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vawitt
Known Participant
October 13, 2021
Answered

Really dumb question - how can I copy an image from a folder and paste it into Photoshop?

  • October 13, 2021
  • 5 replies
  • 17268 views

This should be the easiest thing in the world - CTRL+C to copy the graphic. Switch to PS. Click on desired layer. CTRL+V to paste. Nope. Edit>Paste is greyed out.

 

I know I can drag & drop. I want to know why simple Copy/Paste doesn't work.

 

Anyone?

 

Thanks!

    Correct answer J453

    I think this is a limitation on Windows. It works on macOS to select a file in the Finder, choose Copy and the composite with Paste in Photoshop. The same thing doesn't work on Windows. I also tried pasting in Paint so seems like a general limitation on that platform.

    5 replies

    Richard_B.Riddick
    Richard_B.Riddick
    Participant
    August 6, 2022

    It just worked for me after enlarging the canvas a lot....

    Try it like this ^ 

    Press C to display the crop handles in the corners of the canvas , then resize it way bigger and the pasted content should appear after pressing CTRL+V.

    Trevor.Dennis
    Community Expert
    Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 13, 2021

    Did you have an active selection when you used Ctrl C to copy?   I don't think I have ever encountered a limit to Windows clipboard size, but to copy to clipboard an object must be selected (Ctrl click it's layer thumbnail or Ctrl A to copy all)

     

    If you are copying the graphic from outside Photoshop then I have sometimes found this to have the odd glitch.  Almost as if the clipboard has a queue.  If you use Ctrl N in Photoshop to create a new document the size of the clipboard, it might reference the previous content the first time you use Ctrl n, but the second time it works as you'd expect.  But IME if it is a valide image document and in the clipboard, it will always paste into Photoshop.

      V
      vawittAuthor
      Known Participant
      October 14, 2021

      I've even cleared out the clipboard in Windows, to no avail. From an answer upthread, it looks as though it's a Windows glitch. I'll continue to drag and drop, which works fine; I was just annoyed that such a simple operation wouldn't work.

       

      Thanks for taking the time to reply!

        JJMack
        Community Expert
        JJMackCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        October 13, 2021

        As far as I know you can only paste images that in the clipboard into Photoshop documents as a layer and Text  in the Clipboard  into  text area in tool like the text toll text imput area.    Photoshop is not a file editor and not all file  are image files,  Photoshop documents do not normally have image files in then. The exception are Photoshop documents that have placed embedded images.  There a copy of the file in the embedded object.  If there is a file in the clipboard you will not see paste as an available option.

        JJMack
        J
        J453Correct answer
        Legend
        October 13, 2021

        I think this is a limitation on Windows. It works on macOS to select a file in the Finder, choose Copy and the composite with Paste in Photoshop. The same thing doesn't work on Windows. I also tried pasting in Paint so seems like a general limitation on that platform.

          V
          vawittAuthor
          Known Participant
          October 13, 2021

          Wow. OK. So it isn't just me, then. Thought I was going a little nuts! I'm a long-time Office and Photoshop user and have never even tried a copy/paste as described above. I was following a tutorial and decided to try the author's copy/paste method and it didn't work. Author was on a Mac, so that very well could explain it. None of my Google searches turned up any answers - they all directed me to copy/paste within PS.

          Thanks for the response!

          TheDigitalDog
          TheDigitalDog
          Inspiring
          October 13, 2021

          The issue is, the clipboard may be too small to copy it all into memory and past once inside Photoshop. Or you didn't get anything copied in the first place; can you paste the copy elsewhere than PS? 

          What kind of data and size is what you are trying to copy (from where)? 

           

          Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management/pluralsight"
            V
            vawittAuthor
            Known Participant
            October 13, 2021

            It was just a little .png file. 560 KB. Had no trouble pasting in Word or PowerPoint. I tried several different files, both .png and .jpg   As I said, I typically just drag and drop my assets but it's bugging me why I can't do this. I can copy/paste between open docs within PS, just not from a file folder to an open doc in PS. So weird!

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