P: Duplicating a layer with clipping mask removes the clipping mask from all layers above it

[iamhenryyyy]

This behavior is new to the latest update - in past versions of Photoshop when you duplicated a layer that was in a stack of layers which used the same clipping mask, the new duplicate layer would retain the original layer's clipping mask (note that this is only when right-clicking and selecting "duplicate layer", or in my case using a shortcut key to duplicate a layer).  However, now when you duplicate a layer in a stack of layers with the same clipping mask, the new duplicate no longer has the original layer's clipping mask, and all layers above which previously used the original clipping mask, now will use the new duplicate layer as the clipping mask.

WHAT GIVES???  This is hugely annoying - does anyone have a fix to this or a workaround?  i scoured the preferences for an option to fix this but found nothing.

[bzareenk]

This happens more often.You just need to re-clip the layers. This happens when you duplicate and move stuff around. You can try putting them into a group to manage things a bit better.

[davescm]

henryl71042410  wrote

This behavior is new to the latest update - in past versions of Photoshop when you duplicated a layer that was in a stack of layers which used the same clipping mask...............................

Which version acted differently?

These examples duplicate layer 1  using Right Click

CS6:

CC2015.5

CC2017.1.1

Dave

[iamhenryyyy]

@Dave

In your examples you are duplicating the top layer - try duplicating a layer that has another layer above it that is using the same clipping mask.  See screenshots below from Photoshop CC 2017.1.1:

[davescm]

Hi

No, if you look closely, I was duplicating the lower of the two clipped layers (layer 1) in each case. I agree the layers above unclip. The point I was making was that the behaviour is unchanged in CS6 , CC2015.5 and CC2017.1.1.

Dave

[iamhenryyyy]

@Dave

Oh i see, sorry, i missed that.  I cannot remember exactly which version I was using but I could have sworn that you could duplicate a layer and have it keep the clipping mask (as i recall it was an older CC version).  However, I'm sorry I can't test this directly as I don't have another computer with an older version installed.

Does the same behavior occur in the older versions when you use the Menu action Layer -> New... -> Layer via Copy?

[davescm]

Hi

New Layer via copy (Ctrl+J) gave a slightly different result to the right click - duplicate layer , but again acted the same in CS6, CC2015.5 and CC2017. Result below:

Dave

[roman1961]

When a layer in Clipping Mask chain of layers is duplicated by using keybord shortcut (command-J), the clipping is broken. This seems counter productive and leads to extra time needed to recreate the Clipping Mask.

  

[J453]

@davescm is correct. The behavior, while folks may not like it, goes way back to CS6 (I don't have anything earlier to handy to test it with).

Be sure to hit the UpVote at the top if you agree this behavior should change.