Does a selection stop me from drawing outside it?

Not by default. A selection is just a selection: you can paint, fill and draw anywhere while one is active. Turn on Limit edits to selection in the selection tool's menu and it becomes a mask — only cells inside the selection can be modified.

Which tools honor Limit edits to selection?

Every tool that changes stitches: Brush, Fill, Shape, Text, Line, Gradient and Confetti Cleanup. Backstitches, knots, beads and motifs are placed as objects and are not clipped.

Does the switch stay on when I switch tools?

Yes. The selection persists across tool switches, and so does the switch. Draw a selection with V, turn the limit on, paint with B, fill with G — the mask holds until you turn it off or deselect (Cmd/Ctrl+D).

Why did my symmetric stroke only draw on one side?

Limit edits to selection is on and the mirrored half of the stroke landed outside the selection. Switch the limit off, or deselect, and the mirror comes back.

Selection & Tools

Basics

A selection on its own doesn't get in the way of the drawing tools. Draw a rectangle, switch to the Brush, and you can paint anywhere on the chart, inside the selection or out.

When you do want the selection to protect the rest of the pattern, switch on Limit edits to selection in the selection tool's menu. From then on every drawing tool restricts its edits to the selected region, and cells outside the boundary can't be painted, filled or stamped over until you switch it off.

Limit edits to selection — paint only within the selected area

The switch is off by default and stays wherever you set it, so you decide when a selection is a mask and when it is simply a selection.

How it works

With the limit on, the selection is a binary mask — a grid the same size as your pattern where each cell is either "selected" (editable) or "not selected" (protected).

When you use a drawing tool:

The tool calculates which cells it would normally affect (brush stroke, fill region, shape area, etc.).
Those cells are filtered through the selection mask.
Only cells that are both affected by the tool AND inside the selection are actually modified.

With the limit off, step 2 is skipped and the tool changes every cell it touches.

To remove the constraint, switch Limit edits to selection off, or press Cmd/Ctrl+D to deselect.

Tool-by-tool behavior

With Limit edits to selection on:

Tool	How the selection affects it
Brush	Brush strokes are clipped to the selection boundary. You can paint freely — only selected cells change.
Fill	Flood fill is constrained to the selection. The fill expands only within selected cells. Connected cells outside the selection are ignored.
Shape	Rectangles and ellipses are clipped to the selection. Cells inside the shape but outside the selection stay empty.
Text	Stamped text is clipped to the selection. Characters that fall outside the selected area are not rendered.
Line	Line segments are clipped to the selection. Only the portions of the line within the selection appear.
Confetti Cleanup	Auto mode cleans only selected cells. Brush mode operates only within the selection.

Tool-by-tool — brush, fill, and shape all respecting the same selection

Visual feedback

While the limit is on and a drawing tool is active, the left toolbar shows Working in selection with a Clear link, and the bottom bar adds the same note when you hover a tool. With the limit off, neither appears: nothing is being clipped.

The selection boundary itself stays visible after switching tools, so you always know which region is selected.

Tips & gotchas

Selection persists across tools. Draw a selection once, then switch between Brush, Fill, Shape, and Text freely. The selection stays active until you explicitly deselect.
The limit is a switch, not a side effect. A selection left over from a paste or a move won't quietly clip your next stroke. If your edits are being clipped, look for the checkmark next to Limit edits to selection.
Cmd/Ctrl+D to remove. When you're done editing a specific area, deselect to go back to full-canvas editing.
F to fill selection. With the Selection tool active, press F to fill the entire selected area with the active color. No need to switch to the Fill tool or turn on the limit for this.
Selection + Fill is powerful. Select an irregular shape with the Lasso or Magic Wand, turn the limit on, then switch to Fill to color specific regions within it.
Confetti Cleanup can respect the selection. Run Auto cleanup on just the selected area — useful for cleaning up one section without affecting areas you've already hand-edited.
Symmetry and the limit. With the limit on, the mirrored strokes are clipped to the selection too. If a symmetric stroke shows up on one side only, that's why.
No partial cells. A cell is either inside or outside the selection — there's no partial selection. The mask is binary.