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robert es80357930
robert es80357930
Participating Frequently
July 6, 2021
Question

layer panel acting up PSE 21

  • July 6, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 644 views

Often (not always) when I perform an operation on a layer (for example adjust lighting from the enhance menu) the image in the layer disappears and the layer turns transparent. Often (not always) brush strokes fail to show up on a layer mask. This never happened on my previous version of PSE and needless to say is extremely irritating. If I stop and save the work as a psd and then reload it into elements, the image in the layer shows up again and the brush strokes on a layer mask that I could not see magically appear. Any thoughts?

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3 replies

Phil Pickering
Phil Pickering
Legend
July 7, 2021

Hi Robert,

 

Before your patience runs out...

 

Check which driver you are using for your GTX 1660 Super.

 

Make sure you are using the Nvidia Studio driver and not the GeForce Game Ready driver:

 

NVIDIA Studio Driver | 471.11 | Windows 10 64-bit

robert es80357930
robert es80357930Author
Participating Frequently
July 7, 2021

Thank you Phil,

I've regained my composure...most of it at least.

I'm going to be alright...
Updated Nvidia driver to 471.11 (from 461.37)...but sadly the same issues keep recurring.
As I explained the other day I'm blending 2 photos (a kind of then and now thing) Not a very complex operation...involving the following commands: place, move, some transforms (to line things up) opacity adjustments, mask layers and sometimes rasterizing a layer. I wish I could identify a step that makes everything go south...but I can't. Doesn't mean there isn't one...but I haven't found it...and I have to say it seems entirely random. Sometimes everything goes as it should and sometimes (when I do the same thing--at least I think I do) it doesn't.

Digital tools aren't supposed to act randomly, are they? Or have I been living in a fools paradise.

In any case, I haven't had this new version of PSE long enough to give up on it yet. Maybe as I use it more, the answer will reveal itself...

Appreciate your help...don't expect you to be able to solve this...but if you have any further ideas, send them along...

Thanks again.

    robert es80357930
    robert es80357930Author
    Participating Frequently
    July 15, 2021

    For anyone encountering the same behavior and who stumbles on this
    thead, the random nature of the problem seems to defy solution.. Even though it is extremely annoying to
    have to resort to it, there is a workaround. If your layers go
    transparent, and you need to see them again, save the file as a PSD, and then reload it. So far, this
    has worked for me....

      Phil Pickering
      Phil Pickering
      Legend
      July 6, 2021

      Hi Robert,

       

      Sounds very similar to this post from a couple of months ago:

       

      Layers Panel

       

      Unfortunately, in that case it doesn't look like it was resolved.

       

      Intermittent issues like this are hard to troubleshoot, especially if it is only affecting a minority of users. If you could post a few details about your particular system, it might give us a clue as to what is happening:

       

      - Your operating system and version

      - Your version of Photoshop Elements 2021

      - Your system specs (processor, RAM, free HD space, graphics card, screen resolution)

      - Age of your computer?

      - Single or dual-monitor?

      - Using a mouse, trackpad, or graphics tablet?

      - Running lots of other apps in the background?

      - How many layers does the image have?

      - How many other images do you have open at the same time in Photoshop Elements?

      - Is there one particular function which always seems to trigger this behavior? 

       

      Thanks 🙂

      robert es80357930
      robert es80357930Author
      Participating Frequently
      July 6, 2021

      Thanks for the responses guys

      Have to give up on this now for mental health reasons...can't seem to identify a consistent pattern of misbehavior. Reset preferences... and the layer thumbs didn't turn transparent...but the mask turned transparent from white (and wouldn't show brush strokes)

      Hunted down and destroyed ds store and thumbs db...rebooted ...but after a while a layer thumb (and its mask!) turned transparent.

      Tried again (and after some masking and layer transparency adjustments ended up with the attached gem.

      (FYI I'm trying to combine elements of 2 photos and the maximum number of layers is only 4. This on a virtually new XPS 8940 with 32GB with GeForce GTX 1660 Super)

      I think it's back to PSE14

      hatstead
      hatstead
      Inspiring
      July 6, 2021

      This type of intemittent behavior is vexing. Suggest that you reset prefences to default via the Edit menu>general.

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