How to Merge Layers or Flatten WITHOUT cropping!

Question

For years I've used an action I created that merges all the layers, converts the color space, and reduces to 8 bt. This would keep everything on one layer, instead of flattening it down to the background, because once you make it background it also crops to the current size. I need flexibility to be able to go back into the file to alter the crop to whatever size the client is ordering. I've suddenly found that my files have been permanently cropped and I've lost the ability to change the aspect ratio! They've been mashed down to a background layer!

So, I went in and changed the action a few different ways, so that it would select all the layers and merge to one, but it's still ending up cropping my images!!! What happened! So now, I can't just hit the action button as I work, to get all the things done that were in the action. I now have to manually select the layers and and merge them together, and take that aspect of it out of my action, just letting the action do the other steps. Why has this happened?

DefiningImagery · Accepted Answer

Thank you, but wasn't using batch actions and this is not in regard to saving. As it turns out, there must have been a glitch in the prior update, as the most recent update has fixed the issue and my action is properly working again.

Trevor.Dennis · Answer

I am not entirely sure I understand your issue, but there are a couple of points that come to mind, and that might be what is causing you problems.

If you crop but leave Delete Cropped Pixels unchecked, and then Flatten, all pixels outside the crop are lost for ever. On the other hand, Flatten is useful because it allows you to add a Save As to the end of your action, and the file will save as a JPG without any further input from you. Merging the layers does not have this effect, and the file is likely to default to saving as a PSD. This can add a lot of frustration and time when batching a lot of images.

We discussed this a while back, and the point was made that using Save As at the end of an Action will cause the files to save to the same folder used when recording the Action. So you either have to record a new Action, or use a temporary folder and move the finished files to the required end location at the end of the batch. This is what I now do. (Thanks to Dag Fosse for that idea).

The other point that comes to mind is Crop will only resize the image if there are values in the size fields in the Options Bar, and that you would certainly lose the full size file if overwriting the original file. The answer to that might be to clear those values by including a Clear all fields in the Action.

I am not sure if there would a problem with that if the Clear icon was grey out because the fields were already empty, but easily tested.

Whatever you decide on, I'd be strongly inclined to re-record the Action(s) from scratch, so as to be sure you have not got an errant line in the Action. After that, it is surely just a case of having alternative Actions to cover whatever your current requirement is. I will say that batching a lot of images this way is surely a more powerful alternative to using Lightroom. I have tried, many times, to like Lightroom, even paying a few hundred dollars for it once, but I always come back to Photoshop and Bridge. But that's another story.

Good luck, and let us know what path you decide on. It sounds like you have a similar workflow to some of this forum's regular posters, and it is good to share.

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