Path went out of alignment - wrong scale

[KE_DP]

Not sure what happened but I have a few files that all have this problem - the clippng paths have all become smaller than the object - so they are out of scale - out of alignment.  There is a layer mask that's OK (red) - which I might be able to make a selection from and turn into a path - but I'd like to recover the original path and pen information.

Is there some kind of "snap to" to make the path resize and line back up?  I could do it by eye but it might not be perfect....

[Bojan Živković]

No, there is no built-in feature to snap to an object in an image. Perhaps you could submit a feature request in the Ideas section.

[Stephen_A_Marsh]

Clipping paths are generally depreciated in modern workflows, if you have a raster layer mask I'd ignore it and move on.

I wouldn't create a path from a selection unless this was a very simple angular shape with no curves.

The layer must have been resized, or the paths resized for this to happen.

[KE_DP]

Thanks - I found out the image layer  had been resized and cropped in this case.

IMO clipping paths are very useful - using the pen tool is a very powerful way to knock out backgrounds for ecommerce.  Keeping the path intact is important if one ever wishes to make any adjustments or alterations.

Curious as to why you say - clipping paths are generally depreciated in modern workflows - what is the alternative??
Using brushes in masking isn't nearly as accurate unless you make pen or shape selections before painting.  But I could be missing some other technique entirely as my PS skills are old school.

[Stephen_A_Marsh]

Thanks - I found out the image layer  had been resized and cropped in this case.

So at least you now know how the problem originated. Using the Image Size command maintains the relationship between the path and the pixels. If resizing the layer, you could try the Transform Again command on the selected paths to see if this preserves the relationship.

IMO clipping paths are very useful - using the pen tool is a very powerful way to knock out backgrounds for ecommerce.

I am not disagreeing. One should keep in mind that Paths and Clipping Paths are two different but related things, with possibly different uses.

Keeping the path intact is important if one ever wishes to make any adjustments or alterations.

Undeniably, however, this is no longer the case, the pixel content has been resized and repositioned, breaking the original relationship between paths and pixels.

But you now have a layer mask or transparency from the original path, which is perfectly serviceable inside and outside of Photoshop in modern workflows without requiring an old-style Clipping Path.

So, is it just unnecessary "busy work" to try to resize and realign the path to the pixel content, or redraw it again, when you don't need the path at this time?

Curious as to why you say - clipping paths are generally depreciated in modern workflows - what is the alternative??

Using brushes in masking isn't nearly as accurate unless you make pen or shape selections before painting.  But I could be missing some other technique entirely as my PS skills are old school.

By @KE_DP

Clipping Paths were necessary back in old PostScript based workflows that didn't support contone raster transparency. This was the standard way to combine raster data with hard-edge transparency into vector layouts for output from a PostScript RIP. The Clipping Path setting is an option in the path, there can be multiple paths but only one Clipping Path.

With modern native PDF RIP workflows, raster contone transparency is directly supported from layer masks or transparency or blend modes or opacity, it no longer requires a hard-edge Clipping Path as the only means to create transparency. One can have smooth hard-edge masks which also include soft feathering by using a raster mask and not using a Clipping Mask.

One can use a path to indirectly create raster transparency without needing to directly use the path in layout or illustration software. The path becomes a creative tool, a means to an end, not the end itself as used to be the case.

[Trevor.Dennis]

I have lost count of the number of times I use Free Transform on a layer, and later realise that a path had been selected and also Transformed.  It can be very annoying as there is no easy way out if you don't notice it for a while.  If you have enough history states, then I guess you could:

Take a snapshot of where you are at.

Go back in history to before you transformed the path.

Copy the path.  I'm guessing you'd need to paste it to a new document of the same size or the snapshot is going take it away again.

Select the snapshot, and retrieve the path.

I guess it depends on how big a PITA it would be to remake the path.

[KE_DP]

Thanks to all for the discussion and information - very helpful going forward.  Some of my jobs have intricate paths that I've outsourced to save my time - with potential refinements on my side, which I prefer to modify with the pen for clean lines vs painting on the mask.

Anyway, I really appreciate your time and assist!  Thanks again.