get/set "Add Mask By Default" via AM?

[DBarranca]

Hi,

there's a preference in the Adjustments palette flyout (I guess you need to check/uncheck it when no Adjustment Layer is active in order to make it the default choice):

It controls whether to add or not a Layer Mask each time an Adjustment Layer is created.

Since it's a permanent preference I'd say I should find it buried somewhere in the Application's Descriptor, but I've not been able to see it. Do you have any suggestion?

(BTW, another preference that hides successfully is the Thumbnail Size in palettes such as Layers, Channels, Paths)

Thank you!

Davide Barranca

[JavierAroche]

Hey Davide, I only found the layer thumbnail size setting. I haven't found the "Add Mask By Default" property though. Photoshop is one big puzzle...

I've no idea why the channel or path thumbnail setting wouldn't follow the same naming convention, like "channelThumbnailSize", under the Application descriptor. I looked under Document and couldn't find them either.

var ref = new ActionReference();
ref.putProperty (stringIDToTypeID ("property"), stringIDToTypeID ("layerThumbnailSize"));
ref.putEnumerated( charIDToTypeID("capp"), charIDToTypeID("Ordn"), charIDToTypeID("Trgt") );
var desc = executeActionGet(ref); 
var layerThumbnailSize = typeIDToStringID(desc.getEnumerationValue(stringIDToTypeID("layerThumbnailSize")));
alert(layerThumbnailSize);

[JJMack]

Davide

For some reason unknown to me Adobe does not fix some reported bugs. This has been addressed before.

Warning CS4 CS5 and CS6 Photoshop Action Users

I skipped CS4 when I installed CS5 I found that the two fly-out options "Add Mask by Default" and "Clip to Layer" items change Photoshop's default operation that if changed from their Adobe default  state this can break Action, Scripts and Plug-in that add Adjustment layer.  I reported this bug to  Adobe in CS5. Adobe acknowledged this bug and responded to me they would not fix it in CS5 that they may in it is some future release. I fought hard for year to get Adobe to remove these items from the fly-out menu.  I was even contacted by Tom from Adobe that he was assigned to fix the bug. He never did. He just stopped communicating with me like Jeff could do nothing about the bug.

That Action and Scripts can not set those option is only part of the story. Even if they could set these that would still mean all the existing  Actions, Scripts and  Plug-ins  would need to be reworked to add these settings. Additional if they change the current state that changes the user's or Adobe's setting  these should be restored when ending the process so the current setting needs to be able to be saved and restored.  Actions can not do things like save and restore settings. It is a mess.

If these options are never touched by the user Photoshop will work as designed existing Actions, Scripts and plug-ins will work correctly. However the only way to grantee that the user will not touch these option is to remove the items from the Adjustment Panel fly-out menu.

Note: Adjustment layers are also not always add the way these option are set. While this may sound like there are additional bugs.  That is not the case.  When they are not added the way the options are set that are added the way Photoshop was designed to work adding adjustments layers.  This means you can work around these bugs.  You just have to know how to add adjustment layers so they will be added the way Photoshop was designed to work.

Here is the work around;

Always have an active selection when add an adjustment layer and always use the option clip to layer.   If you do the adjustment layer will be added with a layer mask and it will be clipped.  It make no difference how the options are set.  You alway know there is a layer mask and the layer is clipped. You can work from there.