How to Use the Lasso Tool in Adobe Illustrator

The Lasso Tool in Adobe Illustrator functions somewhat differently than the Lasso Tool in Adobe Photoshop. The tools look the same and perform similar functions, but you won't see the "marching ants" selection indicators in Illustrator that appear in Photoshop. The Lasso Tool in Illustrator serves as an object -- rather than pixel -- selection device.

Instructions

1. Launch Adobe Illustrator and open a new document by clicking "File" in the menu bar and choosing "New" from the drop-down menu.

2. Make a few filled and stroked shapes on your document for practice using the Rectangle Tool or one of the other shape tools in the toolbar.

3. Click on the Lasso Tool in the toolbar. Click in the document and draw a closed loop around the shape you wish to select.

4. Notice that the shape you encircled now has a highlighted path indicating it is selected. Click in the document again and this time draw a path around several of the shape items. All of them are chosen as a selection.

Tips & Warnings

• Hold down the shift key to highlight more than one type of object at once.

• You will not get marching ants - that's only in Photoshop.

References

• Adobe Illustrator CS5: Select Objects With the Lasso Tool
• informIT: Adobe Illustrator CS5 on Demand: Working With Objects