How to copy and paste an adjustment brush onto another edited photo?

[nickp36813698]

Hi all!

I have a photo to edit where some specific areas on each need to be darkened, and other specific areas need lightening.

To create the darker areas I used an adjustment brush but because it then makes the program run SO SLOW, it was taking me hours to add the second mask for lightening the other areas. I created a virtual copy of my image, removed the darkening mask to make the lightening mask, hoping I could just copy and paste it onto the original image once I was done.

But turns out when you copy settings from one image to another, it doesn't copy them over what edits are already there, it replaces them.

I've tried the copy and paste functions in the three different areas you can do them, I've tried syncing too (knowing it wouldn't work), I've tried combining them via HDR but no solution works. I even tried exporting the darkened one, and copying the lightened layer onto that but for some reason the mask has copied over rotated and I can't rotate it back.

It just doesn't seem like a ludicrous request, but I can't seem to find anyone else with the same issue which seem seems weird, and I need to somehow do this for two other (but similar) images after. Does anyone know of a work around and can help? !

Thank you in advance!

[Laura Shoe · Accepted solution]

You're correct - there is no way to copy just a single brush adjustment from photo to photo without wiping out other brush adjustments. If you can make one adjustment with the graduated or radial filter and the other(s) with the adjustment brush, then your approach might work. (Keep in mind that once you draw a graduated or radial filter, you can use the brush within these filters to erase or add to the filter as much as you want, so you really can get any shape.)

I would suggest turning to why adjustment brush performance is so slow, if you haven't already. Have you tried turning of GPU acceleration? (Preferences>Performance, uncheck Use Graphics Processor.) Beyond this, I'm afraid I'm not an expert on performance, but here's a help doc, and perhaps others will chime in.