Moving, copying, and pasting selections and layers

Moving, copying and pasting selections and layers

You can move or copy selections and layers within or between images-and also between images in other applications.

Moving selections and layers within an image

The move tool lets you drag a selection or layer to a new location in the image. With the Info palette open you can track the exact distance of the move. You can also use the move tool to align selections and layers and distribute layers within an image.

To specify move tool options:

Select the move tool .

Select any of the following in the options bar:

Auto Select Layer to select the topmost layer that has pixels under the move tool rather than the selected layer.

Show Bounding Box to display the bounding box around the selected item.

To move a selection or layer:

Select the move tool .

To activate the move tool when another tool is selected hold down Ctrl ( Windows) or Command (Mac OS) ( This technique does not work with the pen tool , freeform pen , path selection tool , direct selection tool , hand tool , slice select tool , or anchor point tools Hold down Command (Mac OS) to activate the move tool when using the shape tools

Do one of the following:

Move the pointer inside the selection border and drag the selection to a new position. If you have selected multiple areas all move as you drag.

Select the layer you want to move. Then drag the layer to a new position.

To align selections and layers within an image:

Do one of the following:

To align the content of a layer to a selection make a selection in the image. Then select a layer in the Layers palette.

To align the contents of multiple layers to a selection border make a selection in the image. Then link together the layers you want to align in the Layers palette.

(See "Linking layers on section 289

To align the contents of layers with the content of the active layer link the layers you want to align to the active layer (See "Linking layers on section 289

Select the move tool .

Click one or more alignment buttons in the options bar Align Top Edges , Align

Vertical Centers Align Bottom Edges , Align Left Edges , Align Horizontal Centers

, or Align Right Edges .

To distribute layers within an image:

In the Layers palette link three or more layers (See "Linking layers on section 289

Select the move tool .

Click one or more distribute buttons in the options bar Distribute Top Edges , Distribute Vertical Centers , Distribute Bottom Edges , Distribute Left Edges , Distribute Horizontal Centers or Distribute Right Edges .

Copying selections or layers

You can use the move tool to copy selections as you drag them within or between images, or you can copy and move selections using the Copy Copy Merged Cut and Paste commands Dragging with the move tool saves memory because the Clipboard is not used as it is with the Copy Copy Merged Cut and Paste commands.

The Copy command copies the selected area on the active layer.

The Copy Merged command makes a merged copy of all the visible layers in the selected area.

The Paste command pastes a cut or copied selection into another part of the image or into another image as a new layer.

(Photoshop) The Paste Into command pastes a cut or copied selection inside another selection in the same image or different image. The source selection is pasted onto a new layer and the destination selection border is converted into a layer mask (See "Masking layers on section 314

Keep in mind that when a selection or layer is pasted between images with different resolutions the pasted data retains its pixel dimensions. This can make the pasted portion appear out of proportion to the new image Use the Image Size command to

make the source and destination images the same resolution before copying and pasting.

(See "Determining a recommended resolution for an image (Photoshop) on section 68.) Depending on your color management settings and the color profile associated with the file (or imported data) you may be prompted to specify how to handle color information in the file (or imported data) For more information see About color management policies on section 106

To copy a selection:

Select the area you want to copy.

Choose Edit > Copy or Edit > Copy Merged.

To copy a selection while dragging:

Select the move tool or hold down Ctrl ( Windows) or Command (Mac OS) to activate the move tool.

Hold down Alt ( Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and drag the selection you want to copy and move.

When copying between images drag the selection from the active image window into the destination image window If nothing is selected the entire active layer is copied As you drag the selection over another image window a border highlights the window if you can drop the selection into it.

To create multiple copies of a selection within an image:

Select the move tool or hold down Ctrl ( Windows) or Command (Mac OS) to activate the move tool.

Copy the selection:

Hold down Alt ( Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and drag the selection.

To copy the selection and offset the duplicate by 1 pixel hold down Alt or Option and press an arrow key.

To copy the selection and offset the duplicate by 10 pixels press Alt+Shift ( Windows) or

Option+Shift (Mac OS) and press an arrow key.

As long as you hold down Alt or Option each press of an arrow key creates a copy of the selection and offsets it by the specified distance from the last duplicate.

To paste one selection into another (Photoshop):

Cut or copy the part of the image you want to paste.

Select the part of the image into which you want to paste the selection. The source selection and the destination selection can be in the same image or in two different Photoshop images.

Choose Edit > Paste Into. The contents of the source selection appear masked by the destination selection.

In the Layers palette the layer thumbnail for the source selection appears next to the layer mask thumbnail for the destination selection. The layer and layer mask are unlinked- that is you can move each one independently.

Source selection pasted into destination selection

For more information on editing layer masks see Applying and discarding layer masks"

on section 318

Select the move tool or hold down the Ctrl ( Windows) or Command (Mac OS) key to activate the move tool. Then drag the source contents until the part you want appears through the mask.

To reveal more or less of the image underlying the layer click the layer mask thumbnail in the Layers palette select a painting tool and edit the mask:

To hide more of the image underlying the layer paint the mask with black.

To reveal more of the image underlying the layer paint the mask with white.

To partially reveal the image underlying the layer paint the mask with gray.

If you are satisfied with your results you can choose Layer > Merge Down to merge the new layer and layer mask with the underlying layer and make the changes permanent. Using drag and drop to copy between applications

The drag-and-drop feature lets you copy and move images between Photoshop or

ImageReady and other applications.

In Windows the application must be OLE-compliant. To duplicate an entire image by dragging and dropping use the move tool to drag the image. To copy an OLE object that contains .psd data use the OLE Clipboard (See your Windows documentation.) In Mac OS, the application must support Mac OS Drag Manager.

Dragging vector artwork from Adobe Illustrator or from other applications that use the Illustrator Clipboard rasterizes the artwork-the mathematically defined lines and curves of the vector art are converted into the pixels or bits of a bitmap image. To copy the vector artwork as a path in Photoshop hold down Ctrl ( Windows) or Command (Mac OS) as you drag from Adobe Illustrator. To copy type you must first convert it to outlines.

Using the Clipboard to copy between applications

You can often use the Cut or Copy command to copy selections between Photoshop or ImageReady and other applications. The cut or copied selection remains on the Clipboard until you cut or copy another selection.

In some cases the contents of the Clipboard are converted to a raster image Photoshop prompts you when vector artwork will be rasterized.

Note: The image is rasterized at the resolution of the file into which you paste it.

To change the Export Clipboard preference (Photoshop):

Do one of the following:

In Windows and Mac OS 9.x choose Edit > Preferences > General.

In Mac OS X choose Photoshop > Preferences > General.

Select Export Clipboard to save any Photoshop contents on the Clipboard when you exit from Photoshop If you leave this deselected the contents are deleted when you exit from the program.

To paste PostScript artwork from another application:

In the supporting application select your artwork and choose Edit > Copy (See About file formats on section 453

In Photoshop or ImageReady select the image into which you'll paste the selection.

Choose Edit > Paste.

(Photoshop) In the dialog box select from the following options:

Paste as Pixels to have the artwork rasterized as it is pasted Rasterizing converts mathe- matically defined vector artwork to pixels.

Paste as Paths to paste the copy as a path in the Paths palette. When copying type from

Illustrator you must first convert it to outlines.

Paste as Shape Layer to create a new shape layer that uses the path as a vector mask. Important: When copying artwork from Adobe Illustrator Illustrator s default Clipboard preferences may prevent the Paste dialog box from appearing in Photoshop Select AICB in the Files and Clipboard section of Illustrator s Preferences dialog box if you want the Paste options to appear when you paste the artwork in Photoshop.

If you chose Paste as Pixels in the previous step you can choose Anti-alias in the options bar to make a smooth transition between the edges of the selection and the surrounding pixels (See "Softening the edges of a selection on section 166

Note: You can use the Matting commands if you have already merged data and are trying to re-extract the rasterized data. (See "Removing fringe pixels from a selection

(Photoshop)" on section 173