User Guide

GNU Image Manipulation Program
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How to solve: Either anchor the floating selection, or convert it into an ordinary (non-floating) layer. If you need help on
how to do this, see
Floating Selections.
The selection is hidden
Figure 4.2: Unstuck show selection menu
In the View menu, make sure that "Show Selection" is checked.
How to tell: If this is the problem, merely reading this will already have made you realize it, probably, but to explain in
any case: sometimes the flickering line that outlines the selection is annoying because it makes it hard to see important
details of the image, so GIMP gives you the option of hiding the selection, by unchecking Show Selection in the View
menu. It is easy to forget that you have done this, though.
How to fix: If this hasn’t rung any bells, it isn’t the problem, and if it has, you probably know how to fix it, because it
doesn’t happen unless you explicitly tell it to; but anyway: just go to the View menu for the image and, if Show Selection
is unchecked, click on it..
You are acting outside of the selection
Figure 4.3: Unstuck select all
Click All in the Select menu to make sure that everything is selected.
How to fix: If doing this has destroyed a selection that you wanted to keep, hit Ctrl-Z (undo) a couple of times to restore
it, and then we’ll figure out what the problem is. There are a couple of possibilities. If you couldn’t see any selection,
there may have been a very tiny one, or even one that contained no pixels. If this was the case, it surely is not a selection