(solved) Copy/paste ignores my selection entirely

[halfwalk]

What I expect to happen:

Step 1: Import an image.

Step 2: Make a detailed selection of part of that image.

Step 3: Copy the selected part.

Step 4: Paste the selected part.

 

What actually happens:

Step 1: Import an image.

Step 2: Make a detailed selection of part of that image.

Step 3: Copy.

Step 4: Paste -> pastes the entire layer, completely ignoring my selection

Step 5: Confusion. Is this a bug? What is going on?

Step 6: Reboot Photo. Repeat steps 1-5 with same results.

Step 7: Spend 20 minutes trying to google it

Step 8: Learn that this is the intended design, and get called an idiot for doing destructive edits.

Step 9: Complain about it. <- I am here.

 

In the past two years of using Affinity, the number of times I have wanted an Image Layer is exactly zero. On the contrary, the number of times I've had my blood pressure go up after having to backtrack, undo, and rasterize is in the dozens, if not hundreds. It's really a minor annoyance but after a while the frustration really starts to pile up.

Is there a toggle where I can make this rasterization automatic? Seems like something the Assistant should be capable of, but I don't see anything there.

Thanks in advance.

Edited April 18 by halfwalk
solved

[walt.farrell]

1 minute ago, halfwalk said:

Is there a toggle where I can make this automatic? Seems like something the Assistant should be capable of, but I don't see anything there.

No, there isn't.

You just need to remember about Image layers, and when they occur, and remember to Rasterize manually before trying to access their pixels.

[halfwalk]

3 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

No, there isn't.

You just need to remember about Image layers, and when they occur, and remember to Rasterize manually before trying to access their pixels.

 

Okay. Pardon my ignorance, but...

Can you describe to me an instance where this behavior is actually desirable? (i.e. why someone would want Copy-Paste to completely ignore whatever they have selected).

It seems like if I wanted to duplicate the whole layer ... well, there's already a Duplicate function.

[Old Bruce]

@halfwalk, can you not achieve what you want by using the Copy Merged command in the Edit menu?

[walt.farrell]

It may help if you consider that a pixel selection is not a group of pixels. It is the boundary of an area on the screen that might contain pixels, or it might not.

For example, you can create a new document in Photo and at that point you have a white screen (assuming you didn't make it a transparent document) but it has not data. Even so, you can take one of the pixel selection tools (freehand, rectangular marquee, etc.) and make a selection. You have a selection, with marching ants, and no pixels in it.

Or you can

1. Open a JPG or TIFF file, and make a pixel selection in that layer. You now have a selection with marching ants and there may be some pixels within it.
2. If you have the background layer selected, the selection has pixels from the background layer and you can copy them.
3. However, suppose you draw a Rectangle above the background layer, covering the pixel selection, and you have the Rectangle selected. You still have the pixel selection, but if you do a Copy you get the Rectangle copied. The selection, while the Rectangle is active (selected in the Layer spanel), does not have any pixels within it. Since it has no pixels, Copy copies the entire object.
4. Or, after #3, you could Rasterize the Rectangle. Now, if you do a Copy, you find that the selection contains pixels, and you get them instead of getting the entire object.

An Image layer, in this scenario, would act just like a Rectangle object. It has no pixels that you can access. And the pixel selection is empty, if the Image layer is active.

Basically, Copy is acting in a context-sensitive manner. Do I have pixels available?

• Yes, copy them.
• No, copy the object that is active/selected.

[halfwalk]

2 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

@halfwalk, can you not achieve what you want by using the Copy Merged command in the Edit menu?

I don't have a "Copy Merged"command there. However, I just tried "Copy Flattened" (Ctrl-Shift-C) and it does pretty much what I need. Thank you! I feel really stupid for having missed this for so long.

[halfwalk]

4 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

It may help if you consider that a pixel selection is not a group of pixels. It is the boundary of an area on the screen that might contain pixels, or it might not.

For example, you can create a new document in Photo and at that point you have a white screen (assuming you didn't make it a transparent document) but it has not data. Even so, you can take one of the pixel selection tools (freehand, rectangular marquee, etc.) and make a selection. You have a selection, with marching ants, and no pixels in it.

Or you can

1. Open a JPG or TIFF file, and make a pixel selection in that layer. You now have a selection with marching ants and there may be some pixels within it.
2. If you have the background layer selected, the selection has pixels from the background layer and you can copy them.
3. However, suppose you draw a Rectangle above the background layer, covering the pixel selection, and you have the Rectangle selected. You still have the pixel selection, but if you do a Copy you get the Rectangle copied. The selection, while the Rectangle is active (selected in the Layer spanel), does not have any pixels within it. Since it has no pixels, Copy copies the entire object.
4. Or, after #3, you could Rasterize the Rectangle. Now, if you do a Copy, you find that the selection contains pixels, and you get them instead of getting the entire object.

An Image layer, in this scenario, would act just like a Rectangle object. It has no pixels that you can access. And the pixel selection is empty, if the Image layer is active.

Basically, Copy is acting in a context-sensitive manner. Do I have pixels available?

• Yes, copy them.
• No, copy the object that is active/selected.

Someone else actually solved my problem already, but thank you for your detailed explanation! This is good to know for future reference.

[walt.farrell]

3 minutes ago, halfwalk said:

I don't have a "Copy Merged"command there. However, I just tried "Copy Flattened"

That's a Mac vs Windows difference between the Affinity applications, for some reason.