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= Select, Move, Scale and Rotate Objects =

[[PageOutline(2-10,Table of Contents)]]

[[JOSMImage(mapmode/move/move,link=,48,middle,margin-right=20)]] ''Keyboard shortcut:'' '''{{{S}}}''' (Press `S` twice for [[JOSMImage(mapmode/rope,20,middle)]] [wikitr:/Help/Action/LassoMode Lasso selection mode]) — is one of the [wikitr:/Help/EditToolbar working modes]

== Select mode == #Selecttool

This mode is to change the selection of [wikitr:/Help/Concepts/Object objects] on the map.

The selected objects are drawn in a different style (red color by default); depending on [wikitr:/Help/Preferences/Display preferences] and the [wikitr:/Help/Dialog/MapPaint active styles]. They are listed in the [wikitr:/Help/Dialog/SelectionList Selection window].

The cursor icon will also change depending on the selection mode.

=== Select the single object === #Selectsingle
==== Single left mouse click is used to select an object ====

Cursor: with node [[JOSMImage(cursor/modifier/select_node,middle)]]; with way [[JOSMImage(cursor/modifier/select_way,middle)]]

Activation steps: {{{Left mouse click}}}

Action: Select a node or way under mouse cursor. 

More precisely, ''previously selected object(s)'' will be '''replaced''' with new object and displayed [wikitr:/Help/Dialog/SelectionList in Selection window].

==== Unselecting an object ====

Cursor: with node [[JOSMImage(cursor/modifier/select_node_remove,middle)]]; with way [[JOSMImage(cursor/modifier/select_way_remove,middle)]]

Activation steps: hold {{{Ctrl}}} when using {{{Left mouse button}}}[[BR(Formerly the Alt key was described as activator. That came in with version 37)]]

Action: a way or node will be removed from the ''currently selected objects''

==== Cycle in dense or overlapping objects with pop-up ====

Cursor: none

Activation steps:
* {{{Middle mouse click}}} to cycle objects with small pop-up
* {{{Left mouse click}}} while holding the {{{Alt}}} (or {{{AltGr}}}) key to cycle through nearby objects '''without showing a pop-up window'''

This is useful when: 

* certain way which **shares common nodes** with one or more other ways
* multiple '''objects overlap'''
* multiple '''objects very close to each other'''
* selecting between multiple nodes if they appear as single node (multiple dots appear as one)

Action: it will show a pop-up window of nearby objects and to cycle through them. To make this type of selection the default, and thus not require the use of the **{{{Alt}}}** key, change the [wikitr:/Help/Preferences/Advanced advanced preference] {{{selectaction.cycles.multiple.matches}}} to true.  Holding {{{Ctrl}}} afterwards to directly select an object.

==== Double click selects surrounding ====

Cursor: none

Activation steps: {{{Double mouse click}}} 

Action: select the surrounding object ([wikitr:/Help/Concepts/Object#Areas area] or [wikitr:/Help/Concepts/Object#Relations multipolygon]).

=== Selection rectangle === #Selectrectangle
==== Select multiple objects using selection rectangle ====

Cursor: [[JOSMImage(cursor/modifier/selection,middle)]]

Activation steps: hold and drag the {{{Left mouse button}}} around objects

Actions: 
* Release the {{{Left mouse button}}} - to select all [wikitr:/Help/Concepts/Object objects] within the rectangle, more precisely:
 * all nodes within the rectangle and 
 * any ways which are '''entirely within the rectangle''' will be selected
 * ''previously selected objects'' will be '''replaced with new object(s)''' and displayed [wikitr:/Help/Dialog/SelectionList in Selection window] 
* Hold the {{{Right mouse button}}} when releasing the left mouse button - cancel the selection rectangle

==== Hold right mouse to move rectangle ====

You can move defined rectangle as many times as you want: simply hold right mouse button and move mouse cursor around.

Pay attention that in order to select elements, you should release right mouse button first, then left mouse button.

==== Modifiers ====
When the mouse button is released and either **{{{Alt}}}**, **{{{Shift}}}** or **{{{Ctrl}}}** is held, action will changed; 3 paragraphs below cover it in detail.

====== Combination of modifiers ======
* {{{Alt}}} can be combined with {{{Shift}}}
* {{{Alt}}} can't be combined with {{{Ctrl}}} - as this is used for the **[#Scale scale]** command

====== Alt modifier ======

Cursor: none

Activation steps: {{{Alt}}}

Actions: in addition to the normal behaviour, select all ways that have at least one node within selection rectangle

====== Shift modifier ======

Cursor: [[JOSMImage(cursor/modifier/select_add,middle)]]

Activation steps: {{{Shift}}}

Actions: the [wikitr:/Help/Concepts/Object objects] are added to the current selection

====== Ctrl modifier ======

Cursor: [[JOSMImage(cursor/modifier/select_remove,middle)]]

Activation steps: 

Actions: remove all [wikitr:/Help/Concepts/Object objects] in current rectangle from selected objects (if there were any); nothing is added to the current selection.

== Move == #Move

You can move the whole selection by moving the pointer close to a selected object, click and drag the pointer.

Moving is also possible with **`Shift + Arrow keys`**.

[[JOSMImage(mapmode/improvewayaccuracy,16,middle)]] [wikitr:/Help/Action/ImproveWayAccuracy Improve Way Accuracy] - over time many mappers switch to this tools instead of manually selecting-and-moving each node

=== Drag a Midpoint creates New Node ===

Activation steps: ''clicking and dragging'' a yellow cross in the middle of a segment; at any point in time, there N mid points to drag where N is number of segments.

Action: will insert a new node at the location of the cross

== Merge nodes == #Mergenodes

Cursor: [[JOSMImage(cursor/modifier/joinnode,middle)]]

Activation steps: hold down {{{Ctrl}}} and drag one selected node onto an unselected one

Action: merge selected nodes with another; internally it will simply use [wikitr:/Help/Action/MergeNodes Merge Nodes] - please read more details there.

== Rotate == #Rotate

Cursor: [[JOSMImage(cursor/rotate,middle)]]

Activation steps: {{{Shift+Ctrl}}} + {{{Left mouse button}}} and moving mouse up and down

Action: rotate selected nodes and ways around their geometrical centre.

Rotation at defined angles is possible via the [osmwiki:JOSM/Plugins/ShapeTools ShapeTools Plugin].

== Scale == #Scale

Cursor: [[JOSMImage(cursor/scale,middle)]]

Activation steps: {{{Ctrl+Alt}}} + {{{Left mouse button}}} and moving mouse up and down

Action: 

* scale selected nodes and ways around their geometrical centre. Proportions will be kept.
* if used only on 2 nodes, it will move them from or to their mid point (depending on mouse move)

== Advanced details ==#Advanceddetails
Whether a mouse action is considered a selection or a move depends on some settings, to prevent objects from being moved when a simple selection was intended; this is particularly important on devices such as tablets that are touch sensitive or use a stylus. If the pointer is moved between pressing and releasing the left mouse button, the object will only be moved if the pointer moved more than 5 pixels or was held down for more than 0.2 seconds, otherwise the object will simply be selected. These two settings can be changed with the [wikitr:/Help/Preferences/Advanced advanced preferences] {{{edit.initial-move-threshold}}} (pixels) and {{{edit.initial-move-delay}}} (milliseconds).

== See also ==
* [wikitr:/Shortcuts#Altkey] - if {{{Alt}}} doesn't work
* [wikitr:/Help/Action/UnselectAll Unselect all] {{{Escape}}}
* [wikitr:/Help/Plugin/UtilsPlugin2 UtilsPlugin2] contains additional selection functionality

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