.