Illustrator 101 - The Lasso Tool

The final selection tool this allows you to select using a freehand shape. Very useful for intricate drawings it can be much quicker than the other selection tools.

Freehand selection

With the Lasso tool you can select objects by freehand. This can be quicker than using the Selection Tool and holding shift. To select objects by freehand select the Lasso tool and draw a shape around the objects you want to select. You don't have to close the line you draw - if you don't illustrator will infer the selection with a straight line between your start point and end point. Have a look at this in action in the video below, firstly with a closed line and secondly with an open line. Note with the open line how only part of the object is selected.

Adding and removing

If you want to add or remove anchor points from your selection you can. Hold down Shift to Add more anchor points with the Lasso tool, or ALT to remove them.

Selecting parts of objects

Using the Lasso tool you can just choose parts of objects. If for example your Lasso only covers part of an object only the anchor points within your anchor will be selected. You can tell if an anchor point is selected as it will turn to a blue square. Anchor points that are not selected are a white sauare with a blue border.

Picture showing anchor points selected and not selected

Watch the video below to see how this works. Drawing the lasso over parts of shapes just selects anchor points within that area. Then we add and remove some anchor points. Finally with the direct selection tool we can move just the anchor points we have selected.

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George Ornbo is Creative Director at pebble.it in London.
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