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I was using the Free Select Tool in GIMP to plot points, and then I wanted to go back to a previous point to adjust it, but unfortunately I didn't perfectly hit the point to enable it to move, so it created another point.

You can see it in the red encircled area that it attempted to draw the selection instead of dragging the existing point, thus ruining my selection point list. This sometimes happens when I have already made a long list of points.

How do I undo that without needing to redo the points again? If I press Ctrl+Z, it will remove all my points instead of the last point mistake.

enter image description here

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    Hi. It's better to use the paths tool for something like this, then you won't have that problem. Also the paths tool can be used to create curved selections.
    – Billy Kerr
    Commented Aug 14, 2023 at 7:18
  • @BillyKerr The free select tool seems more convenient because it creates a selection directly. I did not see how to create a selection after using the paths tool. The paths tool also lost all paths when selecting another tool and I was not able to restore them.
    – baptx
    Commented Feb 1 at 20:06
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    @baptx the free select tool doesn't make nice curves. It's too basic for more complex work. The paths tool creates a path in the paths panel. You can just select it again if you want to edit it. To create a selection from a path you drew, just hit ENTER.
    – Billy Kerr
    Commented Feb 1 at 22:02
  • @BillyKerr Thanks, the paths were displayed on a left panel (path history) and right panel but to display them on the image, I had to use the right panel. Then I had to edit the previous path and click on the last point before continuing the path. If I understand correctly, with the free select tool, if we press for example the escape key, there is no way to get back the points, unlike the paths tool.
    – baptx
    Commented Mar 18 at 13:06

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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I just figured it out now. I can just press Backspace

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    Glad you figured it out. But for complicated stuff, Paths are a much more practical solution than the free select tool.
    – xenoid
    Commented Aug 14, 2023 at 6:27
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    @xenoid Why is it more practical? Because all points are not lost with Ctrl+Z?
    – baptx
    Commented Nov 17, 2023 at 23:53
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    1) With the lasso you can only move nodes around, but you cannot add delete node without undoing up to the point where you insert/delete a node. With the path you can add/delete a node at any time.And mostly 2) in case you find you didn't get it completely right, you can later edit the path just by doing minor tweaks to the existing path, when with the free select tool you may have to redo the whole selection from scratch. Then 3) Edit > Stroke path gives much cleaner results than Edit > Stroke selection
    – xenoid
    Commented Nov 18, 2023 at 0:19

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