



EDIT : Ok this is pretty much the scenario.


  • temporarily I flattened the image
  • copied a circled area
  • undid the flattening
  • pasted the copied circle on to a new layer


I hope this clears the issue up.






To "auto-crop" use the magic wand tool or quick selection tool and select the outside of what you'd want to crop to. Then select the crop tool and it will auto select the area that was selected in to crop. accept the crop and presto!


Filters work on an entire layer unless otherwise specified - e.g., a selection. Ctrl-clicking a layer's thumbnail will create a selection based on the opacity of that layer's pixels. Any pixels on the layer that are 100% opaque will be 100% selected; those that are 25% opaque will be 25% selected, any transparency will not be selected, etc.

Additionally, you may save steps and time by using Ctrl+Shift+C to "Copy Visible". This will copy not just the currently-selected layer's pixels, but all visible layer's pixels, and will generally have the same effect as flattening, copying, unflattening. Another difference is that flattening can sometimes slightly alter layer effects involving luminosity, and can have other potentially undesired effects. "Copy Visible" will not have any changes to the visible pixels at the time you copy. It's truly a What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get scenario. And saving steps is a big bonus.

Your Answer

