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default5w4heblekm6h
Known Participant
September 27, 2024
Question

Opacity adjustment across open documents - BUG

  • September 27, 2024
  • 5 replies
  • 364 views

I'm encountering an issue where I change the opacity of one layer in one document, and the selected layer in another open document changes with it!

Really annoying and potentially damaging/expensive if I don't notice it's happened.

This is really to ask if anyone else has experienced this. I don't have time to list all my system specs, provide highly documented examples and so on, Adobe.

5 replies

c.pfaffenbichler
Community Expert
c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 11, 2025

@default5w4heblekm6h , could you post a screen recording (with all the pertinent Panels [Toolbar, Layers, Options, History, …] visible) of the issue occurring? 

 

Edit: Does the change in the inactive Document register in the History? 

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default5w4heblekm6hAuthor
Known Participant
July 14, 2025

Thanks for replying.  As per the OP, it's happening intermittently and not often enough for me to screen record all day just in case.

I'll check the History next time, thanks for that.

    c.pfaffenbichler
    Community Expert
    c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 14, 2025

    Is there any similarity/connection between the mis-edited Layers and the actually edited Layer aside from being the active Layers in their respective documents?

    Are they of the same kind (Smart Objects, Adjustment Layers, …), do they have similar names, …? 

    davescm
    Community Expert
    davescmCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 11, 2025

    I've never experienced that here, using any version. Have you tried resetting preferences? Preferences contain more than just the user set preferences they also contain internal settings and are saved everytime Photoshop closes. Any corruption can lead to very strange behaviours. Back up the preferences first so you can revert if it does not help.
    https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/photoshop/using/preferences.html

    Dave

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      default5w4heblekm6hAuthor
      Known Participant
      September 27, 2024

      Yup, just happened again, for sure.

      D
      default5w4heblekm6hAuthor
      Known Participant
      July 11, 2025

      Still happening.

      D
      default5w4heblekm6hAuthor
      Known Participant
      September 27, 2024

      Thanks for replying.

       

      I don't use floating windows, I keep them all as tabs in the main window.

       

      It happens often enough that if it's not a bug, it's a bug in the way I work. But it's hard to see how the document I'm working on, ie: actively adjusting an opacity in the layers section, can possibly *not* be the currently active one. And yet I then click on another tab, and find the current layer now has that same chosen opacity, ie: 15%, 75%, whatever.

      D Fosse
      Community Expert
      D FosseCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      September 27, 2024

      I absolutely cannot reproduce this (and have never heard of it happening to anyone else).

       

      Try again and make absolutely sure that the intended document is the active one. If you use floating windows there is very little visual differentiation between active and background windows, and it's extremely easy to target the wrong one. I have done it myself several times, but immediately realized what had happened.

       

      Who can tell the difference between these two:

       

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