Selecting and the Contour Tool

Before changing an outline, select the points that should change. A precise selection makes a small correction predictable and keeps nearby parts of the drawing intact.

The Contour Tool

Select Contour, the narrow arrow in the Toolbar, or press A while the canvas has editing focus. Hold A for temporary use from another tool; release it to return to that tool.

The Contour tool works with existing nodes, handles, and segments. It provides selection, movement, alignment, point insertion and deletion, and curve editing. You can return to it after drawing with Pen, Rapid, Pencil, or a geometric-shape tool.

For a reminder of the available gestures, press Shift+F1 with the tool active to open its contextual Help panel. Hold F1 while pointing at a control for Quick Help. Some keyboards require Fn with the function key. These are the help systems introduced in Help and Support.

Begin with a glyph whose outline you can inspect clearly. Make that glyph current and look at the points before choosing an operation. A selection is a statement about scope: it identifies what the next command may change. Selecting a handle, selecting its node, and selecting an entire contour are different ways of defining that scope. Choose the smallest set that expresses the intended correction.

For example, changing one curved edge may require its handles, while repositioning a complete shape requires its whole contour. The visible fill alone does not reveal which objects are selected. Check the point highlights and then compare the result with the original intention. If the wrong region changes, undo and reconsider the selection before repeating the operation.

The following sections establish that selection vocabulary and the coordinate feedback used to check it. Detailed movement, node conversion, and curve operations follow in the next chapters.

Point States and Selections

A point's editing state is separate from its node type. Square, circular, and triangular markers describe corner, smooth, and tangent relationships. Their availability and highlighting describe whether you can edit them now.

Active points are available to the current editing context.
Inactive points belong to content that is visible but not currently available for point editing.
Selected points are the active points chosen for the next operation.

A point can be active without being selected. Conversely, seeing an outline in a neighboring glyph does not mean its points are available for editing. Make the intended glyph current before selecting its drawing.

Select individual points

Click a node or handle. Hold Shift and click another point to add it; Shift-click a selected point to remove it. Option/Alt-click can also remove an already-selected point, but the modifier has other meanings on segments, so use Shift-click when you want an unambiguous point-selection gesture.

Use Page Up and Page Down to move through the nodes of the active contour when they are too close to distinguish easily. Add Shift to extend the selection along the contour. On a compact macOS keyboard, the corresponding Page keys are Fn+Up and Fn+Down.

Select an area

Drag from empty canvas to draw a selection marquee around the desired nodes. Inspect the highlighted points before applying an operation. Starting on a point or path can begin an edit instead of a marquee. Snapping can affect pointer behavior during drags; see Snapping and Suggestions.

Preferences > Editing > Marquee ignores handles controls handle inclusion. With it on, a marquee normally ignores handles belonging to nodes that are not selected. Hold Option/Alt during the marquee to include those handles.

For an italic selection band, begin the marquee and hold Control to slant it according to the italic angle. On macOS this means Control, not Command. Release Control to return to ordinary rectangular sizing, then release the mouse to complete the selection.

Select contours and segments

Double-click a contour's segment to select the contour, or Option/Alt-click near the path. Avoid double-clicking a node for this task: that gesture can change its type. Use Shift with the contour-selection gesture to extend an existing selection.

The distinction between on and near a path matters. A gesture directly on a segment can act on that segment; the corresponding gesture nearby can address its contour. Modifier gestures also depend on Select segment on outline click in Editing preferences. Inspect the highlight rather than assuming that a click selected the whole path.

To work with a segment as a selection, select its two endpoint nodes or click near its midpoint when segment selection is enabled.

Edit > Invert Selection (Cmd+I on macOS, Ctrl+I on Windows) reverses the chosen and unchosen points within the available editing scope. It does not make otherwise inactive drawing content editable.

Store a selection

Open Window > Panels > Selections when you need to return repeatedly to the same points.

Select the required points in the Glyph window.
Click Add (+) in the Selections panel.
Type a descriptive name and press Return/Enter.
Click the stored entry later to recall its selection.

To revise a stored entry, activate it, select the intended points, and click Update. Double-click to rename it; Remove forgets the selection, not the points.

Selections belong to the glyph and persist in native working data. For compatible matching masters, a stored selection can be restored across matching layers. This named, stored selection differs from the dynamic selection memory taught in Editing across Masters. Capture the intended points in the current drawing layer: the panel does not store an arbitrary combined selection across unrelated glyphs and layers. After deleting or rebuilding contours, check recalled selections before editing, because their original points may no longer exist.

Coordinates and Measurements on Canvas

Use View > Measurements > Coordinates to label points with their x and y positions. The Show for choice under Preferences > Glyph Window > Coordinates controls whether labels cover selected, all, or key points.

Coordinates over node/handle provides a readout under the pointer. Lengths & angles supplies segment measurements. These displays help distinguish a selection's actual position from its appearance at the current zoom.

The Measurements widget, enabled through View > Widgets > Measurements, provides on-canvas buttons for Coordinates and Lengths & angles. It sits along the right edge; the hover-coordinate control is separate.

For a larger readout, enable View > Measurements > Scoreboard. Move the Scoreboard to a clear area and resize it by its corner. It updates as you inspect or move supported drawing objects, so you can read the changing values without following small labels beside the pointer. The Scoreboard mirrors the active object’s supported readout; showing a measurement does not change its coordinates.

Use the readout to distinguish position from size or movement. A point’s x and y values locate it in the glyph coordinate system. A length describes the distance between positions, and an angle describes direction. Before changing a number, identify which of these quantities the active control represents. The same visible movement at two zoom levels can correspond to different distances on screen while the font-unit measurement remains the relevant comparison.

The widget provides quick display switches, while the labels and Scoreboard provide the measurements themselves. If a value is missing, check the display option and active target before assuming the geometry has changed. The Guides tool also provides automatic measurement feedback; its use is developed with the guides and measurement aids in Rulers, Guides, and Power Guides and Live Measurement.