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How do I invert a selection on just one layer?


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If you mean invert the marching ants selection on just one layer, I don't think you can

But you should be able to invert the selection, do what you want to on that layer then invert the selection back again

or advise what it is exactly that you need to do and see if anyone has specific advice, they can offer you

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Pixel Selections are agnostic to layers (independent) once created.

it only depends on the selected tool and it’s options (e.g. „edit all layers“), and which layers are selected and active within the layer stack.

Only one pixel selection can be activate any time. You can save/export them as spare channels or files, and switch between them (load spare channel to pixel selection).

you can’t have different selections for different layers at the same time, but you can use different selections one after the other.

another way is using masks, which are „materialized“ selections, and multiple can be in use for different parts at the same time.

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When talking about selections it is important to explicitly state the context:

  1. pixel selections: limit 2D area for drawing tools like brushes
  2. Active layer selection in layer stack: for layer operations like moving in layer stack, and choose which layers get impacted by brushes or destructive filters (multiple at the same time possible)

My statement above are only high level and not fully accurate. The details are more complex, there are tutorials, help files etc explaining all the details.

https://affinity.help/photo/English.lproj/pages/Selections/selections_create.html

https://affinity.help/photo/English.lproj/pages/LayerOperations/select.html

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3 hours ago, Mr. K said:

How do I invert a select so it only selects the inverse on one layer?

You invert a selection wit the menu command Select > Invert Pixel Selection.
It inverts on one layer only if you have previously created the selection on that layer.
So it is the way you create a selection that determines what is selected when it is inverted.

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22 minutes ago, thomaso said:

You invert a selection wit the menu command Select > Invert Pixel Selection.
It inverts on one layer only if you have previously created the selection on that layer.
So it is the way you create a selection that determines what is selected when it is inverted.

A ‘marching ants’ pixel selection affects all layers, not only the one(s) that was/were active when you created the selection.

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19 minutes ago, Alfred said:

A ‘marching ants’ pixel selection affects all layers, not only the one(s) that was/were active when you created the selection.

Yes – but the question was not how to affect but how to invert for a certain layer only. This depends on the layer which gets used for the creation of the selection when using the magic wand / flood select tool: 

334608053_floodselectlayerselection.jpg.63a98e1ed49bc9e1862ac0c368fc2fdd.jpg

Whether a selection affects all layers or one or none depends again on the layer selection + the tool.
Creation & inversion are one, effect is another pair of socks.

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14 minutes ago, thomaso said:

the question was not how to affect but how to invert for a certain layer only

The answer is that you can’t.

4 hours ago, carl123 said:

If you mean invert the marching ants selection on just one layer, I don't think you can

But you should be able to invert the selection, do what you want to on that layer then invert the selection back again

 

1 hour ago, NotMyFault said:

Pixel Selections are agnostic to layers (independent) once created.

As you rightly observed:

17 minutes ago, thomaso said:

effect is another pair of socks

 

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2 hours ago, thomaso said:

This is how I understand @Mr. K's question "How do I invert a selection on just one layer?":

I understood that, Thomas, but the point is that you’ll get the same interrupted green stroke regardless of which layer(s) is/are active in the Layers panel when you paint it.

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8 minutes ago, Alfred said:

the point is that you’ll get the same interrupted green stroke regardless of which layer(s) is/are active in the Layers panel when you paint it.

In my eyes, this behaviour is a different aspect from "invert selection" and is also desirable when creating a selection: to narrow down the affected area for the following steps by masking it temporarily, e.g. for painting, or permanently, e.g. when applying an adjustment layer while such a selection is active.

Do I misunderstand / misinterpret @Mr. K's initial question?

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9 minutes ago, thomaso said:

Do I misunderstand / misinterpret @Mr. K's initial question?

I don’t think we can know the answer to that until @Mr. K posts back!

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19 minutes ago, thomaso said:

Do I misunderstand / misinterpret @Mr. K's initial question?

Since the OP didn't said much about the layer type and thus assuming pixel layers (where this so far makes some sense then) here, I think it's a right/valid answer. - Even selections aren't single layer specific and thus of more global nature, one can always use a certain made selection of course just for/on a specific selected layer. So it's up to the user how to use (on which layer) a specific made selection and the inversion of that. - Thus it always depends on what the overall final intention is to achieve here then!

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T

3 hours ago, thomaso said:

This is how I understand @Mr. K's question "How do I invert a selection on just one layer?"

That is true. I am using Affinity Photo, not Publisher. Sorry I was not clear about that at the start. I don't see the "Current Layer" option in AP. I think the answer to my question is it cannot be done in AP, and I think the solution is to create a mask instead of inverting the selection. I will work on that next. Thanks to all who commented here.

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1 hour ago, Mr. K said:

I don't see the "Current Layer" option in AP.

How come? Do you have the Flood Select Tool selected?
Note, for the other selection tools this option would not make sense because you create the selection yourself, entirely without letting Affinity choose the area(s) to select.

Quote

• Source—the source determines the layer(s) from which the pixels are sampled. Select from the pop-up menu.

https://affinity.help/photo/English.lproj/index.html?page=pages/Tools/tools_floodSelect.html?title=Flood Select Tool

2116511688_APhfloodselecttooloptions.jpg.5133643c469816cd7977406f7f566e50.jpg

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10 minutes ago, Mr. K said:

I don't see the "Current Layer" option in AP.

"Current Layer" is a capability of some Tools.

As others have said, a pixel selection (if that is what you're talking about; we still could use some screenshots to further illustrate your question) are not associated with any specific layer, at all. It merely shows an area of the canvas and the marching ants (basically) delineate two areas of the canvas: inside the ants (part of the selection, by default), or outside the ants (not part of the selection, by default).  You can invert that so that the area inside the ants is not part of the selection, and the area outside is part of it.

But it is still just showing you an area of the canvas, unrelated to any layer.

If you're working on a pixel layer, then whatever layer you're working on will be affected by whatever you're doing (painting, making an adjustment, etc.) and if you have a pixel selection active then only the selected part of the active pixel layer will be affected. You need to consider what you're doing (painting, making an adjustment, ...), what layer you're working on, and what the selection denotes.

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28 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

As others have said, a pixel selection (...) are not associated with any specific layer, at all.

This wording is still confusing here. I'd rather say: A Flood Select Tool selection has to be associated with at least one layer since it represents the layer content in the moment the selection gets created. Proof: if you use this tool without having a layer selected nothing will get selected.

Therefore, it seems relevant here to distinguish between creating versus affecting (after creation) of a selection. By asking for "inverting" this topic concerns the creation process.

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17 minutes ago, thomaso said:

This wording is still confusing here. I'd rather say: A Flood Select Tool selection has to be associated with at least one layer since it represents the layer content in the moment the selection gets created. Proof: if you use this tool without having a layer selected nothing will get selected.

Therefore, it seems relevant here to distinguish between creating versus affecting (after creation) of a selection. By asking for "inverting" this topic concerns the creation process.

You must distinguish 2 phases:

  1. Creating a mask from layers. This phase is often related to a layer, or all layers, based on how the selection is created. But the selection is always using the canvas size/dpi, no ration, no skew, even if layer dpi, rotation, skew are totally different. 
  2. Using the mask on layers. The mask is used to edit or apply filters to one or multiple layers. These layers again may have totally different size, dpi, skew, rotation.

Normally, you don’t recognize any difference, as all involved layers share a common dpi, no rotation, no skew. In more specific cases, you see a dramatic difference.

 

in case of flood selection tool, it uses a layer to find the edges, but the selection is mapped immediately to the canvas. I hesitate to call this associated. It is more like derived. An if you click „all layers“, it is no more related to one specific layer, only influenced, but not associated. 
 

this may be splitting hairs, but I found the difference matters in none-simplistic  cases.

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15 minutes ago, thomaso said:

This wording is still confusing here. I'd rather say: A Flood Select Tool selection has to be associated with at least one layer since it represents the layer content in the moment the selection gets created. Proof: if you use this tool without having a layer selected nothing will get selected.

No, the selection, once created, is not associated with any specific layer. You could equally have used the Freeform Selection Tool, or the Rectangular Marquee Selection Tool, etc.

Whatever tool you use, you end up with a marching ants selection that, when it has any effect at all, will affect the currently active layer. But until you do something that will make a change that takes pixel selections into account, it's just an area of the canvas that you can see. Not an area of any particular layer.

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1 minute ago, walt.farrell said:

No, the selection, once created, is not associated with any specific layer.

Why "No" ? … You continue to confuse here with irrelevant respectively not asked info. The info is true but "No" as response was wrong and misleading.

I literally said "in the moment the selection gets created" – and the OP literally asked "selects the inverse on one layer", and meanwhile confirmed my understanding of the initial question.

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2 minutes ago, Mr. K said:

The flood select tool is not what I need. I want to select the foot, shoe and pant leg in this layer, invert that selection and then apply an adjustment to the inverted selection.

Then you would make the selection somehow (possibly the Freehand Selection Tool), and invert the selection: Select > Invert Pixel Selection. Then, with the layer you want to affect selected in the Layers panel, create your adjustment.

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8 minutes ago, Mr. K said:

The flood select tool is not what I need. I want to select the foot, shoe and pant leg in this layer, invert that selection and then apply an adjustment to the inverted selection.

Then just create your selection with any tool, apply invert and with the shoe image layer selected choose the adjustment. It will appear masked according to your selection.

Alternatively to inverting the selection you can also invert the adjustment mask at any later time with menu Layer > Invert (I).

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3 minutes ago, thomaso said:

Why "No" ? … You continue to confuse here with irrelevant respectively not asked info. The info is true but "No" as response was wrong and misleading.

"No" referred to your statement that a Flood Fill Selection has to be "associated with a layer". It is not.

Yes, the Tool operates on a specific layer, and yes, the pixel selection is generated based on the layer contents. But you could immediately switch to a different layer and you'd still have a pixel selection, and it would affect that layer just as it could affect any other layer. The selection itself doesn't care what layer you're using. The Tool cared about the layer; the selection it generated doesn't.

And that distinction has confused many users over the years, who believe that a selection is associated with some specific layer.

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1 minute ago, thomaso said:

Then just create your selection with any tool, apply invert and with the shoe image layer selected choose the adjustment. It will appear masked according to your selection.

I'll play around with that, but so far the inversion affects the entire file, not the single layer I want to adjust.

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