Canvas extension color

TH
Posted By
Ted Horsch
Sep 11, 2006
Views
2869
Replies
5
Status
Closed
I’ve just noticed that my Canvas Size dialog box no longer lets me select a canvas extension color, although at one time it did. It’s now greyed out and the extensions are all added as transparent canvas. It’s easy to work around this — just fill the transparent areas with white (or whatever), but I’d rather add canvas and set the color at the same time. I work mostly with 16-bit RGB images, but even if I switch to 8 bit color the option is greyed out. Any ideas?

PS CS2 WinXP Pro 1GB RAM Xeon 1.5G processor.
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canvas color extension

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C
chrisjbirchall
Sep 11, 2006
For the canvas extension colour to work you must have a valid Background layer. If it has been renamed, promoting it to a "real" layer, the added canvas will be transparent.
TH
Ted Horsch
Sep 11, 2006
Hey thanks for the quick reply. What I’m doing typically is working with complex images (lots of layers) that I then merge into a single layer and save as a new file. Apparently while doing this my single layer is not considered a valid background layer. I’ve tried renaming the layer to Background and even locking the transparency but that hasn’t made any difference. Is there a way to make a layer a valid background layer for the purpose of coloring the canvas extension? Is there a way to tell if a layer is a valid background layer or not (besides trying to color a canvas extension)?
EH
Ed_Hannigan
Sep 12, 2006
It will say Background in Italics. You can make a bottom layer into a Background from Layer>New>Background From Layer.
C
chrisjbirchall
Sep 12, 2006
my single layer is not considered a valid background layer

Flattening the layers instead of merging them will create a valid Background Layer. Simply renaming it will not.
TH
Ted Horsch
Sep 12, 2006
Thanks Ed and Chris for the education. My problem is solved, and as usual with PS there’s more than one solution. I love this forum!

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