Screen record app for photoshop that let's you target specific layers

[madaneerg]

I've been looking for years, still can't find anything that will do what's needed:

I'd like to record a photoshop session, but target certain layers. For example:

I'd like to have a photo on a layer, which would be visible to me while working in photoshop, but invisible to the screen recording app. Another layer would be used for the tracing image, which would be recorded.

This would be a really good way for me to record animated whiteboard movies, without having to go through the trouble in after effects.

Does anyone know how I might be able to achieve this now. Perhaps there's a app/program that I'm unaware of?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Sebastian Bleak]

Sorry, I haven't found any recording apps that can do that. I've heard of drawing software that has a built-in recording feature like the one you described. I can't think of the name at the moment. I'll come back after I do some research in the morning.

[madaneerg]

That would be super helpful! Let me know if you figure out what software can do that!

[Angeldart]

There is an aplication that allows you to export and speedpainting of your process, records all your tracing and progress you did in your drawing, the app is called Infinite Painter you can find it in the Google Play Store, not sure if they have an IOS version, but the android version works amazinglly

[Eternal Warrior]

Sure... An off the top of my head solution would require:

• Two monitors
• Screen recording software
• Photoshop

I would suggest using something as simple as OBS Studio https://obsproject.com/download  as its open source and free to download... To be honest any screen recording programme is probably OK....

Otherwise you might try something like Camtasia (which is a mix of a pretty good screen recorder and simplified version of after effects)...http://discover.techsmith.com/camtasia-brand-desktop/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwiI3HBRDv0q_qhqXZ-N4BEiQAOTiCHtZo...

There is a free trial to see what I mean... It doesn't replace after effects but its got some good features:

• The key feature is that you can specify not only which monitor but which AREA in that monitor to record...

Then if I understand you correctly.. You simply set up Photoshop with one layer on one monitor and the other layer on the other...

For some quick hints and tips read this: Dual View Photo Editing In Photoshop Tutorial as it goes into far more detail than I probably have time for right now.

Then simply set your software to record only one monitor or area...

The only trouble I currently see - if using OBS - is how invisible you need the other layer to be...

IF it needs to be completely invisible then I would say this is more intuitive and easy within Camtasia but OBS may be able to also do this...

But I will investigate as I have this installed on my PC...

Hope this makes sense.

Best,

EW

[Eternal Warrior]

So this is possible in both Camtasia and OBS... For OBS it is slightly more finickity to start with but seems to work.. I experimented with both a Display capture and window capture and if using OBS I would use display capture as for some reason I had a glitch where the file I had open on window capture didn't display...

But this should answer your question..

You could always move the layers panel on the non-recorded monitor so that the layers themselves are "invisible".

Best,

EW

[madaneerg]

Imagine a psd document with two layers. Layer #1 will have an object (say the letter Z) and another layer (#2) on top, where I will trace the shape that's on the layer underneath it.

For the  Recording, I would like to hide the original layer with the letter Z on it.  The recording would only show my tracing, but without the original content underneath it. Does that make sense?

Do you feel this is still possible?

[Eternal Warrior · Accepted solution]

Sadly this reminds me of reading this post from last year...

Screen cap apps to capture LAYER SPECIFIC work in progress video in Photoshop?

BUT THEN... I had a thought...which I thought you could try (NOT TESTED)...

What if you had software that would allow you to duplicate mouse actions on one monitor on another monitor or application?

That led me on a google search till i found this: windows 7 - Can I mirror / duplicate mouse events on both halves of my screen? - Super User

Which I thought could suffice as a workaround as I don't know of any screen recording software currently that can only record one or a set of specific layers in say Photoshop WHILST they are still visible for the user...

BUT NOW I think about this more.... I'm not sure if Photoshop/Your Computer would support having two different files using the mouse at the exact same time (or close enough)....

So if I had to give an answer right now - to do this in the exact manner you have outlined - I would probably say no...

However you could always try something like this and let me know...

Or perhaps someone else will have other ideas?

Best,

EW

[KAYNNN]

There is no such a screen recorder can do that, that requires them to work directly with adobe or get some sort of API that can allow the screen recorder to communicate with Photoshop, however, there is a way you can do this by allowing recording tool on your actions menu, 

1- place the photo you want to trace 

2 start recording new action 

3 once you are done stop recording

4 then delete the layer you used for tracing

Now once you play the action you creatd it will do the same strokes you did for tracing the original image you can adjust the playback speed from the same menu, once you play it back start recording your screen is you do normally and the original image you have traced would not show. 

[penny_0083]

Hi. I don't understand your post. What are you talking about "recording tool on your actions menu"? I too want to have the capability to to captue the actions but remove the template layer. Thanks.

[Stephen Marsh]

Hi. I don't understand your post. What are you talking about "recording tool on your actions menu"? I too want to have the capability to to captue the actions but remove the template layer. Thanks.

By @penny_0083

https://helpx.adobe.com/au/photoshop/using/recording-tools-actions-cs6.html

I don't believe that this would help with the layer visibility issue.

Note: As I have the ScriptingListener plug-in installed, I can't use this feature at the same time.

[Stephen Marsh]

@madaneerg -

Many people use a keyboard shortcut to run a script that saves the open doc as a sequentially numbered image, and they then combine the frames into an animated GIF or video.

In your case, the script would only save the active layer. What format and options do you wish to save into?

[rene@studio6]

Hi, I am searching for the same problem/method. I would like to capture a drawing-process of a specific layer. The solution with scripts to sequentially numbered images sound interesting. Would that capture transparence too? Do you have a link where to find this kind of scripts?

[Stephen Marsh]

---

rene@studio6 wrote:

The solution with scripts to sequentially numbered images sound interesting. Would that capture transparence too? Do you have a link where to find this kind of scripts?

---

rene@studio6 – That would depend on how the script was programmed.

Can you post a cropped screenshot the layer panel and clearly mark what you wish to achieve, or a screen recording movie, or a sample file etc? Or at least list out step by step so that I can better understand your process? What layers are visible? Which layer is active? What layers should be exported and in what file format and options/settings? Do the layers always have the same name or stacking order between files?

[rene@studio6]

The process would be:

Layer 1 (base-layer or background layer) is an image of a landscape or whatever, which I use as a reference

Layer 2 above is an empty layer, where I paint (with an Apple Pencil for example) onto the reference image.

Layer 3 and so on are also layers where I paint.

What I would like to get out is the entire paint-process as a video or image-sequence (png) but without Layer 1.

Instead of Layer 1 I would like a transparent background.

If Layer 2, Layer3 and so on could be exported as individual sequences, that would be even better, but not essential.

Naming of the layer can always be the same. The order as well.

[Lumigraphics]

This would only be possible if the screen recorder was directly integrated with Photoshop. Screen recorders capture the screen buffer, which is where the display is composited before being sent to the monitor. You can't split it into pieces or layers. Photoshop would have to feed a composite image to the screen recorder which didn't have a specific layer included.

[Stephen Marsh]

rene@studio6 

Try the following script, it will save an incrementally numbered file to the desktop. Obviously saving to a different folder will be cleaner, let me know how this goes for you. This is just a first draft so please provide feedback, I have only put this into limited tests. As the exports are full size, you may wish to batch resize before combining frames into an animation/video or perhaps resize the video when rendering etc. Once installed (see the link at the foot), a custom keyboard shortcut can be assigned for easy access.

/*
Save Incrementally Numbered JPEG Without Bottom Layer for Frame Animation.jsx
v1.0 21st February 2023
https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/screen-record-app-for-photoshop-that-let-s-you-target-specific-layers/m-p/13592523
Based on:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop/saving-sequential-file-names-of-the-same-file-to-multiple-files/td-p/12023959 
*/

toggleBackLayerVis();
saveIncrementallyNumberedJPEG();
toggleBackLayerVis();

function saveIncrementallyNumberedJPEG() {
    try {
        var path = "~/Desktop/"; // path where to save 

        var name = activeDocument.name;
        var n = name.lastIndexOf(".");
        if (n > 0) name = name.substr(0, n);

        var idx = 1;

        do {
            var file = new File(path + "/" + name + "-" + idx + ".jpg");
            ++idx;
        }
        
        while (file.exists)

        var d = new ActionDescriptor();
        var d1 = new ActionDescriptor();
        d1.putInteger(stringIDToTypeID("extendedQuality"), 12); // jpeg quality here
        d1.putBoolean(stringIDToTypeID("optimized"), false);
        d1.putEnumerated(stringIDToTypeID("matteColor"), stringIDToTypeID("matteColor"), stringIDToTypeID("none"));
        d.putObject(stringIDToTypeID("as"), stringIDToTypeID("JPEG"), d1);
        d.putPath(stringIDToTypeID("in"), file);
        d.putBoolean(stringIDToTypeID("copy"), true);
        d.putBoolean(stringIDToTypeID("embedProfiles"), true);
        executeAction(stringIDToTypeID("save"), d, DialogModes.NO);
    }

    function toggleBackLayerVis() {
    var backLayer = activeDocument.layers[activeDocument.layers.length - 1];
    backLayer.visible = !backLayer.visible;
}

    catch (e) {
        alert("There was an unexpected error!" + "\r" + e + ' ' + e.line);
    }
}

https://prepression.blogspot.com/2017/11/downloading-and-installing-adobe-scripts.html

[Lumigraphics]

Yoy would need to run this n times a second to get a video, 15 times a second for 15 fps (which should be fine for image editing.) This will also not have anything except the layers, so for example it won't actually show the process (brush strokes, menu selections, etc.)

[Stephen Marsh]

Yoy would need to run this n times a second to get a video, 15 times a second for 15 fps (which should be fine for image editing.)

This is meant as a milestone "timelapse" capture, not a live screen recording. The user presses the keyboard shortcut to save an incrementally numbered JPEG version without the back layer. This is manually performed whenever required at key points in the painting. There is an obvious minor delay to the creative flow as each "snapshot" is saved. This is either acceptable or not. There is a way to have this script automatically run every N seconds, however, it would need to have a delay long enough to take the save into account and still allow for time to draw/paint.

This will also not have anything except the layers, so for example it won't actually show the process (brush strokes, menu selections, etc.)

Obviously so, this is simply an automated way to turn off the visibility of the back layer, save as a copy with an incremental filename and turn the visibility of the back layer on again. Nothing more.

[Lumigraphics]

For some people, this would be perfect. The OP's idea sounds cool but its not technically possible AFAIK.

[peterd76803364]

Infinite Painter, an android app, allows keeping layers of choice invisible while recording a timelapse, but also visible to the user during the painting/ drawing process.

[AASM ARTIST]

i was also searching for a solution for creating whiteboard like videos. all the screen recording softwares are made only to record whatever appear on the screen. they are not allowed to intrude into any image editing software to hide underlaying layers. also, i did not see any image editing softwares have option of inbuilt video recording of our actions on any particular layer. finally i had an idea which i wanted to share with you.    whiteboard videos are usually created with white background and black scribbles on it, right? you make the reference image monochrome with the colour other than your scribble colour. then use it as your reference layer. create a new layer above the reference layer to make your scribbles. screen record it and produce a video file. now use any video editing software and remove the monochrome colour of reference image. now the important part is, in video editing software use a blank white background layer while removing the reference image.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

One Caveat: 

The screen recording in the monitor Color Space while working in a standard Color Space (like sRGB, eciRGB v2, …) might dirty up primary and secondary colors. 

So this might be the RARE case where working in the monitor Color Space might make sense. 

[rene@studio6]

I actually tried that aproach already a while ago. It also depends what you paint. Especially when painting with soft edges or dark colors I had problems in keying out the green reference layer.

Adobe Fresco and ProCreate have a preview function (showing the canvas on a second screen). However the reference layer which we paint on top off, is also shown. However you can overlay a grid which is invisible in the second monitor. If there would be any way to overlay a custom image instead of the grid... But I guess it's not possible, is it?

[c.pfaffenbichler]

I actually tried that aproach already a while ago. It also depends what you paint. Especially when painting with soft edges or dark colors I had problems in keying out the green reference layer.

Can you provide the file? 

What were the exact colors and Color Space you used?