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L
LogonLarry
Participant
June 6, 2024
Question

PSE 15: copying complex selection from one image to another

  • June 6, 2024
  • 2 replies
  • 232 views

I realize Photoshop Elements 15 is an old version at this point but I'm actually more accustomed to working with Photoshop Elements 10! I'm trying to replicate something I did in Elements 10 all the time using Elements 15 instead.

 

In Elements 10, I would often open an image and create a complex selection. Then, I might want to use that same selection in a second image. So I would open the second image. Then return to the first image (with the selection active). And I would drag the second image from the Project Bin and drop it onto the first image in the main window. That would effectively add the second image as a new layer in the first image, which would allow me to apply the selection I created to the second image.

 

I can't seem to do that in Elements 15. I have both images open. In the first image, I create my selection. But I can't click and drag the second image and drop it onto the first image to add it as an additional layer. Can someone explain how I would do that in version 15?

 

Sorry if it's difficult for me to describe what I'm trying to do. Effectively, I want to take a second image and add it as a new layer to another image (so I can apply the selection I create in image 1 to image 2).

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2 replies

Greg_S.
Community Expert
Greg_S.Community Expert
Community Expert
June 7, 2024

I'm not sure that I'm fully understanding what you are trying to do.  If you are trying to select AND copy an object from one image to another, there are many ways to do it.  Here is one:

  • Make your selection of the object.
  • Press Ctrl+J.  This will create a new layer of your selected object.
  • Hide the background layer(s) of the image (by clicking on the eyeball icon) so that only the object is displayed with a transparent background
  • In the Photo Bin switch to the image which is to be the background for your selected object.
  • Click and drag the image with the object from the Photo Bin to the background image.

 

You should now have your background image with your selected object as a new layer.

L
LogonLarryAuthor
Participant
June 6, 2024

Okay, maybe I figured out a way to do this on my own. Not sure if this is the best way to replicate what I used to do but it seems to work (though it involves more steps):

 

I open my first image (IMAGE1.jpg, for example), create my selection, and then I save the selection (let's say I call it TEST). 

 

Next, I click File, PLACE, and choose the 2nd image (IMAGE2.jpg). Now the 2nd image is added to the 1st image as an additional layer.

 

Unfortunately, when I do that, my selection goes away (it didn't used to go away when I dragged and dropped IMAGE2 onto IMAGE1 using PhotoShop Elements 10). So I click Select, Load Selection, and then I load the selection I saved with the first image (TEST), and I'm then able to apply it to the second image. Great! Although what I used to be able to do with 5 clicks of the mouse now seems to require 10 clicks!

 

Also, when I click Select, Load Selection, the selection shown at first is one that I didn't create at all: a selection called IMAGE2 Transparency. What is that? It's kind of a pain that selection comes up by default because I'm then forced to click the dropdown and choose the selection I want: TEST. 

 

 

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