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cmmarsico
Participating Frequently
February 16, 2013
Answered

Trying to align series of layers. Auto align greyed out. All layers selected

The auto align button is greyed out. I've seen a lot of answers on this but they are not applicable.  I have all the layers selected.  They are all at 100% opacity. 

      tiffany0D44Correct answer
      Participant
      December 12, 2022

      Also after Rasterizing the Smart Object make sure you have "Align To: Canvas" selected in Properties. 

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      21 replies

      spicy.graphics
      spicy.graphics
      Inspiring
      October 26, 2026

      Built a free plugin that offers a more intuitive align panel. 

      Defaults to selection and you can hold shift to align multiple layers to the canvas (without needing to group them) 

      • No more dropdown menu!
      • No more grayed-out buttons !
      • also includes a “center-align” button
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      Trevor.Dennis
      Community Expert
      Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      October 26, 2026

      Do you know how Auto Align works?  It is not the same as the align options for the Move tool, but more of a manual method for Photomerge. The usual workflow is to follow Auto Align with Auto Blend.   You can also use it with multiple shots of the same area, but with different lighting, as with a ‘painting with light’ approach to light an interior with a torch or speedlight directed at different areas for each shot.

      The options your GIF demonstrates appear to be similar to the Move Tool’s distribute centres and equal space.   Is your script on Adobe Exchange?  There are one or two similar plugins there.   LINK

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      spicy.graphics
      spicy.graphics
      Inspiring
      October 26, 2026

      This is a plugin, not a script. 

      It’s not on exchange. 

      I looked at the options on there, but I didn’t like any of them. 

      Most are not as simple, compact, and don’t blend in as well. Oh, and some are not free. 

      I created something that can align multiple layers to the canvas without grouping them. And can toggle between align to “canvas” and “selection” by using a shift modifier.  

      That simple. 

       

       

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      Oli374426930d2n
      Participant
      May 16, 2024
      Screenshot_(27).png
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      tiffany0D44Correct answer
      Participant
      December 12, 2022

      Also after Rasterizing the Smart Object make sure you have "Align To: Canvas" selected in Properties. 

      Translate
        QINGCHARLES
        Inspiring
        January 17, 2024

        That was the solution! I knew there was a way to align it without ruining my layout by rasterizing the layer. I just needed to select Canvas instead of Selection. Thank you so much.

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          Ankiz
          Ankiz
          Participant
          January 5, 2019

          I have the same issue, even the choose Rasterize Layers. option is greyed out, whats wrong?

          I have most upto-date version of lightroom + photoshop (monthly subscription , auto update)

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          davescm
          Community Expert
          davescmCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          January 5, 2019

          Hi

          It looks like you have opened the image layers from Lightroom.

          There is an issue in the current version.

          Close both apps. Open Photoshop and leave it open. Now open Lightroom. You should now be able to take your images from Lightroom to Photoshop and the menus should work.

          Dave

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          Ankiz
          Ankiz
          Participant
          January 5, 2019

          you are exactly right Dave, and yes your steps fixed my problem.

          And I think you are a genius davescm

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            KShinabery212
            Community Expert
            KShinabery212Community Expert
            Community Expert
            June 26, 2017

            You an easy solution that would look better would to be just to retake the photo with the PANARAMA MODE selected on a person's cell phone.

            Then the images are also stitched together a little better.  Plus you will have an image that you do not have to play with to align.  Getting rid of all those seams would make a better image.

            Some cameras also have PANARAMA MODE as well.

            Just another option.

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            Let's connect on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kshinabery/
            Jeff Arola
            Community Expert
            Jeff ArolaCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            February 16, 2013

            Hi,

            What version of photoshop and operating system are you using?

            Could you post a screenshot of photoshop including the layers panel?

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            cmmarsicoAuthor
            Participating Frequently
            February 16, 2013

            Hi, thank you for answering.  I'm trying right now to figure out how to take a screenshot.  I've done it before on other things but can't figure out how to do it for the photoshop page.

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            cmmarsicoAuthor
            Participating Frequently
            February 16, 2013

            Oh by the way this is for photoshop CS6, the cloud.   I'm using a MAC OSX, version 10.7.5,

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