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auto-selection of points

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 1:23 pm
by Diana Kennedy
You know: When you manipulate the points of a shape and accidentally click somewhere else on the line of the shape than on a point, all points of the shape get selected. This is pretty annoying and makes me loose a lot of time. Is there a way to turn off this automatism?

Re: auto-selection of points

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 1:26 pm
by Patmals
Diana Kennedy wrote:You know: When you manipulate the points of a shape and accidentally click somewhere else on the line of the shape than on a point, all points of the shape get selected. This is pretty annoying and makes me loose a lot of time. Is there a way to turn off this automatism?
Maybe unselected "shape select" button when using the translate tool might help?

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 3:03 pm
by Diana Kennedy
@Patmals: Nice idea, I tried it out, but unfortunately, it didn't work. All points get still selected when missing a point...

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 4:59 pm
by tonym
I used to have that problem, and it is annoying. I got a better mouse and now I seldom miss a point. The old mouse seemed to stutter and jump around, if only slightly.

A larger monitor also helps.

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:02 pm
by Diana Kennedy
Tonym, I have a large monitor and work with a tablet pen, which is very accurate, but when you have a lot of point and a lot of moving work to do, it just happens that you miss a point and then...you're on. Yes, this IS annoying.
By the way I don't see any sense in this automatic selection. If I want all points being selected I can choose the feature in the menu.

Re: auto-selection of points

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:05 pm
by jahnocli
Diana Kennedy wrote:You know: When you manipulate the points of a shape and accidentally click somewhere else on the line of the shape than on a point, all points of the shape get selected. This is pretty annoying and makes me loose a lot of time. Is there a way to turn off this automatism?
I find Wireframe mode sometimes helps. At least you don't then get all points selected when you click inside a shape...

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:20 pm
by Diana Kennedy
Yes, this is at least a bit of a help.

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:44 pm
by tonym
Ah, you don't have a small monitor. I'll go ahead and assume you also don't have an older, slower computer, which may impair the accuracy of mouse clicks.

I recommend that you try attaching a different mouse and use it solely to select points. The mouse that I was having trouble with was a Wacom mouse associated with a tablet. And I had the same problem with its pen. If you have enough USB ports, you don't need to unplug your tablet; you can have several mouses at once.

Switching to a simple mouse for point selection solved that annoying line-clicking problem for me. Somehow, I am able to select points faster and with more accuracy using a regular mouse than I did with a tablet.

Also, when I am confronted with a difficult area full of points and I foresee myself making a mistake, I either zoom-in so close that I cannot possibly click a line, or I drag a box across a large area, selecting numerous points, and I then hold down the Shift key and begin DE-selecting points. Both techniques helped me cut down on the dreaded line-clicking - but switching to a normal mouse for point selection helped most of all.

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:48 pm
by tonym
Another tip I just remembered. This is a HUGE help. I will sometimes turn off the visibility of the layer by clicking the "eyes" (by the vector layer name). Then I will see no shape colors or line colors, and selecting points becomes much easier.

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 6:21 pm
by Diana Kennedy
Yes, I have a very strong machine, Quad processor. As for the mouse, its a simple one, as I don't use it very often - I'm very much used to the pen, even in otrher programms than drawing.

But the thing with shutting the eyes close - you are right, this is probably a big help - I will gladly try out this way of working. Thank you very much!!