Presuming you don’t have a background layer when you wish to ‘flatten,’ use the Layer > Merge Visible command rather than Flatten Image. A flattened image always has a background (locked) layer. Why? That’s just the way it is. If you want to create a new image without a background layer choose Transparent from the "Background Contents:" menu from the New dialog.
After all my years with Photoshop, one thing I’ve never worked out…….. what is the advantage/benefit of background being locked by default? What purpose does it serve?
For instance, if you flatten an image, the result is a background which is locked. What is the thinking behind it?
There’s nothing behind it – it’s the background :O)
There will never be a better answer, but it wasn’t the one I was looking for!
After all my years with Photoshop, one thing I’ve never worked out…….. what is the advantage/benefit of background being locked by default? What purpose does it serve?
A few things.
a Background is not a layer and therefore follows different rules.
It does not have transparency and it has the ability to move channels independently.
Many Thanks to Welles Goodrich (his post wasn’t showing up here when I typed this, for some reason) who said:
"Presuming you don’t have a background layer when you wish to ‘flatten,’ use the Layer > Merge Visible command rather than Flatten Image. A flattened image always has a background (locked) layer. Why? That’s just the way it is. If you want to create a new image without a background layer choose Transparent from the "Background Contents:" menu from the New dialog."
