Tutorials Open the Studio

Lesson 7 of 23

Select, move and reshape

Move whole shapes, bend leads, drag anchors and round corners with the two selection tools.

5 steps2 minChecked against the Studio on 17 October 2026
A piece of the Sunwheel's rosette taken with Direct select, its anchors shown, and its position, size, rotation and flip in the Inspector.
1 of 5 Selection Selection (V): click, or drag a box, to select whole shapes.

There are two arrows at the top of the tool rail. The solid one takes whole shapes; the hollow one takes a single piece, anchor or lead.

  1. 1

    Selection

    Selection (V): click, or drag a box, to select whole shapes. Drag to move them, Alt-drag to duplicate them. The selection box's handles scale and rotate.

  2. 2

    Direct select

    Direct select (A): click a piece to take just that piece, then drag to move it.

    Drag an anchor to move it, or drag a lead to bend it. Alt-drag a straight lead to slide it over.

  3. 3

    Corners and curves

    Double-click an anchor to switch it between a corner and a smooth curve. Drag the widget at a corner to round it; the corner stays rounded, and its radius stays editable.

  4. 4

    Exact numbers

    With something selected, the Inspector shows its position and size: type new values to place it exactly. It also turns and flips, and Move, scale, rotate or resize… does all four by numbers.

  5. 5

    Slant it, or do it again

    Skew (H) slants the selection: drag sideways or down.

    Edit › Transform again (CtrlD) repeats your last move, turn or scale, so a row of evenly spaced copies takes a few presses.

Next · Lesson 8Split, cut and join piecesAdd joints, remove leads, cut with the Knife, divide a piece evenly and join pieces with the Shape Builder.Mark done and continue Shapes, grids and radial designs