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### 2.4. Free Selection Tool (Lasso)

Free Selection icon in the Toolbox

The Free Selection tool, or Lasso, lets you create a selection by drawing it free-hand with the pointer, while holding down the left mouse button (or, for a stylus, pressing it against the tablet). When you release the mouse button, the selection is closed by connecting the current pointer location to the start location with a straight line. You can go outside the edge of the image display and come back in if you want to. The Lasso is often a good tool to use for "roughing in" a selection; it is not so good for precise definition. Experienced users find that it is often convenient to begin with the lasso tool, but then switch to QuickMask mode for detail work.

For information on selections and how they are used in GIMP see Selections. For information on features common to all selection tools see Selection Tools.

| Note
The Free Selection tool is much easier to use with a tablet than with a mouse.

#### How to Activate

The Lasso Tool can be activated from an image menu as Tools->Selection Tools->Free Select; from the Toolbox by clicking on the tool icon ; or from the keyboard using the shortcut f.

#### Key modifiers

The Free Select tool does not have any special key modifiers, only the ones that affect all selection tools in the same way. See Selection Tools for help with these.

#### Options

Tool Options for the Lasso tool

The Free Select tool does not have any special tool options, only the ones that affect all selection tools in the same way. See Selection Tools for help with these.

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