Select, deselect, and lock control points

The following tasks describe how to select and deselect control points in the Canvas.

For all of the following procedures, use the Edit Points tool in the 2D transform tools pop-up menu.

Selecting the Edit Points tool from the 2D tools pop-up menu

Select control points

Do one of the following:

  • Click any control point.

  • Drag a selection rectangle over multiple control points.

    Canvas showing drag-selection of several shape control points
  • Shift-click unselected control points to add them to the selection.

  • Shift-drag a selection rectangle around unselected control points to add them to the selection.

Note: In Edit Points mode, when you place the pointer over a control point, an info window appears identifying the control point name. When dragging a control point, the info window displays the point’s name and coordinates. You can choose not to display this info by opening the General pane of the Motion Preferences window and deselecting Show Tooltips.

Select every control point on a shape

  • Choose Edit > Select All (or press Command-A).

Deselect control points

Do one of the following:

  • Shift-click selected points.

  • Hold down the Shift key, drag a selection rectangle over selected points.

Deselect every control point on a shape

Do one of the following:

  • Click the Canvas anywhere outside the selected shape.

  • Choose Edit > Deselect All (or press Shift-Command-A).

Display an info window showing the control point number

By default, shape control points are numerically labeled in the order they were created in the Canvas.

  • Click the View pop-up menu, enable Show Tool Info, then position the pointer over any control point in the Canvas.

    Selecting Show Tool Info from the Canvas View menu options

    An info window appears showing the numeric name of the control point (“Control Point 1,” for example).

Note: Shape control points are also listed by number in the Geometry pane of the Shape Inspector.

Lock and unlock control points

You can lock control points in a shape to fix them in place and prevent accidental modification. A shape with locked points can still be moved.

  • Control-click a control point, then choose Lock Point from the shortcut menu.

    If the point was unlocked, it becomes locked. If the point was locked, Unlock Point appears in the shortcut menu, and the point becomes unlocked.

    Canvas showing locked control point