Cycle through layer masks

Question

Hi everyone!I tried to do what I need through actions and I couldn't. Is there any way to do it via script?I need to select a layer mask, edit it, and then go to the next one, edit it, and so on. But finding them all and selecting them manually is time consuming. Is there a way to make this selection via script to move on to the next mask? Then it would be easier to add a shortcut to the script or create a new action with a function key.Thanks!

jazz-y · Accepted Answer

const reverseOrder = false; // true - layers pass from top to bottom, false - from bottom to top
var s2t = stringIDToTypeID,
    layerMasks = [];
(r = new ActionReference()).putProperty(s2t('property'), p = s2t('hasBackgroundLayer'));
r.putEnumerated(s2t('document'), s2t('ordinal'), s2t('targetEnum'));
var offset = executeActionGet(r).getBoolean(p) ? 1 : 0;
(r = new ActionReference()).putProperty(s2t('property'), p = s2t('numberOfLayers'));
r.putEnumerated(s2t('document'), s2t('ordinal'), s2t('targetEnum'));
var to = executeActionGet(r).getInteger(p);
(r = new ActionReference()).putProperty(s2t('property'), p = s2t('itemIndex'));
r.putEnumerated(s2t('layer'), s2t('ordinal'), s2t('targetEnum'));
var activeLayer = executeActionGet(r).getInteger(p) - offset;
for (var i = 1; i <= to; i++) {
    (r = new ActionReference()).putProperty(s2t('property'), p = s2t('layerKind'));
    r.putIndex(s2t('layer'), i);
    if (executeActionGet(r).getInteger(p) != 13) {
        (r = new ActionReference()).putProperty(s2t('property'), p = s2t('hasUserMask'));
        r.putIndex(s2t('layer'), i);
        if (executeActionGet(r).getBoolean(p)) layerMasks.push(i)
    }
}
if (reverseOrder) layerMasks.reverse()
var i = 0;
if (layerMasks.length) {
    do {
        if (i == layerMasks.length) { i = 0; activeLayer = reverseOrder ? to + 1 : 0 }
        if (reverseOrder ? layerMasks[i] < activeLayer : layerMasks[i] > activeLayer) { activeLayer = layerMasks[i]; break; }
        i++
    } while (true)
    (r = new ActionReference()).putIndex(s2t("layer"), activeLayer);
    (d = new ActionDescriptor()).putReference(s2t("target"), r)
    executeAction(s2t("select"), d, DialogModes.NO);
    (r = new ActionReference()).putEnumerated(s2t("channel"), s2t('channel'), s2t('mask'));
    (d = new ActionDescriptor()).putReference(s2t('target'), r);
    executeAction(s2t('select'), d, DialogModes.NO);
}

Conrad_C · Answer

See if this helps. I built the action in the picture below, in only two steps. To record the Select Backward Layer step, I used the Option-[ shortcut (Alt-[ in Windows) which steps one layer back (down) in the stack. To record the Select Mask Channel step, I clicked the mask of the current layer.

You have to record the first step using the keyboard shortcut, not by clicking a layer. The reason is that if you click a layer, the action will record selecting a layer of a specific name, so that won’t work with any other layers. The keyboard shortcut is relative (next layer back regardless of the name), so it works with any layer stack.

That action displays an error if it hits a layer with no mask, like the Background, but you can press the Enter key to continue. You will probably also want to make an action going the other way, for the shortcut that steps to the next layer forward (up) in the stack using the Option/Alt-] shortcut, and selects its mask. Then you could reverse out of hitting the top or bottom of the stack.

You probably know this already, but after recordong an action, you can assign a function key to it by double-clicking the action (the shortcut for choosing Action Options from the Actions panel menu).

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded