Selecting Parts

Selecting Parts

Selecting Parts

You must select a part or parts in order to move, translate, rotate, explode, or change visibility. You can select parts in the Viewport or in the Assembly Tree Pane.

To Select a Part

  1. Click the Select icon in the Ribbon.

  2. Click a part in the Viewport.

To Select More Than One Part

  1. Click the Select icon in the Ribbon.

  2. Click a part in the Viewport.

  3. Shift+click another part in the Viewport.

  4. Do step 3 as needed.

When you Shift+click a part that is already selected, that part will be deselected. You can also Ctrl+click, but you cannot deselect like Shift+click.

 

You cannot select ghosted parts with the Select tool. But you can select them in the Assembly Tree pane.


From the Select drop-list, you can also access to the following commands.

Icon

Function Name

Shortcut

Description

Select

N/A

Select a part one by one.

Select All

Ctrl+A

Select all parts including ghosted or hidden parts.

Deselect All

N/A

Deselect all selected parts.

Invert Selection

Ctrl+I

Deselect the current selection and select parts that were not selected.

To Deselect All of Selected Parts

Do one of the following:

  • Click at blank area in the Viewport.

  • Click the Select drop-list from the Ribbon and select Deselect All.

  • Right-click and select Deselect Selection from the context menu.

To Use the Select Rectangle Tool

You can select multiple parts by defining a rectangle with the Select Rectangle tool. When bounding boxes of parts are entirely or partially in the rectangle, those parts will be selected.

  1. Select the Select Rectangle tool in the Ribbon.

  2. Click and drag diagonally to define a rectangle.

  3. Release the mouse button.

The Select Rectangle tool works like the Select tool.

 

The Select Rectangle tool will exclude ghosted or hidden parts for selection.

 

To Select Parts by Color

You can select parts which have the same color by Select by Color tool.

  1. Select the Select by Color tool in the Ribbon.

  2. Click on a part.

All parts that have the same color as the one which you clicked on, including ghosted and hidden parts, will be selected.

Example, the parts of the same color are selected and indicated in magenta. For details about how to change the selection color, please refer to: Part Selection Color.

To Select Parts by Instance

You can select parts which are considered as the same instance by the Select Instances tool.

  1. Select the Select Instances tool in the Ribbon.

  2. Click on a part.

All parts of the same instance as the one which you clicked on, including ghosted and hidden parts, will be selected.

To Make Parts Translucent Temporally for Selection

You can use this technique to make some parts translucent temporarily. In this state, such parts cannot be selected. Therefore, it is especially useful to select parts completely hidden by other parts.

 

Modifier Keys

Operation

Tab-hover

Make parts semitransparent temporarily.

Shift+Tab-press

Restore the state of parts one by one with each press of the keys.

 

Example:

List of the Selection Mouse Pointers

Here is the list of the mouse pointers for various selection states.

Pointer

Tool/Mode

Select

Select with Shift key pressed

Select with Ctrl key pressed

Select Rectangle

Select by Color

Select Instances

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