Inspiring

Answered

select all layers won't select Background Layer

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
August 20, 2024
2 replies
884 views

Hi, I just noticed that my action which selects all layers and makes a smart object from them is no longer selecting the background layer. I'm pretty sure I'd have noticed if that had always been that way. What's happing. I stepped back a version thinking it was a bug but it's just the same. Any ideas?

Thanks.

Windows

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer Stephen Marsh

@jimm7497115 – That's right, it never has. The Background is a special type of layer, although that doesn't excuse the fact that the menu command is named "Select > All Layers". I guess naming the command "All Layers Except the Background" would have been too wordy.

In addition to Bojan's suggestion. If some files have a Background layer and others don't, you'll either need to use conditional actions or possibly relative keyboard shortcuts to avoid errors.

Select/target front (top) visible layer = Option/Alt + .

Select/target next visible layer up = Option/Alt + ]
Select/target next visible layer down = Option/Alt + [
Select/target back (bottom) visible layer = Option/Alt + ,

You can add the Shift key to select all continuous visible layers between the bottom and top, such as:

Option/Alt + ,

Option/Alt + Shift + .

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/select-layer-above-or-beneath-current-layer-with-a-shortcut/m-p/14737983

Stephen Marsh

Correct answer

Community Expert

@jimm7497115 – That's right, it never has. The Background is a special type of layer, although that doesn't excuse the fact that the menu command is named "Select > All Layers". I guess naming the command "All Layers Except the Background" would have been too wordy.

In addition to Bojan's suggestion. If some files have a Background layer and others don't, you'll either need to use conditional actions or possibly relative keyboard shortcuts to avoid errors.

Select/target front (top) visible layer = Option/Alt + .

Select/target next visible layer up = Option/Alt + ]
Select/target next visible layer down = Option/Alt + [
Select/target back (bottom) visible layer = Option/Alt + ,

You can add the Shift key to select all continuous visible layers between the bottom and top, such as:

Option/Alt + ,

Option/Alt + Shift + .

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/select-layer-above-or-beneath-current-layer-with-a-shortcut/m-p/14737983

jimm7497115Author

Inspiring

Thanks. I'm surprised I never noticed that before, maybe I've always done it manually and just assumed the shortcut would do the same job. Seems odd that you can do it manually to make a smart object but not by shortcut. I'll have to put in an action to convert the background layer to an regular layer.
Thanks.

Stephen Marsh

Community Expert

I'll have to put in an action to convert the background layer to an regular layer.

By @jimm7497115

That's one option, however, relative keyboard shortcuts as shown above can select the visible Background layer without converting it to a standard floating layer.

Bojan Živković11378569

Community Expert

Record the steps to select the bottommost layer, then convert it to a regular layer. Place these steps just before selecting all layers and converting them to a Smart Object.

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded