Healing Brush and Other Tools Fail to Work after a Layer is Applied

[DebW]

The Healing Brush, Patch, Blemish Removal and Inpainting Tools will not work after I apply a layer. For example, I attempted to use the Frequency Separation as outlined in the Affinity tutorial: https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/tutorials/photo/

 

As soon as I applied the Frequency Separation Filter, however, the tools would not work. I followed the instructions to the letter and every time I added a layer the tools stopped working. I had the same issue whenever I opened and worked with other layers. The tools only worked if I used them on my photo before opening any layers.

 

What am I missing or doing wrong?

[MEB]

Hi DebW,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

Make sure you have the correct layer selected when you are using the tools. Sometimes when you create a new layer, adjustment layer or other layer type, the original layer that was selected may become deselected and the tools no longer work as expected. Also make sure you are using them on Pixel layers (you can identify the type of layer looking at the label between parenthesis after the layer name in the Layers panel). If it's identified as an Image layer, right-click on it in the Layers panel and select Rasterise to convert it to a Pixel layer.

[DebW]

Thank you; I will take a second look at the original layer (from your answer I'm assuming it should always be selected) and whether I'm using Pixel layers. By-the-way, I am blown away by how great this editing system is, and although there are some rough patches for me (it's all new), the system is pretty easy to use.