Select invert on a selection doesn't work

[DSGNDM]

Pretty much like the title. 
I have a selection. If I use the shortcut or even if I do from the menu -> Select -> Invert selection... It doesn't work. The selection disappears and just it, I can't make any invert selection.

Any thoughts?
Thanks!

 

[GarryP]

Can you give us two full-screen screenshots please?
One immediately before you invert the selection and one immediately after you do so.
(Please make sure the layer you are making the selection on is visible in the Layers Panel in both screenshots.)

[RichardMH]

The pixel selection is in Channels. Can you right click on it and  invert it there?

Are you using the pen tool? If so you need to click the Selection box on  the context tool bar.

[DSGNDM]

What?
It's very simple.
I have a layer, I select something, then I want to invert this selection to erase the content. When I go to Select -> Invert selection -> nothing happen and the selection area disappears.

[DSGNDM]

1 hour ago, GarryP said:

Can you give us two full-screen screenshots please?
One immediately before you invert the selection and one immediately after you do so.
(Please make sure the layer you are making the selection on is visible in the Layers Panel in both screenshots.)

Here it is.
I've selected the object and after invert the selection just disappears.

[GarryP]

Thanks for the screenshots.

I notice that you have the Node Tool selected before you invert the selection; is there some reason why you are using that tool?
I only ask as I was expecting you to still be using a selection tool immediately after you had done the selection.

How did you get the pixel selection?

Also, are you simply selecting the entire “03 1-50 sink 2 single” layer, or just part of it?
I only ask as if you want to do something with the entire layer then you usually don’t need to select anything on it, but I don’t know why you are inverting the selection made from (as far as I can see) an entire layer.

There’s something going on here that I can’t quite put my finger on.

Would it be possible for you to record and attach a video showing the process from beginning (nothing selected) to end (selection has ‘gone’)?

[DSGNDM]

7 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Thanks for the screenshots.

I notice that you have the Node Tool selected before you invert the selection; is there some reason why you are using that tool?
I only ask as I was expecting you to still be using a selection tool immediately after you had done the selection.

How did you get the pixel selection?

Also, are you simply selecting the entire “03 1-50 sink 2 single” layer, or just part of it?
I only ask as if you want to do something with the entire layer then you usually don’t need to select anything on it, but I don’t know why you are inverting the selection made from (as far as I can see) an entire layer.

There’s something going on here that I can’t quite put my finger on.

Would it be possible for you to record and attach a video showing the process from beginning (nothing selected) to end (selection has ‘gone’)?

I can't record my screen. Sorry.
Node tool? It's the select object tool too, so I use it to select objects.

This is the process. I want to reduce the dark edge of the object. to do this is simple. Select the entire object picking with the left mouse button + CTRL on the miniature of the layer in the layer panel.



After the object o layer is selected... I usually go to select -> grow / shrink



Now I can reduce the selection 1 or 2 pixels



But remember...I want to erase the dark line on the outside of the layer/object... So to do this I should invert the selection and press backspace or use the eraser tool. Right? WRONG. When I have the selection reduced by 1 pixel if I use CTRL+SHIFT + I or even if I go to select -> select invert... the selection disappear. And that's the problem/bug/error/whatever.

The screenshot AFTER 

[GarryP]

Sorry, I was getting the Node Tool and the Move Tool mixed up, you have the Move Tool selected which can be used to select layers but it’s not a pixel selection tool.

I went through your workflow and it worked okay for me, same with V1, but I don’t have your document to work with so I’m not doing exactly the same thing as you with exactly the same things.

I’ve attached a video showing what I did.
Tell me where I’m not doing what I’m supposed to be doing.

[- S -]

4 hours ago, DSGNDM said:

I have a selection. If I use the shortcut or even if I do from the menu -> Select -> Invert selection... It doesn't work. The selection disappears and just it, I can't make any invert selection.

Someone else posted a similar issue at the link below a few weeks ago, however I was unable to reproduce it myself.

 

The person in the other post has a similar layer structure to you (a pixel layer, two groups deep).  I would make a copy of the document, name it "Test" so it doesn't get mixed up with the original and then start going through and deleting unnecessary groups and layers to see if you can narrow it down a bit more.  Once you've narrowed it down, you may be able to figure out whether it's a bug or whether something specific is causing it.

Alternatively, it may help if you could upload the file here to see if other people can reproduce the issue with your particular file.

 

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, DSGNDM said:

I've selected the object and after invert the selection just disappears.

Invert Selection is for inverting Pixel selections, not Object selections, isn't it?

[DSGNDM]

54 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Sorry, I was getting the Node Tool and the Move Tool mixed up, you have the Move Tool selected which can be used to select layers but it’s not a pixel selection tool.

I went through your workflow and it worked okay for me, same with V1, but I don’t have your document to work with so I’m not doing exactly the same thing as you with exactly the same things.

I’ve attached a video showing what I did.
Tell me where I’m not doing what I’m supposed to be doing.

That's right. Trying make three artboards. This file comes to an Affinity Designer file with three different artboards. As I can see. The selection is made at the final step but select ALL the FIRST artboard, which it is NOT the same where the actual layer is. Why? I don't know.

[DSGNDM]

44 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Invert Selection is for inverting Pixel selections, not Object selections, isn't it?

I said "object" because it is the only "thing" in the pixel layer. But you’re right. It's NOT an object.
I used the wrong word. Sorry.

[walt.farrell]

2 minutes ago, DSGNDM said:

I said "object" because it is the only "thing" in the pixel layer. But you’re right. It's NOT an object.
I used the wrong word. Sorry.

Thanks for the clarification. In that case, in your very first screenshot, it appears to me that your pixel selection is the complete pixel layer, since it seems to coincide with the bounding box for the layer. Therefore, if you invert it, there would be nothing selected, so you're getting the results I would expect.

[GarryP]

4 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Therefore, if you invert it, there would be nothing selected, so you're getting the results I would expect.

That’s not what I get in my video above; when I invert the selection the selection becomes everything in the document except the area that was originally selected.

However, I’ve not tried this on a document with Artboards; that’s a detail which has only been mentioned recently.

[DSGNDM]

My bad, maybe for don't tell about the art boards. I realize that when I do the last step... it’s like if I do CTRL + A (Select all) to the first art board, I don't know why.
I want to do EXACTLY that Garry made in his video. And after the last step, erase the exterior area of the selection.

I used a lot to clean some selections.

[T R E N T R E K E R]

man, i don't understand this.  after 27 years, i finally left adobe as my main tool, p-shop, has become increasingly bug-laden while "customer service" is automaton-filled robots unable to think outside the script.  rant over.  but now i just want to delete a selection and everything i see here is click click click scroll click scroll click click click.  a slight exaggeration but only slightly.

why can't i select, press delete, and ONLY THE SELECTED AREA IS DELETED and not the entire layer?  all this "what's a vector what's a pixel" is some crazy secret code i cannot comprehend that only results in click click click scroll click scroll click click click. 

workflow?  ease of use?  that's no fun!  click click click scroll click scroll click click click.  yeah!

Edited January 8, 2023 by T R E N T R E K E R

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, T R E N T R E K E R said:

man, i don't understand this.  after 27 years, i finally left adobe as my main tool, p-shop, has become increasingly bug-laden while "customer service" is automaton-filled robots unable to think outside the script.  rant over.  but now i just want to delete a selection and everything i see here is click click click scroll click scroll click click click.  a slight exaggeration but only slightly.

why can't i select, press delete, and ONLY THE SELECTED AREA IS DELETED and not the entire layer?  all this "what's a vector what's a pixel" is some crazy secret code i cannot comprehend that only results in click click click scroll click scroll click click click. 

workflow?  ease of use?  that's no fun!  click click click scroll click scroll click click click.  yeah!

Thus topic is about Inverting selections, not deleting them. There are several reasons you might be having problems, but you should start your own topic and give more details if you'd like some help understanding how to use the programs.