How to maintain selection when changin active layer in Fireworks?

Question

I have to make bubble-like "holes" in a number of layers (just coloured rectangles). I have the bubble in a separate layer also. In Photoshop I'd do:

1. select bubble with the magic wand
2. select layer I need to make hole in
3. move selection if needed and press 'delete'

However in FW when I select a layer (2) it gets automatically selected, so my bubble selection is dropped. Feeling like without hands :(

Answer 1

You can achieve a similar effect by selecting a current bitmap/object and then Alt/Option + Left Clicking another object/bitmap's preview thumbnail (in the Layers window), from any layer, to create a marquee/magic wand selection of that object/bitmap.

E.g. You have a circle path in Layer 1 and a rectangle bitmap in Layer 2. With the rectangle bitmap (in Layer 2) selected, Alt/Option + Left Click the circle path preview thumbnail of the circle, a marquee will appear in the shape of the circle path.

Note: This trick only works when you have you either select or currently have a bitmap object selected. (i.e., selecting a path and another path will not work, but a bitmap and a text object will work.)

Alternatively, you can save/retrieve a marquee selection via:

• Select > Save Bitmap Selection

-or-

• Select > Restore Bitmap Selection (You can also invert the selection here)