Table of Contents

About selections in image editing

Selections are used in image editing when you want to focus all your edits on specific areas of an image without altering any of the areas around it. An active selection is represented by a moving, dashed line, sometimes also called the marching ants.

Once a selection has been created, any painting, color adjustments, or effects you apply to an image will only have an effect inside the selection. To work outside the boundaries of a selection, you can invert the selection or deselect it completely.

Pixelmator Pro has 9 different selection tools, all offering different methods for selecting areas of an image.

Selection Tools

Rectangular Selection Makes square and rectangular selections.
Elliptical Selection Makes round and elliptical selections.
Row Selection Makes horizontal selections of a custom height.
Column Selection Makes vertical selections of a custom width.
Free Selection Allows you to draw freehand selections.
Polygonal Selection Allows you to draw polygonal, jagged selections.
Magnetic Selection Makes selections that snap to object edges.
Color Selection Selects similarly-colored areas in an image.
Quick Selection Selects object in an image as you draw over them.

Pixelmator Pro User Guide