"Select Object" vs shift click (or drag)

[Felderburg]

I'm trying to edit multiple artistic text items at once. I messed around with text styles, but discovered that the easiest way to do what I wanted was to use the Select > Select Object > Art Text menu command. That selected all the text items in a document, and I was able to modify their font, Leading, etc. that way. However, in the future, I probably won't want to select every single text item in the document... but just shift clicking the specific text items I want or dragging to select them doesn't allow me to edit them once I've selected all at once—I am only able to edit individual text items, or every single text item. How do I select only a few text items in such a way that I can edit them (mimicking the functionality of the "Select Object" menu item but with specific items)?

Edited January 2, 2023 by Felderburg

[R C-R]

36 minutes ago, Felderburg said:

How do I select only a few text items in such a way that I can edit them (mimicking the functionality of the "Select Object" menu item but with specific items)?

I would be happy to be proven wrong but I do not think there is any way to do that.

[loukash]

8 hours ago, Felderburg said:

just shift clicking the specific text items I want or dragging to select them doesn't allow me to edit them once I've selected all at once—I am only able to edit individual text items, or every single text item. How do I select only a few text items in such a way that I can edit them (mimicking the functionality of the "Select Object" menu item but with specific items)?

Move tool

[R C-R]

3 hours ago, loukash said:

Move tool

??? How does using the Move Tool enable editing selected text items?

[loukash]

@Felderburg doesn't want to edit text content, but text object attributes.
For example, Ctrl-drag with Move tool to intersect selection, then you can change only individual attributes of each Artistic Text object via Context Toolbar or Character panel, without affecting any other individual attributes of any selected object.
Tested, approved.

[loukash]

And if there are other objects that would be also added to a drag-selection: Lock them first. That's exactly what the lock is there for. (Even though for some it lacks in other areas )

[Felderburg]

A reddit user gave me the solution: https://www.reddit.com/r/Affinity/comments/1012gnd/select_object_vs_shift_click_or_drag_designer/

The text items I was selecting had become groups of one item, so clicking them normally selected the groups, not the actual text object (likely because this was an Inkscape file I opened in Affinity). Once that was figured out, I was able to select the actual text objects in the layers panel (or ctrl click) and edit as I wanted. And per @loukash's post, the regular select tool is able to do what I want in a new file that is native to Affinity.

Edited January 2, 2023 by Felderburg