The Lasso Tool

To edit and apply special effects to portions of your pictures, remove unwanted objects, or cut out objects from one picture and put them on another, that portion or object should be selected using a selection tool or a combination of selection tools in Pixelmator.

Since the Lasso Tool draws freehand selection borders, it is useful for selecting irregularly shaped portions or objects in images.

Step 1

Open an image with an area or object that you want to select in Pixelmator.

Step 2

Click to select the Lasso Tool (L) in the Tools palette.

For smooth selection borders, select Smooth Edges from the Action menu before making a selection. For the jagged yet precise edges, deselect Smooth Edges.

Step 3

To draw a selection using the Lasso Tool, click and drag over an area. To close the selection, release the mouse button.

Step 4

Once a selection has been made, the selection borders can be easily modified if necessary.

To modify the selection border, choose one of the following selection modes in the Tool Options bar:

	New	Creates a new selection.
	Add To	Adds new selection to an existing selection.
	Subtract	Subtracts from an existing selection.
	Intersect	Subtracts the overlap of two selections.

Click and drag to add to, subtract from, or intersect with the current selection borders.

Please note that any other selection tools may be used to modify the selection borders as well.

Step 5

After making a selection, any changes can be added to the selected region. For example, a selected area or object can be moved, rotated, scaled, flipped, duplicated, cut, filled, inverted, or copied and pasted elsewhere. Also, color adjustments and corrections, various special effects, and filters can be applied to the selection.

The Lasso Tool is handy for selecting any portion of an image.