Problem In Merging Two Layer

Hi folks, newbie to the board. I'm using Photoshop CS6 and have hit an issue that I can't get to the bottom of and was hoping someone could help.

I've completed an image for a client. The original involves many layers, and I have got to the point when I want to merge everything down into a PDF for them to send to their printers.

Problem I am having is that when I try to directly save as a PDF or merge down the layers in a copy of my main PSD file, I am losing certain layer styles.

I have tried creating a blank layer below an offending layer and hitting CTRL + E, I have tried creating a blank layer, hiding all but the offending layer and blank layer and merging visible, I have tried Layer - Rasterize Layer Style, I have tried turning the layer into a smart object and then rasterizing (I lost the layer style as soon as I turned it into a smart object, even though it is still present in the smart object itself), and I have tried turning the layer into a group and merging the group. I have also tried saving the file in a number of different formats to no avail. I don't know what else I can try and why none of this has worked! I've also tried right clicking on the FX in the layer palette and chosen "Create Layers" at which point I get a dialog: "Some aspects of the effects cannot be reproduced with layers", and I get the same result. Most noticeable style that disappears is the drop shadow.

Weird thing is this isn't the case for every layer. I've particularly noticed it happens on text layers that have been text warped. However I've tried rasterizing them before trying to merge and that hasn't helped so I can't see how that is the problem.

I hope someone can help, I am totally stumped. If it makes a difference the mode is CMYK Color, 8 bit.

James

Hi all,

Having trouble with this problem...

I have layer 1 with a color mask set to black, red, blue etc.
I have layer 2 with a color mask which i want to match and also become black, red, blue

There are hundreds of files, and the color in layer 1 is always different.

Manually i would simply click on the layer 2 mask which opens the color picker, and select the area of layer 1 i want to match.

But doing that in a macro does not work.

I can't get a macro to recognize that i want to copy the color content of a mask, and not the specific color used in the example during which the macro is recorded. The color picker does not seem capable of selecting a dynamic input (e.g. whater color is on layer 1), it simply copies whatever was in layer 1 during recording like a dumb instrument.

thanks for any input.

Hallo everybody,
following a tut about Photoshop compositing, I have to create a fake shadow on the ground. I make it pretty good (see image 1) using tre different layer copy with different blendings mode and Opacity.




But when i Merge three layer i loose my semitransparent shadow...it becomes completely black, at the starting point...
(see image 2)



What it wrong?

And than, if I want to blur the (unique) faked shadow layer, how can i male it without blurring all layers of the document? I try to use an empty layer as a Clipping mask, and I applied blur to it, without results...
please help!

Thx!

I have some questions about a new layer vs. a layer copy. Let's say I am retouching a head shot. First I copy the Background layer (Ctrl-J) and clear up blemishes with the Spot healing brush. Next I want to soften some skin shine with the Patch tool and I want that on it's own layer. As I have tried various ways of doing this, it appears that I have copy either the Blemish layer or the Background. If I copy the Background layer, the the stacking order is critical: it has to be below the Blemish layer for the blemish fix to show. Copying the Blemish layer, then the Blemish fix is part of the Shine layer which defeats the purpose of a separate layer. New layer does not work for using the Patch tool, or I may be doing some completely wrong.

Then add another skin fix like soften the skin (Gaussian blur) and I'm really tied up with stacking order, etc.

Can someone help me with the correct order/procedure for creating layers that would be used like above.

Mixed up...

Todd

I apply a screen blending mode to an object with another layer beneath. I want to copy the first layer with the result from the blending mode into a seperate document. When I copy I get the layer without the blending result.
Is there a way to do this without merging the layers and then selecting the part I need?

I've noticed that I get a good flow painting over a textured canvas (blank canvases are not for me) when doing so I work with a brush with the opacity set to about 45 and two layers, the bg textures and the actual image.
When I feel I'm done with my sketch I want to exclude the bg layer but still use the texture seen through the actual image i.e. I want to select all pixels in the top layer, merge this with the bg texture and then cut it out.

I've tried a couple of techniques (incl. ctrl + click on the layer icon) but not found any technique that selects _all pixels_ in a layer without me having to manually add some here and there.
Anyone have a clue how to?

Example:


Many thanks in advance.
/Mansson

I had a situation earlier where I had about 50 layers, each with there own specific layer fx, but then I wanted to add a color outline to all of them.

Now, because the other fx are all different, is there a way I can just copy the stroke to all layers, instead of entering every layer, one by one, & setting it manually.

Hi all!
We're using photoshop to prepare assets for a game engine, and i'm trying to find a good workflow, which i can then teach to my artist.
At this point, i have an image with five layers. 12345

Layers 2-5 each have a layer mask on them.

Now what i want to do is, copy the layer mask of layer 2, and paste it into the Red colour channel of layer 1
then mask of layer 3 into the green channel of layer 1
layer 4 into the blue channel
and layer 5 into the alpha channel

So the result is that the channels of that layer will each look identical to the layer masks, and thus layer 1 will look like a wierd (but programatically meaningful) mishmash of colours.

I'm having some problems though.




Apologies for the massive image.
This is the green channel that i've gained from the above procedure. The big gradiented circle in the middle is what i made, but for some reason i have this white stripe down the left side too. I have no idea what that is or why it's there. It appears on both he green and blue channels when i paste in a mask. But if you look at the channel image in the right hand panel, it doesn't seem to have a stripe down it.

the stripe is definitely there, it's affecting the main image, and its annoying me.

any thoughts what might be causing that?

Hey everyone, I'm still busy learning bits & bobs. Haven't been posting a lot recently but I have a question about something that is foxing me. I will use the below Bubble image as an example.

If I make an image using (in most cases) multiple layers, but my end goal is to have a single layer png with transparent background. I find when I merge the group, the end result never looks like the original, and no amount of blending fixes it. Am I missing something simple, or is that just the way it is.?



The bubble isn't merged with the bg, just merged into it's own layer, but as you can see the difference however subtle is still different.

Just as an extra note. I even tried exporting to png, instead of merging, but the loaded png has the same result.

I've just discovered the existence of the Knockout feature in the Layer Blending Options. If you select Deep Knockout it allows your current layer to bypass all intermediate layers below it and instead blend only with the original, bottom Background layer.

I tried a few experiments and got Deep Knockout to work, but it only seems to work if the original background layer is present and intact. If I delete or rename the background layer, or substitute something else as my bottom layer, the Deep Knockout doesn't recognize this new bottom layer as the "Background" and drills right past it down to emptiness---an entire screen of blank pixels.

How do I take the bottom-most layer of my stack and redefine it as a Background, so that Deep Knockout will recognize it? (Also, I've never understood why Photoshop even bothers with the background layer, what special properties it has, and what advantage it provides vesus any other "normal" layer that sits at the bottom of the stack.)

Thanks