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Participant
November 20, 2019

P: Feathered layer masks don't render correctly in Classic or macOS Preview

  • November 20, 2019
  • 24 replies
  • 991 views

I have reproduced a bug forwarded to me by a student, using a second machine.  Some problem occurs when PSD files are saved from Photoshop including non-trivial layer masks with the feather layer property set.  it is difficult for me to tell whether the PSD file is corrupted or whether the PSD file is misread by multiple other applications.

Steps to reproduce:
1.  Load an image in PS.
2.  Add an adjustment layer (I used brightness/contrast, and set brightness down to make the effect observable.)
3.  Set the layer feathering property on the adjustment layer to a non-trivial value, say, 50%.
4.  Paint on the layer in such a way that the mask itself is non-trivial.
5.  Save the result as PSD.
6.  Load the image into any of a variety of applications (including LR Classic and OSX Preview), note the image looks as if the layer mask was improperly computed.  

Notes:
A.  I have reproduced this bug with different images.
B.  Both I am my student have reproduce this bug--each on different MacBook Pros running Catalina.
C.  The student has reproduced this bug both with graphics acceleration enabled and disabled.
D.  Images open/display correctly in Photoshop when loaded directly
E.  Images open/display correctly in Photoshop when loaded via LR's "Edit Original", even when the image does not display correctly in LR.
F.  I have not looked at the issue via any other operating system.

Catalina 10.15.1
PS 21.0.1 Release
LR Classic 9.0 Release


(edited to add omitted step for setting layer feathering property.)

This topic has been closed for replies.

24 replies

joeAuthor
Participant
November 21, 2019
More details and tests later, but here is a subtly affected file.  You should see 11/20 written in the sky, when there is a bug, the 0 and just a tiny bit of the 2 are not rendered.

Let me know if you have trouble with the Dropbox link

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7nkynjk25v1zuc1/1120.psd?dl=0
Legend
November 21, 2019
I can't reproduce this off-hand (only have access to 10.14.6 at the moment). It might be Catalina only so will try when I'm back in the office. If you can post an affected file, that might also help. (CC-files or Dropbox)
Inspiring
November 21, 2019


Based on your latest release of Adobe Photoshop Desktop 21.0.1, the "Feather" function of the "Layer masks" is not honored once you save the file and it's rendered in Adobe Bridge or Capture One. 

Any changes you made to that layer, with the Layer Mask "Feathered" will render as if you never applied a Layer Mask at all. In essence, using the "Feather" feature will render your Layer Mask useless (once you save the file and view it outside of Photoshop).
Legend
November 21, 2019
In Photoshop, go to Preferences > Performance... and check "Legacy Compositing" - resave the file. Does it render correctly in the other apps?