Hi, is it possible to open documents such as jpg screenshots which are apparently a locked layer by default, as instead an unlocked layer?
Would it even be possible/easy to have a method of opening such documents with the following layers:
1 original image (unlocked) 2 blank transparent layer 3 white locked background 4 group folder called ‘archive’ with a copy of the original image, with the group set to invisible
Could a droplet be made to open documents with such a "precreated" layer set-up?
For example, I would like to take a screenshot or scan, drag it onto a droplet, and have it open with the layer structure outlined above.
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A jpg is a not a layered file, it is a flat, one-layer file. What you see is the locked background layer which is the same as the image. You can easily unlock that.
Thanks…constantly the first thing I do when opening any file is to unlock the "background/original image." It is annoying. I’d really like to just open a file, .tif, .jpg whatever, and, not have its default "first layer/background" locked. I don’t understand why this is it locked by default…?
It would be nice though to have many of the initial steps completed through a default opening sequence such as might be available with a droplet or ___?
A problem with droplets I am encountering is that the droplet seems to open the file I drop on it but then also opens the file I used to create the droplet in the first place, and, continues to preform the actions on that original file. Maybe just getting that right would be enough for now…how does one create the opening droplet you speak of, which would just open a file with the default layer unlocked?
I tried this and it opens both the file dropped on it and the original file used to create the droplet.
It sounds like you have recorded the file opening in your action. You want to record after having a file open; just record all the steps converting background to normal layer, new layers, and layer group, and layer order. Archive layer group can’t be at the bottom of the stack, though.
I forgot to mention that you can assign a Function Key in the Action Options and then open files regularly, hit the key and get the same result. Just a slightly different way to get at the end result.
First I just assumed it would be a choice, whether one could change the default lock.
The workflow for 95 percent of everything I open in Photoshop is to:
1) unlock the original image
then either
2a) duplicate it and move the original into a folder called ‘archive’ into which layers from various stages of work will also be saved/backed-up
or
2b) drag the unlocked image into another document
It is astounding to me files for some reason are locked by default. Almost as amazing as why I would need to explain this? : ) Why do you want it default locked???? : )
It is just tedious beyond belief…I suppose the time wasted in asking this question, and especially scripting a solution, would be more than the cumulative amount of time a person would spend continuously unlocking hundreds of images per year but when I first started this thread I assumed there was just a check-box somewhere to change the default lock, and, that it would be easy to create a droplet/script from there….
Thanks again though in any case….("Archive layer group can’t be at the bottom of the stack, though. " I’m wondering why that is the case also…)
1) why should I continually explain myself??…it should be a default characteristic, asking this is a waste of time…shesh, why the heck are so many people obsessed about my interest in changing this rather than simply accepting at face value that I might have a good reason to do so??!??
2) at minimum I would like to place it in a folder called "Archive" — this cannot be done of course unless it is unlocked
…………..and….obviously I would like to do more with the image, such as erase sections of it…start drawing on it right away, etc., etc.
I’d just like an image not to be locked when I open a damn document. Enough. THIS is freakin’ tedious !
Have you tried working on the so called locked layer? you do understand that you can retouch clone copy paste the only thing that’s really locked is the position.
Methinks you have been unlocking the Background layer unnecessarily because you don’t understand how a Photoshop file works.
Create a droplet like Ed suggested in post 2. If you start the action with flatten layer you can feed it most anything. Have the same droplet action set to a key command and you can run it on any open image.
Archive layer group can’t be at the bottom of the stack, though.
You can even do this as long as your definition of "3) white locked background" is flexible. A solid color fill unlocked (and unmasked) would be my personal interpretation. Which does beg that question…
Shesh whatever you call it the image the background the initial layer "the so called layer" I would just like to change its default opening to UNLOCKED so at minimum, as I have said four times now, it can be placed in a folder called "Archive" without having to f’ing unlock it…scripting additional opening actions in addition to that at this point must be beyond your imagination
"Have you tried working on the so called locked layer?"
HAVE YOU READ THE ORIGINAL QUESTION????
Working on the background layer is not my primary concern, organizing layers automatically at the start of a workflow is…but nevertheless…erasing part of the background in order to reveal imported images or drawings created beneath it on new layers requires the background be unlocked (so erased sections are transparent rather than black), changing layer order requires unlocking, moving the background on a resized canvas requires unlocking….and of course placing it within a folder requires unlocking — what the hell is the advantage of it being default locked?? why isn’t this optional?
I can’t imagine people working on complex images with multiple folders and forty plus layers in various folders and such — nevertheless consistently want to leave the background layer just sitting there hanging out in its default locked state. I’m ALWAYS unlocking the damn layer…if only, for the FIFTH TIME, for organizational purposes (to change its layer order and place it within a folder).
SHESH!
"Methinks…" Oh please…next time read the question.
never mind, you don’t seem to have a question at all. What you really have is a feature request (which I really don’t unerstand, but that is none of my business), and there’s a section for Feature Requests.
No, I did have a question. You can dismiss it if you wish. Do you always leave the background layer unlocked? Do you benefit at all from it being default locked? In the least I would like to change layer order for organizational purposes.
This started as a simple question…thought I could save a cumulative few minutes per year and a heck of a lot of tedium by just changing a default setting…if it is not an optional default though that answers the QUESTION.
I usually leave it locked, since there is usually no need to unlock it. The benefit is that you can’t move it accidentally. Back in version 4 (I think it was) it was not locked by default and that caused problems.
Do you always leave the background layer unlocked? Do you benefit at all from it being default locked?
Yes and yes. Of course. It’s that base on which everything is built. You don’t alter it, you don’t move it. You keep it there for reference and leave it untouched. If you want to work a different way, just create an action and be done. If you need help with the action, post some questions.
"Some plug-ins won’t even work if the background is unlocked, e.g. PhotoKit Sharpener. "
That is genuinely useful information, thank you. Sorry this got out of hand…I should have been more accepting of the varieties of workflows one might be accustomed to, biased in favor of, and prejudiced against and so on…rather than fly off the handle with defensive "rhetoric" ; ) Thanks…..
I always leave the background as is If I need it to move up in the layer order I just make a dupe and move that. If I leave the background untouched I always have a handy reference or the retouched original if I need to go back to that. If you don’t need it just turn it off.
I have found keeping the background layer intact creates less work in the long run.
