How do I select multiple layers without keyboard?

[Kit Chan]

Documentation says use ctrl and click layers. But I want to select multiple layers on a Surface Pro in tablet mode.

I was also wondering if there is a rectangle select tool. Using the move tool just grabs the bottom layer and moves it around unless i drag from off canvas.

[walt.farrell]

4 minutes ago, Kit Chan said:

Documentation says use ctrl and click layers. But I want to select multiple layers on a Surface Pro in tablet mode.

Enable the Windows On-Screen Keyboard? The desktop applications really are designed to be used with a keyboard. 

6 minutes ago, Kit Chan said:

I was also wondering if there is a rectangle select tool.

What are you trying to select? Objects, or pixels? 

You can Lock the bottom layer to keep it from being selected if you're trying to marquee select some objects.

[Kit Chan]

1 minute ago, walt.farrell said:

Enable the Windows On-Screen Keyboard? The desktop applications really are designed to be used with a keyboard. 

Unfortunately with Windows 11, I can't have a ctrl key with undocked keyboard and the docked keyboard covers the bottom of the screen where my layers were (among many things wrong with the W11 OSK).

I tried a registry hack to enable the Windows 8 keyboard, but encountered glitchy behavior with it wanting to open both the 8 and 11 keyboards

IDK why Microsoft decided to ruin so many things that were amazing/perfect in Windows 8 and 10. I had a few reasons to switch to 11.

 

I don't have this problem with other apps. Affinity is the only thing I use that wants to force keyboard commands down my throat, which is weird because I hear the ipad version offers a lot of touch friendly solutions which are bizarrely absent from Windows version.

1 minute ago, walt.farrell said:

What are you trying to select? Objects, or pixels? 

You can Lock the bottom layer to keep it from being selected if you're trying to marquee select some objects.

I'm kicking myself for not figuring this out myself.

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, Kit Chan said:

which is weird because I hear the ipad version offers a lot of touch friendly solutions which are bizarrely absent from Windows version.

The iPad version is designed to work without a keyboard. The desktop versions are designed to work with a keyboard, and thus are not optimized for touch-only devices. The iPad and desktop apps are compatible but entirely different apps.

[Kit Chan]

7 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

The iPad version is designed to work without a keyboard. The desktop versions are designed to work with a keyboard, and thus are not optimized for touch-only devices. The iPad and desktop apps are compatible but entirely different apps.

It doesn't even need to be touch optimized, just mouse optimized like every other Windows program.

I'm going to go back to Windows 10 this weekend so I can get proper OSK functionality back. Hopefully that will help with this too.