Mastering the Selection Tool in Procreate: Techniques and Tips

Procreate's selection tools are essential for precise editing, allowing you to isolate specific areas of your artwork for targeted modifications. This comprehensive guide will teach you everything you need to know about making and using selections effectively in your digital art workflow.

Video Tutorial

Understanding Selections in Procreate

Selections allow you to isolate specific areas of your artwork, enabling you to make changes only to those regions. This precision is crucial for professional-quality digital art, whether you're editing colors, applying effects, or transforming parts of your image.

Accessing the Selection Tool

To access the Selection tool in Procreate:

1. Tap the wrench icon (Actions menu)
2. Tap "Selection" (the icon looks like a dashed rectangle)
3. The Selection menu will appear at the bottom of your screen

Selection Modes

Procreate offers several selection modes, each with specific strengths for different situations.

Freehand Selection

The most flexible selection method:

1. Choose "Freehand" from the selection menu
2. Draw around the area you want to select
3. Procreate automatically closes your selection when you finish drawing

Pro Tip: For more precise freehand selections, zoom in on your artwork and use a smaller brush size.

Rectangle Selection

Create perfect rectangular or square selections:

1. Choose "Rectangle" from the selection menu
2. Drag to create a rectangular selection
3. Hold one finger on the screen while dragging to create a perfect square

Elliptical Selection

Create oval or circular selections:

1. Choose "Ellipse" from the selection menu
2. Drag to create an oval selection
3. Hold one finger on the screen while dragging to create a perfect circle

Automatic Selection

One of Procreate's most powerful selection features:

1. Choose "Automatic" from the selection menu
2. Tap or drag on areas with similar colors
3. Procreate automatically selects regions with similar color values
4. Adjust the threshold slider to control selection sensitivity

This mode is excellent for quickly selecting areas with consistent colors, such as backgrounds or solid-colored objects.

Advanced Selection Techniques

Color Threshold Selection

Fine-tune automatic selections with precise control:

1. Choose "Automatic" from the selection menu
2. Tap on a color area to select it
3. Drag left or right to decrease or increase the threshold
4. Lower thresholds select only very similar colors, while higher thresholds include a broader range

Adding to and Subtracting from Selections

Refine your selections with these techniques:

1. To add to a selection:

   • Tap the "Add" button (+ icon) in the selection menu
   • Create an additional selection that will be combined with the existing one

2. To subtract from a selection:

   • Tap the "Subtract" button (- icon) in the selection menu
   • Create a selection that will be removed from the existing one

Inverting Selections

Quickly select everything except your current selection:

1. Make your initial selection
2. Tap "Invert" in the selection menu
3. Your selection is now reversed – what was selected is now unselected and vice versa

This technique is invaluable for working on backgrounds while protecting foreground elements, or vice versa.

Selecting Layer Content

Select all non-transparent pixels on a layer:

1. In the Selection menu, tap "Layer"
2. All visible content on the active layer is automatically selected

This is useful for quickly selecting all elements on a specific layer without having to trace around them manually.

Working with Selections

Once you've created a selection, there are many ways to use it in your artwork.

Moving Selections

Reposition selected content:

1. Create your selection
2. Tap the Transform tool (arrow icon)
3. Drag the selected area to move it
4. Tap "Copy" in the transform menu to copy instead of moving

Transforming Selections

Apply transforms only to selected areas:

1. Create your selection
2. Tap the Transform tool
3. Use any transform mode (Scale, Rotate, Distort, etc.) on just the selected area
4. The rest of your artwork remains unchanged

Filling Selections

Add color to selected areas:

1. Create your selection
2. Choose your desired color
3. Tap and hold on the canvas to open the color menu
4. Tap "Fill" to fill the selection with your current color

Our Infinity Fractals brush pack includes specialized pattern brushes that work beautifully with selections to create unique filled areas and textured backgrounds.

Selection Masks

Use selections to create layer masks:

1. Create your selection
2. Open the Layers panel
3. Tap the layer you want to mask
4. Tap "Mask"
5. Your selection automatically becomes a mask

This non-destructive approach allows you to hide portions of a layer while preserving the original artwork.

Selection Refinement Techniques

Feathering Selections

Create soft-edged selections:

1. Make your selection
2. Tap "Feather" in the selection menu
3. Drag the slider to set the feather amount
4. Higher values create softer edges

Feathering is essential when you need to blend selections naturally with the surrounding artwork, especially in photo editing or creating soft vignettes.

Expanding and Contracting Selections

Fine-tune selection boundaries:

1. Make your selection
2. Tap "Expand" or "Contract" in the selection menu
3. Drag the slider to adjust the amount
4. This helps refine selection edges without redrawing them

Anti-aliasing

Create smoother selection edges:

1. Before making your selection, ensure "Anti-alias" is enabled in the selection menu
2. This creates slightly smoother edges by softening the transition at the selection boundary
3. Generally best left on for most artwork

Creative Selection Techniques

Selection-Based Shading

Create precise shading in your artwork:

1. Draw your base art on one layer
2. Create a new layer for shading
3. Use selections to isolate areas where shadows should fall
4. Apply shading only within those selected areas
5. Repeat for highlights on another layer

Multiple Selection Workflow

Work on multiple disconnected areas simultaneously:

1. Select your first area
2. Tap the "Add" button
3. Select additional areas
4. All selected areas can now be modified together
5. Perfect for applying the same effect to multiple similar elements

Copy and Paste Between Documents

Move elements between different Procreate files:

1. Create a selection of the element you want to copy
2. Tap the selection tool and choose "Copy"
3. Open your target document
4. Open the Actions menu and tap "Paste"

Troubleshooting Selection Issues

Selection Too Precise or Too Loose

If automatic selections aren't working as expected:

1. Try adjusting the threshold by dragging left (more precise) or right (more inclusive)
2. Use the Add/Subtract modes to refine the selection
3. Switch to Freehand for more control in complex areas

Difficult-to-Select Areas

For areas that are challenging to select:

1. Try Color Threshold in combination with Add mode
2. Use Zoom to select detailed areas more precisely
3. For very complex selections, consider using multiple selection techniques in combination

Selection Disappears Unexpectedly

If your selection vanishes:

1. Check if you accidentally tapped outside the selection (which deselects everything)
2. Make sure you haven't switched to a different layer
3. Use the undo function (two-finger tap) if needed

FAQ About Procreate Selections

Conclusion

Mastering Procreate's selection tools gives you unprecedented control over your digital artwork. From simple shape selections to complex automatic color-based selections, these tools enable you to work with precision and efficiency.

Remember that good selection technique often involves combining multiple methods and approaching complex selections in stages. Take your time to learn these powerful tools, as they form the foundation for many advanced digital art techniques.

Ready to enhance your Procreate skills further? Explore our other tutorials:

• Learn about transform techniques to manipulate your selections
• Master adjustments and effects to enhance selected areas
• Explore advanced brush settings for customized artwork