Participant

Answered

Change Object Color to just Current Layer

Forum|Forum|6 months ago
July 10, 2025
6 replies
462 views

In Enhance>Change Object Color, how does one apply the selection to just the current layer? The option pops up in the lower left corner when one selects the Color Picker "Change Color to", but it cannot be modified.

Correct answer Greg_S.

OK, I think I may have found a solution that may work for you.

Simply hide the layers that you don't want to be affected by the Object Color Tool.
Select the visible layer
Choose the Object Selection tool.
Make your color change, and it will only affect the visible layer.
Merge the visible layers which will include the adjustment layers produced by the tool.
Unhide the other layers.

Does this work for you?

Greg_S.

Correct answer

Community Expert

OK, I think I may have found a solution that may work for you.

Simply hide the layers that you don't want to be affected by the Object Color Tool.
Select the visible layer
Choose the Object Selection tool.
Make your color change, and it will only affect the visible layer.
Merge the visible layers which will include the adjustment layers produced by the tool.
Unhide the other layers.

Does this work for you?

S

Seaweed1Author

Participant

Sure, I considered doing that; however, my file has many layers, and the process is cumbersome. Plus, it's hard to preview the change in context with the hidden layers...

99jon

Genius

There is no need to use the adjust color interface.

Simply make a selection on your chosen layer and then click the layer mask button.

Add a new adjustment layer from the layer menu e.g hue saturation

Clip the adjustment layer to you chosen layer (Alt+Click)

Adjust the sliders to your taste.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

@Jeff Arola, as I understand it, the OP's issue is not so much with changing the color in the picker, but in changing the object color when the object is on a different layer than the top layer.

@Seaweed1, have I correctly expressed your issue? Thank you for providing the screenshot. Can you explain in more detail what you are trying to do with the Change Object Color tool. As best I can tell, you have a seascape photo and have created a second layer trying to create a reflection - of what, I am not sure.

What object is it that you want to change the color of?

And are you intending to use a blend mode to affect the ultimate result?

Perhaps there is another way to get the result that you want to achieve.

S

Seaweed1Author

Participant

@Jeff Arola, you are correct, that one can change the setting for the Eyedropper Tool before clicking on the Change color. However, that does not change the behavior of the Change color function; it still affects all layers.

@Greg_S. The seascape photo is simply an example; the actual file and image I'm working on are proprietary. To describe what I am trying to do is to change the hue and color of a selected part of an image layer.

I see that the Change Color function applies an Adjustment Layer, which affects all Layers.

Is there another (better) way to do this adjustment?

Jeff Arola

Community Expert

You can change the setting for the Eyedropper Tool before clicking on the Change color to chip by pressing I on your keyboard to bring up the Eyedropper Tool. The setting should stick after that.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

(I cross-posted with your last post. So please provide the requested screenshot.)

S

Seaweed1Author

Participant

As I mentioned previously, once the Color Picker is selected, one cannot change the Sample to Current Layer.

This is a screenshot of my Elements window with the layers panel.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

I will investigate whether that is a bug when I have some more time later. But as shown in your screenshot, there is an option in the Color Picker to Sample Current Layer. Does that work for you? If not, please post a screenshot of your Elements window with the layers panel displayed.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

When you make the selection uncheck the option to Sample All Layers.