Using the Pointer selection tool in Vectornation by Zaweba

Almost every edit you make in a vector drawing starts with picking something up. In Vectornation by Zaweba that job belongs to the Pointer, the main selection tool, which the documentation gives the key V. It is the tool you will come back to between every other tool, so it pays to know its habits well.

Click an object and it is selected, with a box of handles around it. Drag the object to move it. Drag a handle to scale it, and use the handles to rotate it. That covers most of what you do in a day, but the modifiers and guides are where the Pointer earns its keep.

Adding, copying and moving with care

Hold Shift as you click and each new object is added to the selection rather than replacing it. This is the quickest way to gather a handful of pieces that are scattered around the artboard without catching the ones in between.

Hold Alt while you drag and you drag a copy, leaving the original where it was. For repeated elements, such as fence posts, a row of icons or the spokes of a simple diagram, Alt-drag is often faster than any menu command. Make one, copy it across, and adjust.

Smart guides and the live label

As you drag, smart guides snap the object to the edges and centres of the artwork around it, and to equal spacing. That last one matters more than it sounds. When you are placing the third of three boxes, the guide shows you the point where the gaps match, and you can let go there with confidence instead of nudging by eye.

A small label tells you what is changing. When you move, it shows dX and dY, the distance travelled. When you scale, it shows W and H. When you rotate, it shows the angle. Reading those numbers while you drag means you can stop at a round figure, such as a width that matches another shape, without opening a panel.

Working inside groups

Groups keep related pieces together, which is good until you need to change one piece. Double-click a group with the Pointer and it opens in isolation, so you can work on its contents on their own. When you have finished, leave isolation and the group closes up again. This is far tidier than ungrouping and regrouping, which tends to lose the structure you built.

Getting to the Pointer without changing tools

You do not have to keep switching tools by hand. Whatever other tool you are using, hold Ctrl and you get the last selection tool you used for as long as the key is down. Draw with one tool, hold Ctrl to nudge the shape you just made, let go and carry on drawing. In the same way, hold Space to pan the view, then release it to go back to what you were doing.

These two habits change the pace of work more than anything else. Instead of a cycle of pick tool, edit, pick tool, edit, you stay in the tool you are drawing with and borrow the Pointer only when you need it.

Mistakes to avoid

The most common slip is dragging when you meant to click, which moves an object a little without you noticing. If something looks slightly off after a selection, undo before carrying on. Another is selecting with a wide drag and catching a background shape along with the pieces you wanted. Check what the handles surround before you move anything. Finally, if you find you cannot select something at all, it may be locked or hidden, or you may still be inside an isolated group. Leave isolation and try again.

The Pointer is plain on the surface, but with Shift, Alt, Ctrl, Space and smart guides it becomes the centre of a quick, accurate way of working in Vectornation.