• Registered: 2007-09-23
  • Posts: 21

Topic: Selections

Ctrl + seems to work fine to increase selection size by one pixel. But Ctrl - doesn't always work to reduce the selection by one pixel. It jumps all around. It even changes the shape of the selection. It reduces the selection, but not by just one pixel, and not by the same amount on each side every time.

I also wanted to suggest that when the program opens, the Rectangular selection tool be active by default instead of the Zoom tool. I use the keyboard + and - to zoom. Just a suggestion. Maybe you use the Zoom tool. I use the Rectangular selection a lot more.

Thanks,
Jim

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  • Registered: 2003-09-17
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Re: Selections

The Ctrl - behavior is by design. If you have a picture or an object on a white background, you can make a selection rectangle that is bigger than the object and Ctrl - will shrink the selection and try to stop at the object's edges. It can be usefull if you e.g. scan a picture on a white background and want to crop away the background.

I'm not aure if I use the selection or zoom tool the most, but you can use F8 to change between them.

Michael Vinther

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  • Registered: 2007-09-23
  • Posts: 21

Re: Selections

That's good to know. That could be very useful.

Is there a way to shrink a selection by just one pixel on all sides? That's how Ctrl + seems to work. Sometimes I need to shrink a selection that way. It would be nice to be able to reduce the size of a selection evenly.

Jim

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  • Registered: 2007-02-21
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Re: Selections

As far as i know (and i don't know everything) it is not possible.
You can use the Ctrl, or Alt + cursor keys to change the selection and Ctrl+alt + cursor keys to move the selection.
Perhaps i would use a program like HoeKey or AutoHotKey to send more keys in response of one key (i have used both programs for similar uses).

  • Registered: 2007-09-23
  • Posts: 21

Re: Selections

Alt plus enlarges the view of the image. But the plus key alone does that.
Alt minus reduces and calls up an unneeded  menu. The minus key is enough to reduce the view of the image.

I just wonder if it's possible to reduce the selection by one pixel on all sides the way Ctrl + enlarges it.

I thought it used to work this way. I used that ability to make borders.

Ctrl plus or minus work just the same as Alt/Ctrl plus or minus.
Maybe one of these could be dedicated to acting just the opposite of Ctrl plus by reducing one pixel all around.

Thanks,
Jim

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Re: Selections

Actually there is a trick to it.
IA has two kinds of selections: Rectangular selections that are simply defined by the corner points and mask selections that are defined by an underlying bitmap and can thus have any shape. With a mask selections, Ctrl - will do what you want. To convert a rectangular selection to a mask selection just use the paint selection tool and paint inside the rectangle (which won't change its shape)

Michael Vinther

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  • Registered: 2007-09-23
  • Posts: 21

Re: Selections

That method seems to work -- except when the whole image is selected. Then Ctrl - doesn't do anything then. To make a border, I select the whole image, then reduce the selection by 25 pixels, then invert the selection. I can do this on a new (blank) image, but I can't do it on my photos.

It's not that important. Most of the time I use a plugin to make the borders. I was surprised when I couldn't do it with Ctrl minus.

Anyway, I'm glad to know how it removes blank space around scanned images. That's a good shortcut.

Thanks for the explanations,
Jim

Last edited by jimzfilters (2009-09-05 15:46:14)

  • Registered: 2010-02-05
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Re: Selections

I accepted all information here