How to select everything around a shape in Pixelmator?

Question

Using Pixelmator, quite often I need to draw a shape and then select everything around that shape to apply a filter or change hue/contrast. Is there an easy way to select everything around a shape, specially when the shape is not a rectangle.

For example, in this blog post, I created a red rectangle with round edges:

https://watuhq.wordpress.com/2012/08/17/exporting-applicants-from-a-job-and-improved-staffer-engagement/

and you can see everything around it is grayish. I got away with it because the rectangle is on top of white, so you can't see the edge, but when the rectangle is on top of something with a color, I need to have the selection perfectly around the rectangle, otherwise it looks broken.

Answer 1

1. Click on the shape in the layer list to select it.

2. Right click on the shape in the layer list.

3. Click on "Group".

4. Select Edit -> Load Selection

This will select around the shape itself. If the shape is just a stroke, you might need to use the magic wand or something similar to select/unselect the contents.