User Guide

Chapter 5: Painting And Image Editing
To create a paint object from a selection:
With a selection in an image, choose New Image from Selection in the context menu. To display
the context menu, right-click within the selection.
New images from selections and floating selections
When you choose New Image from Selection, Canvas removes the selection from the image or
deselects the selection in the image. The selection appears as a new paint object in the same
location.
Whether a selection is removed from an image depends on whether the selection is floating. The
opacity of the resulting object also differs for floating and non-floating selections.
If a selection is not floating, Canvas deselects it but otherwise doesn’t change the original image
when you create an object from the selection. The selected pixels keep their original opacity in the
new object.
If a selection is floating, Canvas removes the selection. The effect is the same as deleting a selection:
the background color replaces the selected pixels, or, if the object has a visibility mask, a clear
background replaces the selected pixels. In the new object, the pixels are opaque, regardless of their
original opacity.
Clear backgrounds in new paint objects
A paint object created from a selection always has a clear, rather than opaque background, and a
visibility mask.
Paint objects are rectangular. If a selection is not rectangular, Canvas places the selection on a clear
background. This is why creating a paint object from a selection is like transferring the selection to a
clear overlay on the original image.
If you select Preserve Visibility in the Channels palette, a visibility mask preserves the transparency
of all pixels in the image. You can paint or use filters without affecting clear areas.
If Preserve Visibility is not selected, you can erase to a clear background and affect all pixels by
painting and editing.
Converting selections to paths
Canvas can trace a selection in an image to create a path (vector object) from the selection border.
The Selection to Path command traces the active image selection border using the settings you
specify. This is useful if you want to convert a selection border to a vector object that can be used as
a clipping path, for example.
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