How do I copy a layer mask easily

[Jowday]

Searched and found nothing of real use. Nothing that worked.

I do this a thousand times on a yearly basis in Photoshop so it must be possible and easy in Photo?

I need to copy a mask to another layer. Again and again. Here you can see how I can just drag a layer mask to another layer in Photoshop. 

This is my test file:

• Image
  • Live gaussian blur with mask
  • Contrast - brightness layer that needs the exact same layer mask

 

[Jowday]

Allright like this... 

Just totally confusing I can also use the layer itself as a layer mask?

[walt.farrell]

5 minutes ago, Jowday said:

Just totally confusing I can also use the layer itself as a layer mask?

An adjustment layer has a built-in mask, which is why you can just paint on it with white or black to control the adjustment's effect on another layer.

But I'm not sure what you mean about using the layer as a mask. What you have done there is not clear to me from just that picture.

[Jowday]

1 hour ago, walt.farrell said:

An adjustment layer has a built-in mask, which is why you can just paint on it with white or black to control the adjustment's effect on another layer.

But I'm not sure what you mean about using the layer as a mask. What you have done there is not clear to me from just that picture.

I need top copy the layer mask effect from one layer to another. I didn’t figure out how to do that on adjustment layers themselves.

Adding a layer mask to the adjustment  layer instead allows me to duplicate that layer mask layer. So that did the trick.

... or hey... use linked mask layers instead?

First some sleep.

[Ron P.]

Have you tried or thought about using Channels? I think it might make what you're wanting to do easier and faster.

[user_0815]

Duplicate and drag the mask layer.

Alternatively, the way I do it:

1. CMD/CTRL-click on the mask  
2. Add a mask layer or adjustment layer while selection is active

This will add an exact copy of your mask, no matter whether you use the built-in masks or separate masking layers.

 

 

 

[Jowday]

5 hours ago, user_0815 said:

Duplicate and drag the mask layer.

Alternatively, the way I do it:

1. CMD/CTRL-click on the mask  
2. Add a mask layer or adjustment layer while selection is active

This will add an exact copy of your mask, no matter whether you use the built-in masks or separate masking layers.

Mask Duplicate .mov Mask 1.mov Adjustment with mask.mov

I had no mask layer! I had drawn the mask on the adjustment layer itself.

Notice... no mask layer.

But if I use the new linked layers in Photo (Layers -> Duplicate Linked)... I can create and update one mask layer and the linked duplicates of this layer will update automatically to reflect those updates!

Notice the link symbol.

 

In this case I could just use the mask on the group itself only - it was a theoretical question though. It confused me that I could draw masks on the adjustment layer itself - I thought THAT was the only mask option I had. 🙂

[user_0815]

Ok then. I thought you needed a hand.

[walt.farrell]

7 hours ago, Jowday said:

But if I use the new linked layers in Photo (Layers -> Duplicate Linked)... I can create and update one mask layer and the linked duplicates of this layer will update automatically to reflect those updates!

Notice the link symbol.

 

That's an interesting observation, but it does require having a separate mask layer, not simply drawing on the built-in mask that each adjustment has. Right?

[Jowday]

1 hour ago, walt.farrell said:

That's an interesting observation, but it does require having a separate mask layer, not simply drawing on the built-in mask that each adjustment has. Right?

Correct. Linked mask layers are required. Or that bit of helpful brain activity I got later... where I grouped the adjustment layers and used a mask on THAT! 😄

[Jowday]

1 hour ago, user_0815 said:

Ok then. I thought you needed a hand.

I did. Thank you for your post and advice! But... I didn't use mask layers at all but masks on the adjustment layers:

In this case with no dedicated mask layer - how do I copy mask from the adjustment layer itself copied to another adjustment layer? Easily? If it requires multi-step channel operations I am not really interested (but curious still) - I was looking for something easy peasy like this:

 

But I understand that using dedicated layer masks is probably more clever. I just prefer the one line layer approach in Photoshop. And better thumbnails (full thumbnails, not crops).

[carl123]

Using the linked layers function, you can link different Live Filters, Adjustment etc so that the mask on one Filter/Adjustment is shared with the others

See simple file attached.

Paint (black/white) on the Add Noise Live Filter layer and the masked portions are replicated on the Black & White Adjustment Layer's mask.

 

linkedmasks.afphoto

[Jowday]

1 hour ago, carl123 said:

Using the linked layers function, you can link different Live Filters, Adjustment etc so that the mask on one Filter/Adjustment is shared with the others

See simple file attached.

Paint (black/white) on the Add Noise Live Filter layer and the masked portions are replicated on the Black & White Adjustment Layer's mask.

 

linkedmasks.afphoto 5.53 MB · 0 downloads

How did you link the different adjustment layers together?

[carl123]

It's interesting that the adjustment parameters are unlinkable for different adjustments/filters but are linkable for comparable adjustments/filters. I can see how that may be useful in certain situations.

But I think there may be a small bug in that although the layers are linked, they don't have the linked icon when they are child layers but they do have the linked icon when you move them to the non-child position.

Not critical and does not affect their linked behaviour but I may create a bug report for that later

[Move Along People]

-

 

[user_0815]

3 hours ago, Jowday said:

How did you link the different adjustment layers together?

Drag & drop on to the "Links" panel (View > Studio > Links). James has a good tutorial somewhere where he presents the new features.

Still a multi-step-process, so no solution for your original question. Unless you keep the "Links" panel open, then it's just one drag.

I haven't had the time to try it in detail but I like the concept.

[Jowday]

7 hours ago, user_0815 said:

Drag & drop on to the "Links" panel (View > Studio > Links). James has a good tutorial somewhere where he presents the new features.

Still a multi-step-process, so no solution for your original question. Unless you keep the "Links" panel open, then it's just one drag.

I haven't had the time to try it in detail but I like the concept.

Linked_Layers.mov

Ah, I made a few attempts. I am not sure how existing layers can be linked when no linked layers has been created yet. Why not a "Link layers" option if it is possible with drag and drop? Maybe I'll check out the tutorials out of lockdown boredom later.

I would much prefer something like this for just a quick and dirty copy-paste of a mask. I learned it simply by trying it years ago. It has to be that intuitive to work in a professional workflow - and for it to stick to memory. Linking has to mature a bit usability wise before it is ready for prime time.

[GZA]

On 2/9/2021 at 7:45 PM, Jowday said:

Ah, I made a few attempts. I am not sure how existing layers can be linked when no linked layers has been created yet. Why not a "Link layers" option if it is possible with drag and drop? Maybe I'll check out the tutorials out of lockdown boredom later.

I would much prefer something like this for just a quick and dirty copy-paste of a mask. I learned it simply by trying it years ago. It has to be that intuitive to work in a professional workflow - and for it to stick to memory. Linking has to mature a bit usability wise before it is ready for prime time.

Agree! Linking also slows me down a lot. Everything that needs a separate menu or a pop-up window is slowing workflow a lot

[Frozen Death Knight]

@Jowday Ctrl+alt+L click the thumbnail of the adjustment layer with the built in mask. Then select the other adjustment layer and ctrl+I to invert. This will create the same gradient but in the opposite direction. Then press Esc to deselect and ctrl+I again so you get the exact same mask. If you want them to always be identical you can also just drag and drop the masked adjustment layer into Pixel content in the the Links panel to make them identical. Remember to select the layer you want to the mask to be copied to to make this work.