Using Superselect

Below I'll show you two ways to use this tip for everyday use. One is a method for selecting multiple ungrouped shapes or paths and being able to edit them (Rotate, Align, etc) without the points moving around too much. The other use is how to select subgroups of objects within a group.

Version: 4 and above (Not documented for v4-7)

As you probably know, when you click-drag to select objects that are ungrouped or are editable paths, you end up selecting their points instead of the actual shape like above at right.

This makes it difficult to Rotate, Align or even Scale them without the shapes changing dramatically like above where I've Rotated the selection. You can, however just shift-click on the objects to select just the shapes, but that takes some time with complex drawings.

The fastest solution to this is using the Superselect function. This can be found under Edit -> Select -> Superselect in v8 but in v7 it's hidden, but is still accessible by pressing the ~ (tilde) key. Pressing the ~ key also works in v8. When you've used Superselect, it changes your selection to only be the objects/paths themselves and not the points like above at right. You can also hold down the ~ key while click-dragging around objects to automatically Superselect them.

Now you can edit your shapes without any problems like above.

In this next example, I'll show how easy it is to select subgroups within a group using the Superselect function. The above drawing is a whole group consisting of two seperate subgroups. The first subgroup is the lines behind the triangle. The second subgroup is the triangle and circle. I want to move the line subgroup over to the left without ungrouping everything, moving the lines, then grouping it all back together.

To select the line subgroup you would first Option/Alt+click on an object within that subgroup. Here I chose the middle line on the example above at left. Next do the Superselect function using one of the methods above. This changes your selection to be the subgroup or group that the line originally belonged to like the example above at right.

Now I'm free to move the line subgroup around and when I'm finished, the entire group stays intact. This method works great when selecting shapes within compound paths that may be within a main group, such as converted type for example.

Remember, that you can use the ~ for fast Superselections in FreeHand 7 and above making life so much easier.