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Select objects



An object is any printable element on a page or on the pasteboard, such as a path or an imported graphic. A frame or path is a shape you draw or a container for text or graphics. A bounding box is a rectangle with eight selection handles that represents an object’s vertical and horizontal dimensions. Before you can modify an object, you must select it using a selection tool.

For a video on selecting objects, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0070.

There are two ways to select an object in InDesign:

Path with bounding box selected (left), path selected (middle), and path with anchor point selected (right)

  • You can use the Selection tool to select the object’s bounding box for performing general layout tasks, such as positioning and sizing objects.

  • You can use the Direct Selection tool to select the contents of a container (such as an imported graphic) or individual points on a path for tasks involving resizing imported graphics, drawing and editing paths, and editing text.

Note: An imported graphic is always contained within a frame. It’s possible to select the graphic and its frame, the graphic only, or its frame only. The frame and bounding box of an imported graphic can be different sizes. To see how InDesign indicates what’s selected, see Modifying objects using graphics frames.
Bounding box selected (left) compared to rectangular path selected (right)

With rectangular objects, it can be difficult to tell the difference between the object’s bounding box and the path of the object itself. A bounding box always displays eight large hollow anchor points. A rectangular path always displays four small anchor points (which can be hollow or solid).

Select a bounding box

For any object, you can select its bounding box—a rectangle that represents the object’s horizontal and vertical dimensions. (For grouped objects, the bounding box is a dashed rectangle.) The bounding box makes it possible to quickly move, duplicate, and scale the object without having to use any other tool. For paths, the bounding box makes it easy to work with an entire object without accidentally altering the anchor points that determine its shape.

Note: For more precise moving and scaling, and for other modifications such as rotation, use the Control panel or the Transform panel.
 Using the Selection tool , do one of the following:

  • Click the object. If the object is an unfilled path, click its edge.

  • Drag a dotted selection rectangle or marquee around part or all of the object.

  • With a graphic object or nested content selected, click the Select Container button  on the Control panel.

When you select one or more objects with the Selection tool, you see a bounding box that indicates the size of each object. If you don’t see a bounding box when an object is selected, you may have selected the object using the Direct Selection tool .

If you click a frame and it is not selected, the frame may be on a locked layer or master page. If the frame is on a locked layer, a pencil icon appears. If the frame is on a master page, you can override it to select it.

Select a path or points on a path

Paths in InDesign are defined by anchor points, end points, and direction lines. You select anchor points and end points using the Direct Selection tool.

A path with a single point selected (left) and multiple points selected (right)

  1. Using the Direct Selection tool , click the path to select it.

    Notice how the tool changes when it’s above a path  or a point .

  2. Do any of the following:

    • To select an individual point, click it.

    • To select multiple points on the path, press Shift as you click each point.

    • To select all of a path’s points at once, click the point at the center of the object, or hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and click the path. If you direct-select any part of the object, the Select All command also selects all the points.

Select text inside a frame

  • To select text by dragging, click on a text frame using the Type tool. An insertion point appears.
  • To create an insertion point in text, double-click a text frame using any selection tool. InDesign switches to the Type tool automatically.

Select an object inside a frame

 Do any of the following:

  • Click the object using the Direct Selection tool . The Direct Selection tool automatically changes to the Hand tool when placed over a graphic object inside a frame (but not when placed over a non-graphic object, such as a path).

  • With a frame selected, choose Select > Content from the Object menu or the frame’s context menu.

  • With a frame selected, click the Select Content button  on the Control panel.

Select multiple objects

  • To select all the objects in a rectangular area, use the Selection tool  to drag a marquee over the objects you want to select.
  • To select nonadjacent objects, use the Selection tool to select an object and then press Shift as you click additional objects. Clicking selected objects deselects them.
  • To add more objects to a selection, press Shift as you use the Selection tool to drag a marquee over additional objects. Dragging over selected objects deselects them.
    You can use these same techniques with the Direct Selection tool to select objects nested inside groups or frames.

Select or deselect all objects

To deselect all objects on the spread and its pasteboard, choose Edit > Deselect All. Or, with the Selection tool or Direct Selection tool, click at least 3 pixels away from any object.

The Select All command has a different effect depending on the situation:

  • If the Selection tool  is active, all paths and frames on the spread and pasteboard are selected, with their bounding boxes active.

  • If the Direct Selection tool  is active and an object is direct-selected, Select All selects all the anchor points of that object but does not select any other object. If nothing is selected, Select All selects all the path objects on the spread and pasteboard.

  • If the Type tool is active and there is an insertion point in a text frame (indicated by a flashing vertical line), Select All selects all text in that text frame and any text frames threaded to it, but selects no other objects.

  • If an object in a group is selected, Select All selects the rest of the objects in the group but no other objects on the spread.

  1. Select the tool you want to use. If desired, select an object or place the insertion point in a text frame.
  2. Choose Edit > Select All.
    Note: The Select All command doesn’t select nested objects, objects that are positioned on locked or hidden layers, master page items that are not overridden on document pages, or objects on other spreads and pasteboards (except for threaded text).