It's no secret that Illustrator's path/point/handle selection interface is just about the most cumbersome of all. In fact, only the most devoted Illustrator-only users deny it. These scripts are mere workarounds for some of the awkward selection chores; but they do make life a little easier in a few common situations.

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For example, most programs offer the user the choice of whether marquee selection is "contact sensitive." Illustrator doesn't. Its selection marquees always select everything they touch, not just what they surround. In some situations that's what you want. In others, it's not. The Marquee Deselect Partials and Marquee Select Rest scripts don't really fix that; but they do provide a reasonable workaround by modifying the selection after-the-fact.

Link to example image JET_SelectSameLength2ptPaths.jsx
Selects paths in the document which have 2 points and are the same length as the currently selected 2-point path. Purpose: to select the individual dashes of dashed lines which commonly come into AI from converted DXF files. Useful for removing "hidden lines" from such files.

To Use: Select one 2-point path. Run the script. The script searches for other 2-point paths which are the same length, and adds them to the current selection. The selected paths can then be either deleted or joined by the JET_Join Nearest script.

Link to example image JET_MarqueeDeselectPartials.jsx
RWhen making marquee selections in Illustrator, all objects crossed or touched by the selection marquee are selected. Unlike most other drawing programs, Illustrator does not provide a Contact Sensitive toggle setting to cause marquee selection to select only objects which are fully enclosed by the marquee. This script deselects paths in the current selection which are only partially selected.

To Use: Make a marquee or lasso selection which completely surrounds the paths desired for selection. Then run the script. Additional paths which were only partially selected become deselected.

Link to example image JET_MarqueeSelectRest.jsx
When making marquee selections in Illustrator, all objects crossed or touched by the selection marquee are selected. Unlike most other drawing programs, Illustrator does not provide a Contact Sensitive toggle setting to cause marquee selection to select only objects which are fully enclosed by the marquee. This script finds paths in the current selection which are only partially selected, and adds their unselected points to the selection.

To Use: Make a marquee or lasso selection which surrounds, touches, or crosses the paths desired for selection. Then run the script. All paths which were at least partially selected become completely selected.