Participant

Answered

Can't drag and drop images as layers - is there a workaround?

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
June 18, 2023
14 replies
53318 views

Hi all,

I'm just starting out trying to use layers and following tutorials on Youtube, and one tutorial has shown me how to create a background and a brush layer - then advises you only have to drag and drop a photo in your files onto it to create another layer.

Nope.

I googled the problem and there are two "fixes" I've encountered - one the "regedit" fix here, and the other going in and unselecting "run as admin".

I've done both of these and still no ability to drag and drop. I've been trying various solutions I found on Youtube for literally an hour and a half and I am practically pulling my hair out in clumps.

I'm on a PC laptop, running Windows 11.

If it's somehow impossible for me to enable this function, is there any other way to add a photo from my files as a new layer instead of opening up an entirely new tab for it? At the moment it looks like I can't use layers in the way they are supposed to be used at all because I can't do something as simple as click and drag images. It is EXTREMELY frustrating.

Much thanks in advance!

(Sorry if I sound snappy. I'm running on adrenaline, frustration and fury! I hate it when computers don't do as they're told...)

Windows

Correct answer The_Mr_Phoenix

I had the same issue and I've tried literally everything but nothing worked until i found this video

https://youtu.be/_H0k753olqY?si=jt6hZRiHGCnArayD

Do it and thank me later

Show previous replies

C

cnsexton

Participant

I can't drag and drop between between Photoshop and Illustrator either! Ever since I got my new laptop 6 months ago. Don't know what settings got set to defaut, but I run into that too. It would make sense to me that it is some Adobe master file setting which I don't know where to go to change to "everyone" can edit, or whatever it needs to be.

I've run into an issue with administrative settings when I air drop an .ai file to someone to collaborate with. I have to manually go into "file info" and change it to "everyone" can edit before uploading to cloudshare. It would make sense to me if these two issues were caused by the same setting?

A

Andrej239577013xie

Participant

"There is nothing to fix" is just an excuse for being lazy. It doesn't matter if it is rare or not, as long as the product doesn't work as it is supposed to It IS a bug and adobe needs to fix it.

D Fosse

Community Expert

In this case "there is nothing to fix" means it can't be reproduced, by anyone.

Post a bug report with reproducible steps. If anyone else is seeing this, they'll come forward hopefully.

B

BubbleHouse

Inspiring

It would be great if someone would actually provide the fix for this rather than a workaround. Drag and drop is WAY more efficient than needing to access the menu and browse for an image every single time. And if you'r ea pro designer, than you understand that your time is money.

D Fosse

Community Expert

The reason you're not getting a "fix" is because this works for everybody else. We can't replicate your problem.

In fact, this is a standard Photoshop function: When you drag and drop from an outside application, you get a smart object layer. If you drag and drop from within Photoshop, it's a normal layer.

So the question is why it doesn't work on your machine. I have no idea - but immediately I would suspect a permissions issue. That's why it sometimes helps to "run as administrator" once.

(Whatever you do, don't touch the registry)

H

Hechaldo

Participating Frequently

More and more people are having this same issue. Me including. Started yesterday. I've been using Photoshop and Adobe software for over 30 years and the quality decline in their products, in the past couple of years, is shocking.

Trevor.Dennis

Community Expert

I would strongly advise you NOT to be messing with the Windows Registry for something like adding an image to an open Photoshop document. What is your exact workflow for doing this? If you have a single screen, you should be able to drag File Explorer onto the Photoshop window, but reduced in size so you can see Photoshop behind. Make sure the file you are dragging is a valid image format (i.e. .JPG .PNG) and drag with the mouse. I have File Explorer set to Large Icons to make this easier.

It's a good idea to have this Preference setting enabled as you have more control of the image when it gets to Photoshop.

But there are other ways to do this.

While in Photoshop with the target image window selected, go File > Place Embedded which will do exactly the same as dragging, but you have to find the file when the dialog window opens.

The last method might be a little tricky at first

Open both the target and source documents in Photoshop (Note I have named the documents to indicate Target and Source)

The images need to be tabbed to the options bar which is the default.

Select the source document, and drag the layer (background layer if that's all there is) to the Target documents tab as per the green arrow.

Pause for a moment, and drag it to the image window and you aRE DONE

Bojan Živković11378569

Community Expert

Do you see forbiden icon when you try to drag file(s)?

You can use File > Place Embedded or File > Place Linked.

B

BubbleHouse

Inspiring

Respectfully, this needs a fix rather than a workaround. Drag and drop is far quicker than going to the menu and browsing for what you need. It's ridiculous all of the issues I'm having with Adobe products these days. But thank you for at least providing a solution for the time being. It's just super frustrating.

M

Makado

Participant

Hey BubbleHouse,

I ran into the same issue with dragging pictures or files into Photoshop a few days ago. It was pretty frustrating for me.

I'm not sure if you've found a solution yet, but I managed to fix it by accident. Here's what worked for me:

1. Right-click on Photoshop and select "Run as administrator."
2. Once it opens, close Photoshop.
3. Double-click the Photoshop icon as usual.
That's it! I was able to drag and drop files without any problems after that.

Hope this helps!

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