The behaviour of layers in PS7 vrs Elements 9?
Allow me to begin by saying that this is an amazing site you are building. I found you via youtube and I'm delighted. Everything is so very well done.
Here's my question. I have been using Photoshop 7 and now have a brand new copy of Elements 9. I think I'll make the transition OK except for one particular sequence I use often which goes as follows: using a pattern, I select an area pf the pattern and 'paste into' the selection. In PS7, that action creates a new layer and puts the pasted image in it (good), but in Elements 9 it seems to put it right on the background with the original pattern (bad).
Can I change that somehow. Is there a simple work around?
Hi Kathryn,
Thanks for your comments, I really appreciate them.
Interesting issue you've got there. I tried it myself, so first of all here's the behaviour associated with both the full version of Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.
- Photoshop CS4 - Photoshop creates a new layer with a mask attached to define where the pasted layer should be visible (inside the selection outline).
- Photoshop Elements 9 - Photoshop Elements adds the pasted object straight into the currently active layer, so a new layer is not created.
This is consistent with your findings.
So why two different approaches to the exact same command?
Well, I believe it's all down to the layer mask. In the full version of Photoshop, masks are and always have been supported (at least for the last 10 years). Photoshop uses these masks to allow a paste onto a new layer because it has the means to hide the unwanted regions of the pasted object from view, thereby keeping the paste inside the boundaries of your selection outline.
Photoshop Elements on the other hand hasn't historically supported layer masks and so I guess the command was coded to add the pasted object to the current layer. Photoshop Elements 9 is the first version to (of the Elements software) to support masks, so either the desired feature is not yet available, or there's a bug. I suspect it was overlooked when the Adobe engineers turned on the masking capability.
Either way, I'd suggest filling out a feature request/bug report form at the Adobe website, here's the link-
https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform&product=72
So what's the solution?
The easiest solution I can see is to manually create a new layer before using the 'Paste Into' command. You can do that by pressing CTRL + SHIFT N, giving it a name (if required) and pressing ENTER.
I hope that helps, and great question by the way!
Regards
Matt
Yes, that worked. I'll have a hard time remembering to do that at first, but I am glad to find it is possible.
Thank you.
Hi. Me again.
I'm wondering if you know if the 'paste into' sequence we talked about earlier has been fixed in Elements 10?