Wish we could lock layer position

[Slipp]

I'm working on a series of images with text and pixel-thin lines layered over a background. I need to keep the zoom fairly low to keep an eye on placement, and it's hard as heck to snag that text with my cursor to move it around. Those thin lines are even worse. I keep stumbling onto the background. Grrr! The images are taking twice as long to complete because of this problem. Selecting the layer before clicking is no help at all.

I found a forum page that led me to believe that lock icon should do the trick, but it turned out to be for CorelDraw. It seems that the lock in PSP is for pixel transparency or something equally arcane. Please Corel, make that lock do something useful!

Meanwhile, does anyone have a workaround to stabilize layers? Turning off visibility for the background layer is not an option. I get dizzy looking at those squares behind the virtually invisible text. Can I disable "click to select" or whatever it may be called?

[flagpole]

I'd like this too.

[hartpaul]

Ok let me translate your request
1. You have a background layer say colored white.
2. You have a transparent layer on on top of that with painted 1 pixel lines maybe vertical, horizontal or diagonal.
3. You have a top transparent layer on which you have used the text tool to type a word or two and applied the text .
So three layers in all (at least).
4. You are trying to move the text around using the Move or Pick tool but at times drift off the letters with the cursor and finish up moving the background rather than the text.

Now you want to avoid switching to the background by being able to lock the layer you are working on so that the move/pick tool activates only on that layer.

You did not mention which version of Paintshop pro you were using and your profile information does not say that either as of this posting, so I have assumed that you are using PSP 2018.
Solution: Make the text layer in your layers palette active and then hold the Shift key down as you try to move the text around. That will lock your actions to that layer

[Slipp]

Thank you hartpaul for your patient reply. I blush at the omission of version number. Indeed it is PSP Ultimate 2018, just purchased and installed last week, which partly explains my clumsy statement of the situation. You understood perfectly.

Your tip will make all the difference.

[Muriel]

Oh my goodness, Hartpaul!

Thank-you so very much for that information! The things I learn from just cruising around this page, I tell ya!

Muriel!

[hartpaul]

Thanks but that must be passed on to Levifiction from whom I learned that some time back.

[LostNow]

Hartpaul, thanks to both Levifiction and you! This issue has plagued me as well.

[flagpole]

Aye. Me too.

[JoeB]

My post, meant for another thread, somehow got posted here! Moved it.

[LeviFiction]

Just wanted to add that lock transparency is useful to make sure that the transparency of the layer isn't changed. For example, if you had a cut out of an object on it's own layer and you wanted to draw or make edits on this layer without "coloring outside the lines" you can do this by locking the transparency. Now try as hard as you like, it will only overwrite the pixels that are already there.

[JoeB]

Just wanted to add that lock transparency is useful to make sure that the transparency of the layer isn't changed. For example, if you had a cut out of an object on it's own layer and you wanted to draw or make edits on this layer without "coloring outside the lines" you can do this by locking the transparency. Now try as hard as you like, it will only overwrite the pixels that are already there.

While I've always known that holding Shift locked on to the highlighted layer to allow dragging, this information above was new to me. I've always wondered what the Lock Transparency option was good for, and now I know!

[cornflakes]

omg i have this same problem. It's frustrating as hell. I pasted lots of tiny little strands of hair on my original image. The problem is trying to snag them one by and one and move it around but I usually miss them cuz they are so tiny and I end up grabbing the background image and move the entire thing around! So frustrating. There should be a way to just keep the background image locked in place no matter where I grab on the image and drag it around.

[cornflakes]

Thanks I tried the tip and shift does help, but the background layer is still active...it can still accidentally be grabbed and moved around.
The trick is snagging the little image layer that is paper thin like a line. If you grab it then holding SHIFT works perfect but you have to be able to grab it in the first place.
That is my issue. Snagging it initially is the challenge because sometimes I'll miss that little sucker and I'll just end up dragging my whole background around.

So SHIFT doesn't really solve the issue fully. It is definitely a much helpful option but I'm still trying to learn if there is a way to actually make the background layer inactive / immovable.

When I say background layer, I also mean the original layer of the photo. So as soon as I open it up, that image should not be movable. I don't know why images can actually move. Only whatever you put on top of the original image should be able to move. The original image should always be set and locked somehow.

[JoeB]

Thanks I tried the tip and shift does help, but the background layer is still active...it can still accidentally be grabbed and moved around.
The trick is snagging the little image layer that is paper thin like a line. If you grab it then holding SHIFT works perfect but you have to be able to grab it in the first place.
That is my issue. Snagging it initially is the challenge because sometimes I'll miss that little sucker and I'll just end up dragging my whole background around.

That isn't the case for me with PSP 2019. I can add a small image as a layer onto an image with many other layers. Then, any time I want to move that layer with the small image with the Move tool I first make sure that the layer with the small image is highlighted in the Layers Palette. Then I hold down the shift key and then place my cursor anywhere on the image, left click, hold and drag, and the only layer that moves around is the one with the small image that I had added as a layer. Are you following that procedure?

[Forriner]

When I say background layer, I also mean the original layer of the photo. So as soon as I open it up, that image should not be movable.

Some image formats, like PNG or PSPImage, can have a single layer that is not a Background layer as defined in PSP. They can be a raster layer, for example. When you open the image the first time, check the layers palette. The layer should be called "Background". If not, you can 'merge all layers' to convert it to a Background layer.

-then-

I don't know why images can actually move. Only whatever you put on top of the original image should be able to move. The original image should always be set and locked somehow.

Under menu File/Preferences/General program preferences.../Auto action make sure that 'Promotes Background layer to full layer' is set to Never or Prompt so PSP doesn't promote it automatically when an action you initiate requires it, like moving the layer. You can always promote it if needed through the menu Layers/Promote background layer or right clicking the layer on the layers palette.