move selection while using marquee tool

[JorisM]

Tell me if I'm wrong, but moving a selection while selecting with the marquee tool still isn't possible.

[- S -]

Unfortunately, that's correct.  The Rectangular Marquee tool and Elliptical Marquee tool are still very primitive.

If you want to use the Spacebar, or resize the marquee after initial draw without making the edges soft, you will need to use the Rectangle tool and Ellipse tool (vector shape tools) instead and then create a selection from them – which is obviously a bit of a clunky work-a-round.

 

[loukash]

2 hours ago, JorisM said:

moving a selection while selecting with the marquee

Not possible (yet).
But after you've made the selection, switch to the Move tool and you can move or resize it.

28 minutes ago, - S - said:

you will need to use the Rectangle tool and Ellipse tool (vector shape tools) instead and then create a selection from them – which is obviously a bit of a clunky work-a-round.

Why "clunky"?
You can use any vector tool (shapes, pen, pencil, whatever) to create precise "pseudo-selections"  and comfortably refine them as you see fit. Group them, warp them, whatever is needed. Then give the final vector shape a temporary fill, then "Select > Selection From Layer". You can keep the vector layer(s) disabled for future use. 
I call that convenient.

33 minutes ago, - S - said:

without making the edges soft

For soft edges, add e.g. the Blur layer effect to the vector curve. The resulting selection will have exactly those soft edges, too.
Or apply which ever live filter you like to the vector object. The selection will follow the filter.
Also, the vector object transparency is converted to pixel selection. 50% fill opacity will correspondingly translate to 50% opacity of the pixel selection.

That's not "obviously clunky", that's obviously brilliant. If you know how to use it, that is.  

[walt.farrell]

11 hours ago, loukash said:

But after you've made the selection, switch to the Move tool and you can move or resize it.

That lets you move or resize the contents of the selection (the pixels within the marching ants), doesn't it? 

I'm not sure if that's what @JorisM wanted, or if they were asking about adjusting the size/position of the Marching Ants, leaving the pixels within them undisturbed.

[loukash]

1 hour ago, walt.farrell said:

That lets you move or resize the contents of the selection (the pixels within the marching ants), doesn't it? 

Ah, you're right, thanks.
So yes, one additional click is needed to make this method work:

1. make your marching ants selection
2. click the small button in the Layers panel to add a temporary blank pixel layer, it will be automatically selected 
3. press V to enable the Move tool to move, resize or rotate the marching ants area; it won't affect anything because the new layer is completely blank
4. select the layer(s) you want the selection to be applied to

[GarryP]

16 hours ago, JorisM said:

but moving a selection while selecting with the marquee tool still isn't possible.

It works for me on Windows 10 – see attached video.
Just put the mouse cursor over the selected area - it changes to a four-way cross - and drag it.
Or am I not understanding the problem correctly?

[Matthew Dickerson]

9 minutes ago, GarryP said:

It works for me on Windows 10 – see attached video.
Just put the mouse cursor over the selected area - it changes to a four-way cross - and drag it.
Or am I not understanding the problem correctly?

How did you get the toolbar on the left to be expanded?

[GarryP]

Menu “View → Customise Tools” and then set the “Number of Columns” (bottom of tools) to be whatever value you want.

[loukash]

14 minutes ago, GarryP said:

am I not understanding the problem correctly?

While selecting, i.e. while click'n'dragging, i.e. moving the starting point of the selection while still dragging.
It's not something I was using often in PS, if at all, but I remember it was there.

[Matthew Dickerson]

1 minute ago, GarryP said:

Menu “View → Customise Tools” and then set the “Number of Columns” (bottom of tools) to be whatever value you want.

Thanks!

[GarryP]

24 minutes ago, loukash said:

While selecting, i.e. while click'n'dragging, i.e. moving the starting point of the selection while still dragging.

Ah, so moving the starting point of the selection while the selection is still being dragged out.

Sounds like an odd thing to want to do – and I can’t think of how I might want to do it from a user perspective – but I guess it wouldn’t sound odd to me if I wanted to do it for some reason.

Why not just start the selection again?

[loukash]

1 minute ago, GarryP said:

Why not just start the selection again?

Perhaps because you have just spent 10 minutes painstakingly creating your volatile freefloating selection, only to realize you've started one pixel too early…?  
Seriously though, I don't know. That's why I never missed it. Especially since for complex selections I can always use vector curves as a starting point.
But then again, I also miss certain features that others don't need, so to each their own.

[- S -]

On 11/21/2022 at 11:57 PM, loukash said:

But after you've made the selection, switch to the Move tool and you can move or resize it.

Using the Move tool on a selection (over a blank pixel layer), or using the Transform panel on a selection will make the edges imprecise as the selection works like a pixel layer, rather than a vector shape.  The edges do not stay hard due to resampling.  Therefore, using the Move tool in this way in Affinity Photo is not the same as using the "Transform Selection" feature in other image editors – which do keep the edges hard.  You will end up with transparency around the edges, rather than it being fully opaque.

 

Quote

Why "clunky"?
You can use any vector tool (shapes, pen, pencil, whatever) to create precise "pseudo-selections"  and comfortably refine them as you see fit. Group them, warp them, whatever is needed. Then give the final vector shape a temporary fill, then "Select > Selection From Layer". You can keep the vector layer(s) disabled for future use. 

Although I usually use vector tools, it's "clunky" because it's necessary to switch the vector tools between 0% and 100% opacity so you can see what you're selecting easier.  Whereas with the Marquee tools they are already transparent, as that's what they are supposed to be used for.  If an end user would rather use the Marquee tools, the Marquee tools should let them work that way without needing to use the vector tools.  However, being unable to use the Spacebar to move the selection during creation makes this more difficult.

 

Quote

I call that convenient.

I'm well aware there are different methods of doing different things, but this is a topic in the "Feedback" section of the forum where users can give Serif feedback on their software.  In this case, give feedback on improvements to the Marquee tools so that they can be more useful. Making improvements to the Marquee tools so that modifier keys like the Spacebar or CTRL can be used during selection shouldn't be a contested issue, especially as Affinity Photo doesn't have a true "Transform Selection" feature.

 

11 hours ago, GarryP said:

Ah, so moving the starting point of the selection while the selection is still being dragged out.

Sounds like an odd thing to want to do – and I can’t think of how I might want to do it from a user perspective – but I guess it wouldn’t sound odd to me if I wanted to do it for some reason.

Why not just start the selection again?

Selection tools can be used for many things, from adding and subtracting from existing masks, to quickly knocking out eyes or wheels for example.  It's difficult to drag a marquee perfectly without being able to position it with the Spacebar.  It can even be done in a web browser…

 

 

 

[GarryP]

Thanks for the demonstration – S –
Now I see it in action I can understand why it would be useful.

[loukash]

11 hours ago, - S - said:

quickly knocking out eyes or wheels for example.  It's difficult to drag a marquee perfectly without being able to position it with the Spacebar

To make a selection like in your example video, in Affinity I would use the Pen tool workflow.
In fact, I wouldn't even convert the curves to selection but use the curves nondestructively, e.g. like this:

Note that the curves' layer mode is set to Erase which has the same effect as if you would create a mask.
The blue lines appear only because the Curves layer is selected to show you the Erase mode.
To feather the vector mask, add e.g. the Blur layer effect to the Curves layer.
Other nondestructive methods to achieve the same effect are possible as well.

Don't get me wrong, I don't oppose the request for having Spacebar as a move tool for the selection starting point at all. I like to have options as much as the next guy.
My point is that in many scenarios, it isn't necessarily the "better" workflow. 
Checking out and eventually adopting new workflows is just another method how to increase productivity.

Have fun exploring!  

[JorisM]

On 11/22/2022 at 12:38 PM, walt.farrell said:

That lets you move or resize the contents of the selection (the pixels within the marching ants), doesn't it? 

I'm not sure if that's what @JorisM wanted, or if they were asking about adjusting the size/position of the Marching Ants, leaving the pixels within them undisturbed.

Hi Walt, what I meant was, in Photoshop, while selecting with the marquee tool, you can move the selection being made by using the spacebar. So you could start selecting anywhere in your doc, and move that selection being made to the exact location you want. So no need for starting the selection drag exactly where you need it.

[JorisM]

I'm wondering if it's an Adobe software copyright issue...

[Jayvee]

When Adobe went to subscription plans many photoshop users looked for alternative software’s for their photo editing need. I picked up the entire Affinity package and for the most part it works great, unfortunately basic procedures like moving a marquee selection on the fly is not offered in Affinity. Hopefully this method will be included in a future upgrade.

[lepr]

On 11/27/2022 at 2:00 PM, JorisM said:

I'm wondering if it's an Adobe software copyright issue...

It's in AP 2.1 beta (on macOS at least) and very welcome. Works for Rectangular Marquee Tool and Elliptical Marquee Tool.

 

Something still missing is the "From Centre" option in Rectangular Marquee Tool; it is in Elliptical Marquee Tool. (No doubt we'll hear the usual suspects arguing against it because they cannot see how it would be useful to anyone.)