How do I 'lock in' modifications.

[jparnold]

For too long I have put off asking this question.

Its regarding doing certain 'actions' and/or modifications to an image and then wanting to do other 'actions' or modifications and being prevented from doing so and the only method I know of is to SAVE the image and then REOPEN it.

I know there must be a method to 'lock in' previous 'actions'/changes to allow others to be made. I hope I have made myself understandable.

Thanks

[LeviFiction]

Well I've never experienced this myself. I know some tools/effects like to be finalized but usually the auto-actions take care of that. Though some can be turned off, many can only execute or prompt to execute. If you come up with some specific examples I could probably say with more certainty but I imagine if it happens there is usually a green checkmark on the tool options panel for finalizing an action.

Like with the Text tool, you have to cancel the action or accept your changes. Or with the color changer tool. Freehand selection tool (hitting esc will cancel the current selections or double clicking on the canvas, delete key will make you go back one spot along the path). Warp brush by default always prompts you to complete the warp before letting you do other things, or it can be set to auto-finalize but there is no option to turn off the auto-finalization.

[jparnold]

Thanks. I have experimented and found an example.

Load an image
I can use the eraser to remove parts
Add text and click on the tick at accept
Select eraser again and attempt to erase parts a window pops up "the following changes are required to proceed - the current layer must be converted to a raster layer I select OK
Now the eraser will only remove parts of the area where the text is.

If this happened during a non experiment and I wanted to erase other parts I would SAVE the image and then RELOAD it.

There may be different actions other than what I did in the experiment and maybe its always after I am prompted to convert the current layer to raster. I know a little about layers and how they can be used but don't know the difference between the different types. Maybe I need to merge the layers? If so how?

[LeviFiction]

So quick rundown. A Raster image is made of pixels, dots of color usually represented by numbers between 0-255 in different color channels (r,g,b). If they have transparency, the opacity is another channel. Background Layers are Raster Images that don't allow transparency. Raster Layers are Raster Images that do allow transparency. Vectors are math. They consist or points and direction handles indicating how the points (nodes) connect. The program (PSP) re-draws these every time you make a change, creating the visual data from scratch on the fly.

The eraser sets the opacity value of pixels anywhere between fully opaque to fully transparent. So it affects the transparency/alpha channel.

Text is a vector layer and cannot be erased. Because it doesn't have an alpha channel (per se). So when you create a text layer it's a vector. And When you try to erase it PSP lets you know "You can't do that, but if you take this step (convert to raster) you can do that." And if you say "yes that's what I want" it goes ahead and does it for you.

Now at this point the layer is a raster layer, but it's also a separate layer from the rest of the image. So like you thinking, yes you do need to merge them but only if you want to erase both the text and layer beneath it...which I don't know why you would want to do that. I get you were just playing and testing but yeah it's an odd combination.

To merge layers you can either right-click on the layers in the Layers Palette and select a Merge option from there or by going up to the Layers menu "Merge" > "Merge all flatten" or just "Merge Down" will be sufficient. If you save your image as a JPEG that doesn't support layers and so merges the result. Which is why you can save and open and get what you want.

Now, there is another option. When creating the text, there is a "Create As" drop-down that defaults to "Vector". Vector layers, because they are done on the fly, let you change the text whenever you want. But if you're sure you won't want to change it later, you can choose to create the text as "Raster" (older versions of PSP) or as a "Floating" selection in later versions of PSP and no I don't remember when they changed the wording. Which is a raster but on a floating selection layer. Once you've got the floating selection where you want it you just need to "De-float" the selection. Which you can do under the "Selections" menu De-Float or keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + F. You could also just make the text a selection, and then fill the selection or paint over it. Whatever method you wanted.

But yeah, whatever happens on a layer stays on the layer and never affects the other layers. It's a great way to not just layer elements on top of each other, but also to isolate effects and edits from each other.

[jparnold]

Thanks
I know of many advantages of using layers and have once or twice did that.
I will try BOTH your suggestions in the future - I will rite on a post it note and stick to my PC to remind me as I don't use PSP a lot.

[jparnold]

Hello again
After thinking about it for a while the word MERGE came to mind and so I looked up MERGE LAYERS and there are options.
Could this be an option?

[LeviFiction]

Yes, I mentioned both Merging and creating text as a raster in my previous response. Though now that I'm rested and look at it, I can see how it got lost in the response.