Selection and Editing¶

Selection and editing operations are unified across schematic and PCB editors via the selection system. This page covers selection basics, moving, context menus, clipboard, and keyboard operations.

Selection Basics¶

Action	Input	Result
Select one item	Left-click on it	Single selection (previous cleared)
Add to selection	`Ctrl`"Click"++	Add item to existing selection
Box select	Left-click + drag on empty area	Selects all items whose bounds intersect the box
Clear selection	Click on empty area	Deselects everything

Selection storage¶

Items are tracked by type:

Selection set	Editor	Stored items
Components	Schematic	Component IDs
Wires	Schematic	Wire IDs
Graphics	Both	Graphic object IDs
Traces	PCB	Trace IDs
Vias	PCB	Via IDs
Holes	PCB	Hole IDs

Moving Selection¶

Select one or more items.
Click and drag them on the canvas.
Items follow the cursor in real time.
On mouse release:

Editor	Command	What's captured
Schematic	an undoable move command	Component positions + wire geometries
PCB	an undoable move command	Footprint, trace, via, and hole positions

Undo (Ctrl+Z) restores all items to their exact previous positions, including wire/trace shapes.

Context Menus¶

Right-click on any object to open a context-specific menu:

Schematic context menus¶

Object	Available actions
Component	Rotate, Edit Properties, Delete
Wire	Delete, Change Net, Start Dragging Segment
Graphic	Delete, Change Layer, Change Color
Net label	Edit Net Name, Delete
Empty canvas	Paste (if clipboard has content)

PCB context menus¶

Object	Available actions
Footprint	Rotate, Flip, Unplace, Edit 3D Model, Delete
Trace	Delete, Change Net
Via	Delete, Edit Properties
Graphic	Delete, Change Layer
Empty canvas	Paste

Copy, Cut, Paste¶

Schematic clipboard¶

Operation	Shortcut	Handler
Copy	`Ctrl`+`C`	Copy handler — stores selected components and wires
Cut	`Ctrl`+`X`	Copy + Delete
Paste	`Ctrl`+`V`	Paste handler → a paste command

During schematic paste:

New components are created via the paste operation.
New wires are added via the wire system.
Component IDs are remapped (R1 → R5) to avoid conflicts.
Wire pin attachments are remapped from old to new IDs.

PCB clipboard¶

Operation	Shortcut	Handler
Copy	`Ctrl`+`C`	Copy handler — stores footprints, traces, vias, holes, graphics
Cut	`Ctrl`+`X`	Copy + Delete
Paste	`Ctrl`+`V`	Paste handler — places at mouse position with preserved geometry

During PCB paste:

Relative positions between items are preserved.
New IDs are generated for all pasted items.
The pasted group follows the mouse until you click to place.

Keyboard Operations¶

Operation	Shortcut	Description
Undo	`Ctrl`+`Z`	Reverts the last command from the command history system
Redo	`Ctrl`+`Y` or `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Z`	Re-applies the last undone command
Delete	`Del` or `Backspace`	Deletes the current selection
Copy	`Ctrl`+`C`	Copy selection to clipboard
Cut	`Ctrl`+`X`	Cut selection
Paste	`Ctrl`+`V`	Paste from clipboard
Rotate	`R`	Rotate selected items
Flip	`F`	Flip selected items (PCB: front/back)
Select All	`Ctrl`+`A`	Select all items on the canvas

All operations go through the Command pattern — every mutation pushes to the undo stack, enabling full undo/redo history.

See Keyboard Shortcuts for the complete key binding reference.