Tools and toolbar¶
The toolbar holds the tools you use to move, select, crop, read and paint. Select a tool by clicking its icon, or press its shortcut when the picture has focus. The tools are grouped by job, with a thin line between the groups: Move; Marquee and Lasso; Crop and Straighten; the Tone Sampler; the retouching and painting brushes; and the Hand last.
| Tool | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Move | V | Moves the selected picture layer (and its mask) when you drag. See Layers. |
| Marquee | M | Selects a rectangle or an oval. See Selections. |
| Lasso | L | Selects a freehand or straight-sided area. See Selections. |
| Crop | C | Draws a crop frame and applies it. See Cropping and rotating. |
| Straighten | S | Levels a horizon by dragging a line along it. See Cropping and rotating. |
| Tone Sampler | I | Reads the tones under the pointer and places numbered sample points. See Tone Sampler and Info. |
| Spot Brush | J | Removes dust and small marks. See Dust spots. |
| Mask Brush | B | Paints on a layer mask. See Masks. |
| Dodge & Burn | O | Lightens or darkens by painting. See Dodge & Burn. |
| Hand | H | Drag to pan the view; wheel or pinch to zoom. It never moves a layer. |
Choosing a tool opens its settings in Properties.
Move and Hand are different tools
Move (V) shifts the selected layer's picture and its mask. Hand (H) only changes the part of the picture you are looking at. Hold Space with any tool to pan without changing tools.
Painting colours¶
The Mask Brush uses two swatches below the tools: white reveals the layer and black hides it. Press X to swap them, or click the swatch.
Quick brush size
Press [ and ] to make the brush smaller or larger while painting. The brush ring in the picture shows its size.
Pen pressure¶
With a pen tablet, the Mask Brush and Dodge & Burn can change size or flow with pressure. Turn these on with the Pen pressure checkboxes in the tool's settings. On Windows, make sure pen pressure (Windows Ink) is enabled for the tablet.
Moving the toolbar¶
Drag the grip at the top of the toolbar to dock it at the left, beside the picture or at the right. See Workspace and panels.