CrowDraw docs

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Selection & transform

Select part of a layer to paint inside it, fill it, copy it or move it. Then use Transform to move, scale, rotate, distort or warp the layer or the selection.

Making a selection

Tap Selection in the top bar. Pick a mode in the bar at the bottom:

  • Automatic
    Tap an area to select it by colour, like a magic wand. Keep holding and slide left or right to change the threshold.
  • Freehand
    Draw around what you want, or tap to place points and tap the first point to close the shape. Undo removes the last point. The default.
  • Rectangle
    Drag a rectangle.
  • Ellipse
    Drag an ellipse.

While a selection is active, painting, smudging, erasing, fills and adjustments only change what's inside it. The area outside is dimmed; turn off Dim outside selection in the Selection panel if you prefer.

Automatic selection

In the Selection panel, use Sample to choose whether Automatic looks at the active Layer or the whole Canvas (the default), and set a starting Threshold. If a layer is set to Reference, automatic selection follows its lines.

Adding, subtracting and more

The combine menu in the bottom bar decides what a new shape does to the selection you already have: New, Add (the default), Subtract or Intersect.

  • Invert selects everything that wasn't selected.
  • Feather softens the edge: set the Amount (up to 120 px) and tap Apply.
  • Save & load keeps selections to reuse later (see saved selections).
  • Colour fill fills the selection with the current colour.
  • Clear removes the selection.

The Selection panel also has Dim outside selection, Select all, Select layer content (everything painted on the active layer), Invert and Clear selection.

Saved selections

Tap Save & load in the bottom bar, then + to save the current selection. Saved selections are kept with the artwork, so they are still there after you close and reopen it, and they travel inside a CrowDraw export.

  • Tap a saved selection to load it.
  • Touch and hold it for Rename, Move earlier, Move later and Delete.
  • New ones are called Selection 1, Selection 2 and so on. Saving, renaming, moving and deleting can each be undone.

Copy and paste

Tap Copy & paste in the Selection bar, or swipe down with three fingers anywhere:

  • Cut and Copy take the selection from the active layer (or the whole layer, if nothing is selected).
  • Copy all copies the whole picture, all layers merged.
  • Duplicate copies the selection to a new layer right above.
  • Cut & paste moves the selection to a new layer in one step.
  • Paste adds what you copied as a new layer, in its original position, and opens Transform so you can place it.

What you copy is shared with other apps too, and you can paste images copied in other apps: they arrive centred and scaled down to fit if needed. Copies also carry between your CrowDraw canvases.

Transform

Tap Transform in the top bar. It moves the selection if there is one, or everything on the active layer. Drag inside the box to move, drag the corner and edge handles to scale, and use the handle above the box to rotate. Pick a mode in the bottom bar:

  • Uniform (the default) keeps the proportions as you scale.
  • Freeform stretches width and height separately.
  • Distort moves each corner on its own, for perspective.
  • Warp bends the content with a mesh, like fabric.

The rest of the bar:

  • Magnetics
    Snap rotation to 15° steps and edges to the canvas. On by default.
  • Flip H, Flip V
    Flip horizontally or vertically.
  • Rotate 45°
    Turn by 45°.
  • Fit
    Scale and centre the content to fit the canvas.
  • Interpolation
    Nearest (crisp pixels, good for pixel art), Bilinear (the default) or Bicubic (smoothest).
  • Reset
    Start the transform again.
  • Cancel, Done
    Throw the transform away, or apply it.

The panel shows the size in pixels and the angle as you go.

If Magnetics is on, the box shows guide lines as it snaps to the canvas's edges and centre. The Transform panel (tap Transform again) has Magnetics and Interpolation too.

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