Select the Live Paint Selection tool.
Last updated on
May 29, 2026
Learn how to select and modify Live Paint groups and their components.
Choose the appropriate selection tool
You can use these tools to select and modify a Live Paint group or its components:
- Selection tool to select the entire Live Paint group.
- Direct Selection tool to select one or more original paths inside a Live Paint group.
- Live Paint Selection tool to select one or more faces and edges.
When you're working on a complex document, you can isolate a Live Paint group to select the exact path, face, or edge you want easily.
Modify Live Paint group components
When you modify a path in a Live Paint group, Illustrator colors the modified or newly created faces and edges with the fills and strokes from the existing group. If the results are not what you expect, you can reapply the colors you want using the Live Paint Bucket tool.
When you delete paths or edges, the fill floods across any newly expanded face. For example, if you delete a path that divides a circle in half, the circle is filled with one of the fills previously in the circle. You can sometimes help guide the result. For example, before deleting a path that divides a circle, first move it so that the fill you want to keep is larger than the fill you want to remove.
Modify faces and edges
Hover the tool over a face or edge of the Live Paint group. These indications help you ensure that the correct item is in focus:
- The edges around the face in focus are highlighted with a thick color, and the tool pointer changes into .
- The edge in focus is highlighted with a dull color, and the tool pointer changes to . .
Select faces and edges based on your requirement:
- To select a face or edge, click it.
- To select multiple faces and edges, drag a marquee around them. Any faces or edges that are partially enclosed by the marquee are also included in the selection.
- To select all contiguous faces that are not separated by a painted edge, double-click one of them.
- To select all faces with the same fill or all edges with the same stroke, triple-click one of them. Alternatively, click once, choose Select > Same, and then choose Fill Color, Stroke Color, or Stroke Weight.
- To add or remove items from the current selection, Shift-click or Shift-drag a marquee around the items.
Apply or delete colors based on your requirement:
- To apply color to the selected faces, select a Fill color.
- To apply color to the selected edges, select a Stroke color.
- To delete color from the selected faces, press Delete.
- To delete the selected edges, press Delete.
- To delete the selected faces and edges, press Delete.
Tip
Save the fill and stroke colors used in Live Paint groups to the Swatches panel. That way, if a change removes a color you want to keep, you can select its swatch and use the Live Paint Bucket tool to reapply the fill or stroke.
Add paths to a Live Paint group
When you add more paths to the Live Paint group, you can fill and stroke the new faces and edges that are created.
Shift-select the Live Paint group and the paths you want to add to it.
Select Object > Live Paint > Merge.
You can also select Merge Live Paint from the Control panel.
You can also double-click the Live Paint group to enter isolation mode, draw paths, and press Esc to add them to the group. The Layers panel also lets you drag paths into the Live Paint group.
Note
Paths inside a Live Paint group may not exactly align with similar or identical paths outside the Live Paint group.
Adjust or resize paths in a Live Paint group
Use the Direct Selection tool to select the path you want to adjust or one or more paths you want to resize.
Do one of the following:
- To adjust the path shape, drag at an anchor point or a path segment.
- To resize the paths, switch to the Selection tool, and then drag at the points on the bounding box.
You can also double-click the Live Paint group using the Selection tool to put it in isolation mode, and then resize the paths using the Selection tool or adjust them using the Direct Selection tool.
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