Welcome to TalkGraphics.com
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 18
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    The Netherlands
    Posts
    270

    Default Marque select one object within a soft group selects the whole soft group

    I don't know if this is wrong or if it's supposed to work this way, but I find it odd.

    Drag a bounding box around one object in a Soft Group and the entire Soft Group gets selected.
    I'd expect the Soft Group to be ignored unless the entire Soft Group is within the marquee selection, like how a normal group behaves.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	marquee select object inside a soft group.jpg 
Views:	90 
Size:	49.0 KB 
ID:	125065

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    21,284

    Default Re: Marque select one object within a soft group selects the whole soft group

    what is happening [i think] is that you are including one of the soft group objects in your marque selection - that will select the whole soft group, one of the ways soft groups differ - part of their 'softness' is the ability to select and move just one object in the group, and the rest goes with it

    see post #4
    Last edited by handrawn; 07 September 2019 at 09:36 PM.
    -------------------------------
    Nothing lasts forever...

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Alexandria, VA, USA
    Posts
    968

    Default Re: Marque select one object within a soft group selects the whole soft group

    Try Select inside; Control +left click.
    Also check out Help>Editing text if you want to get to the text directly. Multiple clicks allow choice of word, line or paragraph.
    HTH
    Last edited by Fred C; 07 September 2019 at 09:32 PM. Reason: clarity
    ~Fred

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    21,284

    Default Re: Marque select one object within a soft group selects the whole soft group

    I guess re-reading what I said its not that clear the difference..

    a normal group is automatically stacked together - you need to marque it all to select - it is really one 'object'

    a soft group does not have to be stacked together the objects can be anywhere, indeed the included objects can be on different layers - therefore in order to select them all you only need to select one [apart from anything else you can't select across layers in the normal way]
    -------------------------------
    Nothing lasts forever...

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    The Netherlands
    Posts
    270

    Default Re: Marque select one object within a soft group selects the whole soft group

    When you marquee select you are trying to get everything inside the marquee selection and ignore what's outside it, with Soft Groups it adds more.

    I'm working on a website where there is a shadow underneath images and I've soft grouped the image and shadow together so the image itself exports as a JPG and the shadow as a PNG. When I try to marquee objects close to the Soft Group, I keep selecting the tiny shadow object and therefore the entire Soft Group. I keep expecting the Soft Group to be ignored in my selection.

    I guess it's a minor annoyance, and it doesn't actually break anything on the page like some of the other stuff I've encountered.

    My thoughts on it:
    For a single click on a Soft Group, sure, select the Soft Group.
    Shift click on the Soft Group? Go ahead and add it to the selection you already have.
    With a marquee selection that isn't around the entire Soft Group I think it shouldn't get selected.

    You guys think the entire Soft Group should get selected for a partial marquee selection just because one object happens to be inside the marquee?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2000
    Location
    Placitas, New Mexico, USA
    Posts
    41,489

    Default Re: Marque select one object within a soft group selects the whole soft group

    Marquee select selects all objects. If one of those objects selected is a soft group, the entire soft group is included in the selection.

    Fred C's solution is the way to select individual objects in a group or soft group.

    If you need to edit the objects in a soft group, the simplest way to do this is remove the soft group. Make your changes and adjustments, then Apply Soft Group again.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    21,284

    Default Re: Marque select one object within a soft group selects the whole soft group

    yes - because this is one of the reasons for using a soft group as opposed to a normal group - though I am not looking at it from a website point of view...

    I understand what you are saying - ie you do NOT want ANY of the soft group selected - maybe lock it first?
    -------------------------------
    Nothing lasts forever...

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    SW England
    Posts
    17,749

    Default Re: Marque select one object within a soft group selects the whole soft group

    Soft Groups were designed to always select all members, on different layers, in Solo mode, locked or not. [Locking a Soft-Group all elements requires individual element selection].
    Selecting one member of a Soft Group also selects all other members of the same Soft Group – even members that are on invisible or locked layers. This means when you delete, move, rotate or otherwise transform one member of a Soft Group, all the other members are similarly modified.
    I get round it by using the Page & Layer gallery and the Ctrl key. Not a great solution.

    You can, however, also temporarily group a number of elements of a Soft-Group with Ctrl+Clicking as above and then Group (Ctrl+G). This decouples the elements so they are still in the Soft-Group and the selection of any other non-group element selects the whole Soft-Group but crucially a selection of the grouped elements only selects the sub-Group. This allows moving the Soft-Group, the sub-Group or any selected element independently. Just select the sub-Group and Ungroup (Ctrl+U) to restore the Soft-Group.

    I think this help with partial marquee selections involving a Soft-Group.

    Acorn
    Acorn - installed Xara software: Cloud+/Pro+ and most others back through time (to CC's Artworks). Contact for technical remediation/consultancy for your web designs.
    When we provide assistance, your responses are valuable as they benefit the community. TG Nuggets you might like. Report faults: Xara Cloud+/Pro+/Magix Legacy; Xara KB & Chat

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    SW England
    Posts
    17,749

    Default Re: Marque select one object within a soft group selects the whole soft group

    Quote Originally Posted by Fred C View Post
    Try Select inside; Control +left click.
    Also check out Help>Editing text if you want to get to the text directly. Multiple clicks allow choice of word, line or paragraph.
    HTH
    You cannot Select Inside for more than one object in a Soft-Group.

    Acorn
    Acorn - installed Xara software: Cloud+/Pro+ and most others back through time (to CC's Artworks). Contact for technical remediation/consultancy for your web designs.
    When we provide assistance, your responses are valuable as they benefit the community. TG Nuggets you might like. Report faults: Xara Cloud+/Pro+/Magix Legacy; Xara KB & Chat

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    21,284

    Default Re: Marque select one object within a soft group selects the whole soft group

    no thinking about it locking would not work of course silly me
    -------------------------------
    Nothing lasts forever...

 

 

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •