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june_6376
Inspiring
August 16, 2024
Question

Photoshop 2024 does not allow Edit>Fill Option - Why?

  • August 16, 2024
  • 2 replies
  • 1447 views

Bear with me, I'm still at the stages of wrecking my brains with all the complicated conditions and seemingky random features of Photoshop as I've finally decided to face my fear of it and get my hands into it.

 

I have embedded a JPG image into Photoshop and, as far as tutorials I find online goes, if I want to "remove unwanted objects from a photo" I can do a Lasso and carve out the part I want to remove, then Edit>Fill>Content Aware Fill and press OK.

 

And there's the inevitable "See? Photoshop is easy!"

 

But of course it's not.

In my case, the "Fill" option is greyed out in the Edit menu and cannot be selected.

So of course, I had to venture into a side-quest to figure out what Photoshop is unhappy about and why it does not want to let me use the Fill option.

 

I've come across cases where the "Layer is locked" but no, I haven't done anything extra or weird so this embedded JPG is an unlocked layer. That's ruled out.

 

And of course there's no other potential explanation given online so I am fully stuck.
I am suspecting it has to do with the "types of layers" at this time, (raster, vector...and whatever else) which sadly, does not help because the point of layers are far more obscure and random than the explanation "a grass type pokemon is stronger than a water type pokemon"

 

To me, it's not really logical at this time, it's more of an "axiom" of "no, there isn't a reason why you can't lasso and fill with this particular layer type, it is simply that it isn't so write that down and remember it"

That's where I often find it hard with these softwares... it seems erratic and unnecessarily restrictive with its binding complex rules of "you can't do this when it's taht and that when it's this but only when A however we made an exception that is B which is nullified by C because C is a stronger condition"

 

Anyways, I think well-versed Photoshop users can see how confused I am with it.

Reckon Photoshop can do many things but it's one of those things like a unicycle - there's literally no logical way to use it, it's just "hop on it, let it bang you down and bleed a number of times and in time, you'll manage to ride braindead" - I'm being banged and bruised and yeah, it's really not fun at all.

Thanks in advance if anyone can shed light to why I can't use this Fill feature....

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

jane-e
Community Expert
jane-eCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 16, 2024

 

quote

Anyways, I think well-versed Photoshop users can see how confused I am with it.

Reckon Photoshop can do many things but it's one of those things like a unicycle - there's literally no logical way to use it, it's just "hop on it, let it bang you down and bleed a number of times and in time, you'll manage to ride braindead" - I'm being banged and bruised and yeah, it's really not fun at all.

By @june_6376

 

Instead of letting Photoshop bang you on the head (ouch!), you might try structured learning it before plunging in. Here are some ideas:

  • LinkedIn Learning: Photoshop Essentials with Julianne Kost
    (paid site with one-month free trial; also available through some libraries)
  • Photoshop 2024 Classroom in a Book by Conrad Chavez
    (available from Pearson or Amazon)

 

And you can always ask here as we are happy to help. Start a new post for each question.

 

Jane

    J
    june_6376Author
    Inspiring
    August 25, 2024

    Hi Jane - thanks for the links.
    I am actually using some highly rated tutorials up on Udemy that I bought, so it's not as hellish as starting Photoshop without absolutely zero guidance (given the unintuitive and complex nature, I'd much rather ingest raw chicken than try Photoshop alone)

     

    However, I find it extremely tricky, with alomost every tutorial, that it assumes the set up is the same while Photoshop is extremely extremely particular and sensitive to the minute of differences.
    "cannot use this tool since your layer is vector" "cannot do this because the layer is set to this" "cannot do that because the tool is only for this".... it's not very clear why it just cannot obey certain commands.

     

    There are a lot of "explanations" of what certain layers are, and I can memorize them but it often doesn't "mean" much. Such as " A vector layer is a layer that allows you to edit lines that have already been drawn" ....so? Why does the fact it allows me to edit lines that have already been drawn justify as a reason that I cannot use a particular tool? Why can't I do this? Or that? The dots don't connect to someone like me.

     

    And I am suspecting most users don't have a good explanation either - it's just a piece of fact many ended up accepting without really questioning the "why" since a lot of the answers I find to my queries are often tautologies. "You can't use them because you can't use them"

     

    And perhaps that's the part of the pain using Photoshop is bound to be.....but yes, as hard as I try I guess one needs to be battered and bruised before riding a unicycle.

    jane-e
    Community Expert
    jane-eCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 25, 2024

    @june_6376 

     

    There is most definitely a learning curve for Photoshop! When I started using it with 3.0 over 30 years ago, I went through the Classroom in a Book series four times before I could work without stopping to look things up. 

     

    Remember that you can always ask here. Include screenshots from your screen as well as the video you are trying to replicate. Many of us use LinkedIn Learning and can view the video there, but can't do the same for other paid platforms.

     

    As for vector shapes:

    Illustrator has always had vector, but they were only added into Photoshop after requests from users. When you use the vector shapes, they go into a special kind of layer with an icon in the bottom corner. They are treated differently from pixel layers.

    https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/drawing-shapes.html

     

    Live text was also not available in the early versions of Photoshop. When you used the Type tool, you created pixels on the current layer and would replace the pixels that were there if you forgot to create a new layer. There was one Undo and no History panel. Type also goes into a special type of layer.

     

    At its core, Photoshop is a pixel editor, so the Photoshop team has had to come up with ways to add features such as vector Shape tools and vector Text. They have done this by creating new types of layers to accommodate them. I, for one, would never want to go back!

     

    Please start a new post for each question. We are always happy to help!

     

    Jane

     

     

    J
    june_6376Author
    Inspiring
    August 16, 2024

    Edit: I found out apparently Fill isn't available for "Smart objects" and after painstakingly investigating what this obscure icon on the tumbnail of the JPG layer means, it apparently is a wretched smart object - despite I never did anything to turn it into this smart object. Seems it just is the default mode? But...why, it's a JPG, why doesn't it take it as a standard picture layer? Why does Photoshop go out of its way to make it some restrictive and unflexible layer? And most importantly....how do I tell Photoshop to stop making it a smart object?

    jane-e
    Community Expert
    jane-eCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 16, 2024

    @june_6376 

     

    Dragging from Windows File Explorer will also create a SO.

    • Try Release to Layers from the context menu instead of rasterize
      or
    • If you want to keep the SO: double-click the thumbnail in the layers panel to edit the PSB > make your edits > save and close the PSB to return to your Photoshop file

     

    If you have a newer version of Photoshop, try the Remove tool instead. See how:

    Adobe Help: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/tool-techniques/remove-tool.html

    Jesús Ramirez: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXqFJZtoAXk

     

    Jane

     

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