Add *only* to selection

[Anonymous]

It often arises that I need to add to a selection set by using more than one selection box. I hold down the Shift key to add the contents of the second selection box. No problem. However, very often, there are elements from my first selection box also inside the second selection box. These elements from the first selection box are now deselected because they are essentially "shift clicked" and removed from the selection set when the second box is drawn. Is there a way to suspend this feature so that elements already selected STAY selected if they are within the second selection box? In other words, can the second selection box be done in such a way that it is "add only" or "subtract only" to the selection?

[Barry Kelly]

Of course it all depends on just how complex a jumble of elements are that you are trying to select.
But some things that may help.

As you mentioned just SHIFT+click to add new elements - don't drag a selection box.
Let go of everything and drag a new larger selection box.
Don't forget the selection area does not have to be a box - it can be an irregular polygon.
Also there is the left to right = select all partly inside the selection area, and right to left = select only entirely within selection area (I might have that around the wrong way) - this may help to select just particular elements.


Barry.

[Anonymous]

One other thing that you could try is the Selections Palette. I don't use it that often myself, but when I do more complex selections, it does come in handy.

Like Barry said, it depends on how complex your selection is, so it might be overkill to use Selections Palette... But anyway, in your case, you could do your first selection, save it in the Selections Palette and then just making the second selection (without Shift) and in the palette just clicking on the plus button.