Mac Version - How to Select and De-select multipl items?

I’m very familiar with the Windows version of LB.
Also have several Macs, and am trying to do some cleanup…

Typically one could highlight an area and group-select all items within it…
In Windows, one can hold SHIFT+CTRL and click to de-select several items.

This option seems to not exist on the Mac side - or at least I can’t locate it…
highly problematic…

what am I missing?

What version of LightBurn and which OS (and version) are you using? The following is the documentation for how selection and the options work. Please review and let us know the exact steps you take, and the result you expect vs what you observe, and we can go from there.

I’ve got 15 Macs and 2 windows boxes (I think 8 and 10 but couldn’t care less)… LIghtburn is on 3 or 4 of the Macs - OS’s 10.13, 10.15, and a flavor of Big Sur.
All of them are consistent: the Windows boxes have standard key strokes for group select/deselect…
The Mac doesn’t… I would think that (to be true to the windows flavor) it would be shift/control, but that’s not working.
It should NOT be shift/control because that’s a global key sequence used by Apple to invoke system-wide options on all apps and in the Finder… But it wouldn’t surprise me if LB did that and it’s just a design error on their part.
I"d just like to know how to shift-deselect items within LB.

We do map keys to the expected based on OS, so in the case of macOS, you would hold and use the ‘command’ key () to remove items from the current selection. :slight_smile:

ok, that’s really really confusing…

sorry - i’m an old Mac guy - have literally built and written Mac OS apps from version 7 to version 11…
not a single app ever (in the history of my knowledge of Macs) have I ever seen someone use the command key as an ‘opt’ option… that’s definitely a new one on me…

The normal Mac route would be to have it be SHIFT+click… or SHIFT+opt+click… COMMAND is literally never used for that.

Use of the ‘command’ key () is not as uncommon as your reply would have one think. Below, I share a single menu from a different publisher’s Mac app as an example.

And another example from this known publisher :slight_smile:,

From Apple Developer documentation,

Custom keyboard shortcuts

It’s important for custom keyboard shortcuts to use modifier keys in ways that people expect.

Here are the modifier keys and the symbols that represent them.

Modifier Key Symbol
Control A shallow, upside-down V shape.
Option Line segments that suggest a horizontally transformed Z shape combined with a short horizontal segment aligned with the top of the Z.
Shift Outline of an upward-pointing arrow.
Command Outline of a stylized clover shape.

Prefer the Command key as the main modifier key in a custom keyboard shortcut. Most standard keyboard shortcuts use the Command key, so people are familiar with it.

Prefer the Shift key as a secondary modifier when the shortcut complements another shortcut. For example, Command-P displays the Print dialog in most apps. The standard shortcut for the Page Setup dialog, which complements printing, is typically Shift-Command-P.

Use the Option modifier sparingly. For example, you might use Option in the shortcut for a less-common command or a convenience or power feature. For example, the Finder uses Option-Command-W for Close All Windows and Option-Command-M for Minimize All Windows.

As much as possible, avoid using the Control key as a modifier. The system uses Control in many systemwide features, like moving focus or capturing screenshots.

I use MacDraft, a drafting package from the early 80’s who’s keyboard commands have remained remarkably consistent.

I was happy when using LB’s tools that these same commands (mostly) carry over.

To select a subset of objects in the LB workspace, just hold down the shift key, then select each object in turn. Once they are selected you can group/ungroup them, move them in unison, etc.

Hope this helps!

Sorry - you’re conflating use of Command as an action WITH mouse, and COmmand as a command key…
with Apple, the command key is a modifier key, not a mouse + command key… If you’d like to argue that, can you show a single app where commnd+ click is common?? I would argue it is an outlier, and I’d say that your use of it as you did is the antithesis of most Apple app management.

In NEARLY EVERY Mac graphic app, Shift+click is used to selectively add or delete additional selection items.
that is the industry standard in Mac.

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