Selections do not transfer over .to new layers

[decimate555]

Hello

 

I'm not sure if this should be here under feature request or if it's just a usability issue…

 

When making selections (luminosity mask, marquee, magic wand, etc.) of any pixel area and pressing command+J to duplicate the layer, the entire layer gets duplicated rather than just the selected portion intended to transfer over.

 

I also tried to see if a workaround such as putting the selected portions of an image to the clipboard and just pasting in place to an empty layer… no dice.

 

How are Photo users dealing with getting around with moving selected portions from layer to layer?

 

I like the command+J method (like with PS) because I can quickly copy layer sections over and have it remain in place as the original layer, yes I can mask it and rasterise (to make mask clip permanent) and then go from there, but that's another added step I don't always want to use when doing quick comps. (automated actions could help in this scenario?)

 

 

Thank you

[MEB]

Hi decimate555,

Select the area you want to transfer to a new layer, then copy ⌘ (cmd) + C and paste ⌘ (cmd)+ V. Affinity will paste the selected content in a new layer. 

[decimate555]

Thanks  MEB… 

 

Funny, for some reason my clipboard was not responding as stated earlier, I rebooted my machine and now it works, and it pasted in place. :)

 

Do you know if the team is considering adding functionality to transfer only selected portions when duplicating layers, it's kind've an expected behavior with most photo editing software?

[Andy Somerfield]

Hi,

 

It's actually working for me - I make a marquee selection, then him Cmd-J (Duplicate) and the new layer only contains the marquee selection from the original layer..

 

Are you doing the duplicate a different way?

 

Thanks,

 

Andy.

[MEB]

Sorry decimate555,

Forgot to comment about the ⌘ (cmd)+J.

It's also working fine here.

[Pacius]

I make a marquee selection, then him Cmd-J (Duplicate) and the new layer only contains the marquee selection from the original layer..

I repeat these steps and result is duplicated layer as a whole, marquee tool having no effect...

[Pacius]

_{Also tried the other way in vain;}

 Select the area you want to transfer to a new layer, then copy ⌘ (cmd) + C and paste ⌘ (cmd)+ V. Affinity will paste the selected content in a new layer...

[Madame]

Hi, sorry to ask such a dumb question, but are you sure you are working on the right layer?

[decimate555]

Hello everyone, 

 

I think I discovered a bug.

 

1) If you open an image directly (file>open  or  drag a jpg to the Photo icon) then select an area and then command+J, everything seems to work just as expected.

 

2) Make a new blank document, and DRAG an image (I tested with JPGs) onto the canvas whether from the stock photo palette or from the finder, then select with marquee and command+J the area… the entire layer duplicates when only the selected portion should.

 

After all this, I realized I'm also not entirely sure how Photo is supposed to treat embedded documents with selected areas also, what's supposed to be correct behavior with that?

 

Using beta build 1.3.1.26723

 

iMac 27" late 2012, 8gb ram, 1gb video, Yosemite 10.10.4

 

Hope that helps.

[Pacius]

I found one explanation,

this "bug" behaviour affects my layers that are marked (image) instead of (pixel). (Original layer is a jpeg image dragged onto a larger document, I am using Photo a little as DTP app while waiting Publisher:)

After rasterizing to (pixel) command+J and +c +v procedures work alright.

Can someone clarify a bit this difference between layer qualities; image vs pixel?

[MEB]

Hi Pacius,

An image layer is considered an object layer type (like text or shapes), while the pixel layer is just a generic "container" where to perform raster operations. If you copy/paste the object it will be duplicated to a new layer entirely, if you do the same on a pixel layer, it only duplicates (copy/paste) the selected pixels.

[Pacius]

Ok. The confusing part is that one is able to apply selection tool to this object layer while it will not have an effect on it. Could this be avoided somehow?

[greiggy]

Hi decimate555,

Select the area you want to transfer to a new layer, then copy ⌘ (cmd) + C and paste ⌘ (cmd)+ V. Affinity will paste the selected content in a new layer. 

I can't make this work at all in Affinity! (I am selecting the right layer).

 

Also, I saw reference to 'Pixel Persona'. Well, I can see Photo Persona, Liquify Persona, Develop Persona and Export Persona -- but not 'Pixel Persona.

[MEB]

Hi greiggy,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

Your layer is probably an Image layer (check if it's identified as Image in the Layers panel between parenthesis) rather than a Pixel layer. Right-click on it and select rasterise to convert it to a pixel layer, then proceed with the selection and copy/paste to a new layer.

An Image layer is considered an object layer type in Affinity Photo like Text or Shapes. A Pixel layer is a generic container where you can perform raster operations.

 

The Pixel Persona is only available in Affinity Designer.

[machadodesign]

Can you please explain the logic in having and image layer versus a pixel layer? Isn't an image made up of pixels? I can understand having embedded object layers so that the object won't be modifiable, but image vs pixel just seems confusing and silly.

[MEB]

Hi machadodesign,

An Image layer is considered an object layer type, that is, you insert it into the the document and it retains all the original image data, not matter if you scale, rotate, or transform it in any way. You can think of it as an "embedded document". You can transform it globally (scale etc) but you can't change its contents (the pixel data).

 

A Pixel layer is simply a generic raster container where you can change/edit pixel data (besides transforming it too - scale, rotate, etc). You can only change pixel data in this type of layer.

 

You can easily see the difference if you open Designer, create a new document and then place/drag a high resolution image to the document. Scale it down to make it a lot smaller. duplicate it and rasterise the duplicate so you can compare the two. You now have an Image layer type and a Pixel layer type. Scale up both images so they become big again and compare their quality

- the (Image) layer - retains the quality of the file you have dragged to the document and this is the information that is used when your entire project is exported

- the (Pixel) layer was rasterised to document's dpi and no longer retains the quality of the original image - it should look pixelated when you enlarge it.

Hope this helps to make the difference clear.

 

Affinity Photo 1.5 introduces some modifications here but i don't want to get into details now since i'm not yet aware of all the changes/implications (Photo 1.5 is still in Beta/development).