The canvas
Selecting and arranging
One selection, many selections, and the menu that changes depending on what you picked.
Selection is the gateway to almost every action on a board. Click one thing and a context menu becomes available on right-click; select several and that menu changes to the actions that make sense for a set. ## Getting a selection - Click an object to select it - <kbd>Shift</kbd> and click to add to the selection - Drag on empty canvas to marquee everything inside the box - Click empty canvas to drop the selection Marquee selection catches anything whose bounds fall inside the box, across every kind at once, so one drag can pick up two images, a sticky note and a mesh together. ## The menu changes with the selection Right-click a selection and you get actions scoped to what you picked. Some are arrangement, some hand the thing straight to a tool. | Action | What it does | |---|---| | Group / Ungroup | Bind a set so they move as one, then release them | | Stack / Unstack | Collapse a set into a single pile, then spread it back out | | Merge | Combine a set into one object | | Lock / Unlock | Freeze something in place so a stray drag cannot move it | | Send to back | Push behind everything else in the same tier | | Duplicate | Copy in place | | Rename | Name a stack, so the pile says what it holds | Stack is the one worth knowing about early. A generation that returns eight takes fills a lot of board, and stacking collapses the set into one pile you can flip through, which keeps a working area readable without deleting anything. :::tip[Alt-drag duplicates] Hold <kbd>Alt</kbd> while dragging and you drag a copy, leaving the original where it was. It works on frames and shapes as well as media. ::: ## Actions that hand the object to a tool The same menu carries the shortcuts into generation, and which ones appear depends on what kind of thing you selected. An image offers **Rapid edit**, **Remove Background**, **Describe Image**, **Flip Horizontal** and **More like this**. A video offers **Grab still**, which pulls a frame out as an image you can feed anywhere, and **Enhance**, which re-renders a draft clip at full quality. A mesh offers **Material Editor**, **Render** and **Fix Orientation**. A vector offers **Edit vector**. **Rerun** reopens the card that made the thing, with the same settings still in it, so a near miss becomes another attempt without rebuilding anything. :::note[Why the menu is not the same everywhere] The menu reads what you selected and offers only what applies. If an action you expect is missing, the usual reason is that the selection includes something it cannot run on, so narrow the selection and it comes back. ::: ## Locking what should not move Once a board has a reference wall or a set of approved frames, lock them. Locked objects stay selectable and readable but stop responding to drags, which is the difference between a board that survives three weeks of collaboration and one that slowly slides out of alignment.Selection is the gateway to almost every action on a board. Click one thing and a context menu becomes available on right-click; select several and that menu changes to the actions that make sense for a set.
Getting a selection
Section titled “Getting a selection”- Click an object to select it
- Shift and click to add to the selection
- Drag on empty canvas to marquee everything inside the box
- Click empty canvas to drop the selection
Marquee selection catches anything whose bounds fall inside the box, across every kind at once, so one drag can pick up two images, a sticky note and a mesh together.
The menu changes with the selection
Section titled “The menu changes with the selection”Right-click a selection and you get actions scoped to what you picked. Some are arrangement, some hand the thing straight to a tool.
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Group / Ungroup | Bind a set so they move as one, then release them |
| Stack / Unstack | Collapse a set into a single pile, then spread it back out |
| Merge | Combine a set into one object |
| Lock / Unlock | Freeze something in place so a stray drag cannot move it |
| Send to back | Push behind everything else in the same tier |
| Duplicate | Copy in place |
| Rename | Name a stack, so the pile says what it holds |
Stack is the one worth knowing about early. A generation that returns eight takes fills a lot of board, and stacking collapses the set into one pile you can flip through, which keeps a working area readable without deleting anything.
Actions that hand the object to a tool
Section titled “Actions that hand the object to a tool”The same menu carries the shortcuts into generation, and which ones appear depends on what kind of thing you selected.
An image offers Rapid edit, Remove Background, Describe Image, Flip Horizontal and More like this. A video offers Grab still, which pulls a frame out as an image you can feed anywhere, and Enhance, which re-renders a draft clip at full quality. A mesh offers Material Editor, Render and Fix Orientation. A vector offers Edit vector.
Rerun reopens the card that made the thing, with the same settings still in it, so a near miss becomes another attempt without rebuilding anything.
Locking what should not move
Section titled “Locking what should not move”Once a board has a reference wall or a set of approved frames, lock them. Locked objects stay selectable and readable but stop responding to drags, which is the difference between a board that survives three weeks of collaboration and one that slowly slides out of alignment.