Perhaps, I have not found the correct photoline options yet but I wish there would be a few additional commands for working with layers.
In the edit menu:
- "copy visible" ( without the necessity to select anything; the "merged copy" command is always greyed out for me; although I have selected everything ???)
in the layer menu and the layer dialog context menu:
- "merge down" (to combine a layer with the directly underlying one)
- and perhaps also a "merge visible"
I believe there are workarounds for these commands ( first group two layers and then "reduce to one layer' becomes available) but they seem to be not very straightforward
wishes, questions - working with layers
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lutz
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Martin Huber
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Re: wishes, questions - working with layers
What should "copy visible" do exactly?lutz hat geschrieben:In the edit menu:
- "copy visible" ( without the necessity to select anything;
"Merged Copy" is an image processing function. Therefore it doesn't need a layer selection but an image selection (lasso). If you create a lasso by using one of the lasso tools, you should be able to access "Merged Copy".lutz hat geschrieben:the "merged copy" command is always greyed out for me; although I have selected everything ???)
What's the difference between "Merge to background" and "Merge visible"?lutz hat geschrieben:- and perhaps also a "merge visible"
Yes, these actions are a replacement for "merge down".lutz hat geschrieben:I believe there are workarounds for these commands ( first group two layers and then "reduce to one layer' becomes available) but they seem to be not very straightforward
Martin
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lutz
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Re: wishes, questions - working with layers
Hello Martin,
thanks for the reply.
"copy visible" would copy the complete image ( what is currently visible from it as result of layer masks, blend modes , etc; essentialy a complete merged down version) to the clipboard. Very similar to the "merged copy" - the only problem is that the merged copy only seems to work with a manual lasso (it never reacts for me to: edit>select all ; is there an easy way to select the complete image with the lasso as a workaround? At the moment I would zoom out to make the image smaller than the working area, adjust the lasso tool options [no soft edge; not proportional] to be able to select the complete image with the lasso, then drag a rectangle around the image ).
"Copy visible" should work without the necessity to select anything (applying a selection optional to restrict the tool).
The difference between "Merge to background" and "Merge visible" would be that "Merge to background" is a bit more restricted if one works with multiple layers. It only merges the selected layer with the very defined and special property background layer. "Merge visible" (layers with "eye" visible; another option would of course be "merge marked") would not necessarily include the background layer but freely selectable layers instead. For example, I usually like to preserve the original image as background.
"reduce to one layer" is wonderful and necessary when working with grouped layers. But the necessity to first generate a group only to be able to merge two layers seems inconvenient to me. A command like "merge down" would potentially save a lot of mouse clicks.
thanks for the reply.
"copy visible" would copy the complete image ( what is currently visible from it as result of layer masks, blend modes , etc; essentialy a complete merged down version) to the clipboard. Very similar to the "merged copy" - the only problem is that the merged copy only seems to work with a manual lasso (it never reacts for me to: edit>select all ; is there an easy way to select the complete image with the lasso as a workaround? At the moment I would zoom out to make the image smaller than the working area, adjust the lasso tool options [no soft edge; not proportional] to be able to select the complete image with the lasso, then drag a rectangle around the image ).
"Copy visible" should work without the necessity to select anything (applying a selection optional to restrict the tool).
The difference between "Merge to background" and "Merge visible" would be that "Merge to background" is a bit more restricted if one works with multiple layers. It only merges the selected layer with the very defined and special property background layer. "Merge visible" (layers with "eye" visible; another option would of course be "merge marked") would not necessarily include the background layer but freely selectable layers instead. For example, I usually like to preserve the original image as background.
"reduce to one layer" is wonderful and necessary when working with grouped layers. But the necessity to first generate a group only to be able to merge two layers seems inconvenient to me. A command like "merge down" would potentially save a lot of mouse clicks.