P: Keyboard shortcuts for navigating layers DO NOT work with hidden layers

Thanks Stephen. Nice work. This works perfectly! I assigned cmd + opt + [ ] to saved variations of the script for moving up and down.

I totally agree with you. They should fix this problem. This makes my work a lot more complicated. I have to move layer backward (ctrl [) to applay the effect to another layer and actually see what I'm doing, then move first one forward again.

I still can't believe this is the expected behavior and not a bug. They have a shortcut to toggle visibility on a layer, but it's essentially useless since you cannot navigate to hidden layers with the keyboard in the first place. They need to fix this. I am so damn frustrated with this MONOPOLISTIC company. In the past 5 years, I have paid more to Adobe than I have in the previous 20 years, and the level of support has dropped precipitously. Not a single issue I have brought up in the recent past has been "solved", I have only ever been told "That's the way it's supposed to be."

We get no direct phone support, no direct email support. We have to go through a stupid chat queue or forums that are manned by unpaid CUSTOMER "volunteers". I don't PAY to get support FROM CUSTOMERS. This is monopolistic behavior. You are making more money now than you ever have. If your bug backlog is too large, THEN HIRE SOME DAMN ENGINEERS! I am stuck using your software because there are no viable alternatives, but I DO NOT LIKE IT.

Stop being a crappy company!

Absolutely, if you need to record actions the ability to select hidden layers via shortcut (so that it can work on any layer regardless its name) is mandatory.

For those that can't write scripts (i.e. the majority of the Photoshop user base), using the keyboard shortcuts for back/backwards and front/forwards layer selection or moving are critical when recording actions that are relative rather than absolute.

This visibility issue is a major PITA when it comes to action automation.

Anyway, it is possible to work around this issue using a script, which can be run from a custom keycut.

https://gist.githubusercontent.com/joonaspaakko/048c9b58ccbb6e6f44c894bf4ce30b68/raw/878c7240aa04bac...

Hello,

I add this comment to join the request to be able to navigate through hidden layers. I meet the same problem to have to leave the workspace to come back on the hidden layers with cursor and it happens too often to not find an interest in dedicated shortcut.

In addendum, I'd also find rather interesting to be able to use these shortcuts on AZERTY or non-american QWERTY keyboard or at least to be able to set a new shortcut in the "shorcut" menu page. Lots of shorcuts are inaccessible to reassignment and the only way to not have constaintly have to toggle between US keyboard layout and local keyboard layout is to create actions (F2 as "select backward layer", for exemple).
Then, for people who doesn't work on US keyboard or just want to assign a single key to hidden shortcuts, here are the steps:
1. If you're not using english version of photoshop, change language and reinstall (explaination: https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/change-install-language.html).
2. Switch your keyboard to US keyboard mode (if not already installed go to language preferences and add it).
3. Open "action" window in Photoshop.
4. Create a new group.
5. Create a new action.
6. Attribute a name, a key (F2 or F2+CTRL or something else) and click on "record".
7. Execute the shortcut (description will appear in the "action" window).
8. Stop the recording by clicking on the square icon.
9. Repeat the process for other wanted shortcuts.
10. Switch to your local keyboard layout and enjoy your new shortcuts. It still works if you want to come back to your native language as describe in step "1".

PS: as mentionned upper, I feel sad that Photoshop doesn't provide the same possibilities depending on your language and location.

it's so frustrating that you can record an action to hide a layer, but you CANNOT RECORD an action to UNHIDE/REVEAL the same layer you just hid. Vice-versa should be obvious but for you it's just a number of how many complaints are...pretty sad.

I work on hundreds of images each with 30+ layers doing minor retouching. It's an arduous task and am constantly looking for ways to speed this up. I use CMD-, to hide current layer and ALT-[ to move to next layer down when retouching. It would really help my process if I could do this in reverse so a kbsc to previous hidden layer would be a real bonus. Surely there must be more than 2 of us out there who agree?!

And none of these issues came up during testing or when your accessibility team took a look at it? Because when I am in the middle of doing repetitive tasks using the keyboard, the LAST thing I want to do is take my hand off the keyboard to move and click my mouse because ONE of the 15 things I need to do doesn't have a keyboard shortcut. It's disruptive to my process and I imagine these limits might extend to scripting and automation as well.

I mean, I believe the lack of a shortcut to navigate hidden layers is a bug that needs to be fixed. Keyboard shortcuts are there to solve a problem, but when some of your functions do not have shortcuts, it leaves that problem partially unsolved, and leaves some of us in the lurch. I understand that the shortcut was built with a different use case in mind, but it doesn't mean that use case is the only correct one and that other use cases are wrong.
I hope you guys will consider this as a bug that deserves to be fixed and not a feature that is working as intended, because it's unfinished, and not the way I would have built it.

Anything is possible, but we have all kinds of requests for innumerable ideas, suggestions, changes. We use this site, and other data, to try and prioritize these requests. I believe this is the first time I've heard this request since we released CS2. There doesn't seem to be a burning need for this when clicking on the layers will get you there in the cases you need to select hidden layers.