Rectangular Marquee tool/Free Transformation Question

[Thomas37874501e2ik]

I am creating a shape with the Rectangular Marquee tool and modifying it with Free Transform. However, when I checked I found a cut where I made the initial tool. I did not set a cut there but it is there anyway. I have added snapshots, what am I missing?

[Bojan Živković]

That's how things work in Photoshop when you use Free Transform with an active selection on a pixel-based layer. If your goal is to transform the selection without affecting the pixels surrounding it, then use the command Select > Transform Selection.

[Thomas37874501e2ik]

This is a new area for me, Thanks Bojan!

[Conrad_C]

It does do a cut by default. The idea is, if you selected pixels on a certain layer, you intend to change that layer, so that if the selected pixels are moved, they don’t leave behind unchanged pixels. Instead, they leave a hole. It's the same as if you pick up a piece of paper and decide to edit just a part of that sheet: You have to cut out that part with a knife, and then there will be a hole.

If you don’t want to leave behind a hole in a pixel layer, you should set it up to copy the selected pixels to a new layer, instead of doing a cut. You can do this after selecting and before transforming, by choosing the command Layer > New > Layer via Copy. The shortcut for this is Command+J on Mac. The usefulness of doing this is why many Photoshop teachers tell their students to learn the Command+J shortcut: So that the selected pixels can be transformed without disturbing the layer they came from…and that’s something you can't do with paper.

[Thomas37874501e2ik]

Thanks Conrad, quite helpful!