[AP] adjustments are applied to selections after Deselect!!!

[R C-R]

Am I the only one who thought that if I made a "marching ants" selection, opened an adjustment layer dialog, & before applying the adjustment I chose the Select menu > Deselect item, then the adjustment would be applied to the entire layer, not just to the now 'deselected' (?) selection?

 

I have been using Affinity Photo since it was first released for the Mac, but I never thought Deselect worked like that until I started working through one of the first enthusiast projects in the Workbook (convinced that I would learn nothing new from it) & was surprised by a tip that suggested doing that so the effect of adjusting the parameters of the adjustment was easier to see. 

[walt.farrell]

Apparently the layer mask is created immediately from the selection, and then it does't matter what you do to the selection after that.

[voitek]

The layer mask is created from the selection like walt.farrell said. You have to select the adjustment layer mask and fill it with white to make the effect visible on the whole image.

[toltec]

39 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Am I the only one who thought that if I made a "marching ants" selection, opened an adjustment layer dialog, & before applying the adjustment I chose the Select menu > Deselect item, then the adjustment would be applied to the entire layer, not just to the now 'deselected' (?) selection?

 

I don't know if you are the only one, but it works as I expected.

 

It's all a matter of timing.

 

 

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, toltec said:

It's all a matter of timing.

Yes, that apparently is true. But it does make the function of "Deselect" different from what one might expect from the name, since in this use it does not actually deselect anything but instead just hides the "marching ants" indicator that something actually is selected.

[IanSG]

3 hours ago, R C-R said:

Am I the only one who thought that if I made a "marching ants" selection, opened an adjustment layer dialog, & before applying the adjustment I chose the Select menu > Deselect item, then the adjustment would be applied to the entire layer, not just to the now 'deselected' (?) selection?

 

I have been using Affinity Photo since it was first released for the Mac, but I never thought Deselect worked like that until I started working through one of the first enthusiast projects in the Workbook (convinced that I would learn nothing new from it) & was surprised by a tip that suggested doing that so the effect of adjusting the parameters of the adjustment was easier to see. 

No, you're not!  I've been deselecting "View pixel selection" to make the adjustments easier to see, but it's so easy to forget you've still got a selection 

[smadell]

Hey, R C-R. Your question made me think about Affinity Photo's standard behavior when a new layer is created while a selection is active. With an active selection:

(i) Creating an adjustment layer adds a mask to that layer automatically, corresponding to the selection. (ii) Creating a live filter layer does the same. (iii) Duplicating the layer restricts the duplication to only the selected area. (iv) Even creating a new Fill layer restricts the fill to the selected area.

But - creating a new pixel layer simply adds an empty layer and does not seem to restrict itself to the selection in any way. Does anyone think (as I think I do) that creating a New Pixel Layer with an active selection should automatically create a Mask attached to that new layer? This would seem to be in keeping with the behavior that AP displays in creating other types of new layers.

Not a deal breaker, but consistency might be best served in masking the new pixel layer. What do you all think?

[R C-R]

I think what had me confused about the Deselect function is that in the help topic Creating pixel selections, there is this:

For the creation of adjustment, live filter, & even fill layers (thanks @smadell for pointing this out to me) this does not actually remove the selection. But when using tools that paint on pixel layers (Paint Brush, Flood Fill, Gradient, etc.), it does remove the selection, at least functionally. The same is true for regular filters that present a parameter window -- if I select Deselect while the filter's window is open, the filter is applied to the entire layer, indicating to me that the pixel selection has really been removed.

 

The Reselect menu item is also a bit confusing in that its name implies it is the inverse of the Deselect one, but functionally it just reselects (or un-hides) the last active pixel selection made -- IOW, it is not associated with the existing selection mask of any specific adjustment, live filter, or any other layer.

 

Now that I understand how this works, I see why it was designed to work this way. But until I finally did, it caused a lot of head scratching. 

[walt.farrell]

43 minutes ago, R C-R said:

I think what had me confused about the Deselect function is that in the help topic Creating pixel selections, there is this:

For the creation of adjustment, live filter, & even fill layers (thanks @smadell for pointing this out to me) this does not actually remove the selection. But when using tools that paint on pixel layers (Paint Brush, Flood Fill, Gradient, etc.), it does remove the selection, at least functionally. The same is true for regular filters that present a parameter window -- if I select Deselect while the filter's window is open, the filter is applied to the entire layer, indicating to me that the pixel selection has really been removed.

The selection really is removed when you use Select->Deselect. It's just that for new adjustment or live filter layers the automatic mask has already been created in the layer, and removing the selection does not affect the new layer's mask. In other words, the selection, and the layer mask created from it, are two independent entities.

You would probably find that modifying the selection after creating the adjustment or live filter layer also does not alter the layer's mask, but I haven't tried that.

 

[R C-R]

9 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

The selection really is removed when you use Select->Deselect. It's just that for new adjustment or live filter layers the automatic mask has already been created in the layer, and removing the selection does not affect the new layer's mask. In other words, the selection, and the layer mask created from it, are two independent entities.

OK, that makes sense to me ... now. 

 

10 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

You would probably find that modifying the selection after creating the adjustment or live filter layer also does not alter the layer's mask, but I haven't tried that.

I tried that & your assumption is correct -- the mask is not altered.