When merging layers the effect is lost

[hanyah25723793]

Hey,
Really stuck on this on...

The threshold effect changes when I save the image or merge the layer with the effect.

Description
When I merge a layer that has the effect (threshold), the effect changes when it is merged.
I tried to do the effect permanently to the layer: image>adjustments>threshold, it looks fine in preview then when I hit okay, it changes...

Suggestions!!!????
It's only one layer!

[macpawel]

Maybe..

Try to click twice on layer thumbnail and check Advanced Blending ioptions and Blend if

maybe it helps

pawel

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Could you please post screenshots taken at View > 100% with the pertinent Panels (Layers, Channels, Options Bar, …) visible of the layered and flattened image?

And please peruse this page on how to post screenshots:

FAQ: How do I capture and post a screen shot or video?

[c.pfaffenbichler · Accepted solution]

Occasionally the issue can arise that the effect of Adjustment Layers or combinations of Layers with certain Blend Modes seems to disappear or weaken on flattening an image or saving a copy in a format that does not support Layers (which pretty much amounts to the same thing).

This can be owed to the fact that Photoshop (depending on the Cache Levels Preferences setting and the on-screen magnification) uses downsampled stand-ins to preview the Layers and their interactions faster. (see "Chache Levels" at Optimize performance | Photoshop )

These cached lores versions can contain pixels that assume values that are absent in the actual layer for example.

This would be most acute in an image that has only black and white pixels but with particularly noisy/grainy photographs it may also become noticeable.

[davescm]

Hi

c.pfaffembichler is spot on in his answer. When zoomed out, Photoshop shows a blended 8 bit previews not the actual image (even when in 16 bit image mode). For 99%+ of images the effect is not notiocable but for the type of image he demonstrates it becomes very visible.

The answer is simple - compare the before merge and after merge at 100% zoom. At that zoom level the full image data is blended on screen so the results should match.

Dave

[mute_neighbor]

Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much!

[Menno228466451noq]

Is it possible to get a true view from the image before merging the layers? I usually work with noisy pictures and i can only make a decision on colors when i can see the full picture. Is it possible to view the true colors before merging? Or atleast get a true view of the colors without zooming to 100%?

Thanks in advance

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Sore point … it used to be possible by setting the Cache Level to 1 (if one was willing to make the performance-trade-off). 

But that was broken years ago and hasn’t been fixed so far … 

Feel free to add your vote to the Bug Report. 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-bugs/p-impossible-to-set-cache-levels-to-1/idi-p/...

[Menno228466451noq]

I understand, this is really sad. I created an image that i really really love but when i merge the color of the underlayer completely changes... Is there any way to render the file i am watching (premerging) in photoshop? 

[D Fosse]

No, because it's not real. It's a display artifact. It even changes according to zoom ratio, even when not at 100%.

You can take a screenshot and use that as a reference, but that will obviously be a file at reduced resolution.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Please meaningful screenshots (taken at the meaningless magnification and at View > 100%) so people other than you might know what you are talking about – which Adjustments, Layer Styles, … are involved, how bad is the noise etc.? 

[D Fosse]

No, 100% is the only way.

The core of the issue is that all adjustment and blending previews are calculated based on the on-screen image, not the full pixel data.

When you are zoomed out, that's a downsampled version with all that pixel noise softened and averaged out. In other words - it's calculated on a lot of intermediate values that aren't there in the original. So the preview is misleading. When you commit the adjustment, the math is run on the full data, each individual pixel.

At 100%, the two are the same and there is no discrepancy.

You could ask why the full data aren't used for everything. The obvious answer is that it would slow everything down. The question is how much. For a high-powered desktop system that might not be a problem, but for a budget laptop it certainly would be. In any case, that has always been the official answer from Adobe.

I've always felt that a checkbox in preferences would be the way to deal with this. I think it's been suggested from time to time, but it never got any traction. Probably because this takes a little effort to wrap your head around 😉

EDIT: yes, cache levels = 1 would do it. I'd forgotten that thread was still alive. And, well, case in point - it only has 7 upvotes, which is a guarantee that nothing will happen. The main obstacle here is still that few people understand the real underlying issue.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

---

EDIT: yes, cache levels = 1 would do it. I'd forgotten that thread was still alive. And, well, case in point - it only has 7 upvotes, which is a guarantee that nothing will happen.

---

I appreciate that there are economics at play … but I also suspect the issue itself to be a relatively minor one programming-wise (mind you – I just supect that, I don’t know it) and it should be fixed simply because it used to work and has been broken. 

[D Fosse]

Yes, that's true. It did once work, so on the face of it there's no reason it shouldn't again.

I also remember that I used Photoshop for ten years before I had any clue what cache level meant 😉

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Might have been even longer for me … 

The issue only becomes prominent with images with fairly specific characteristics so I am not optimistic about the fixing of the bug, either. 

One can hope, though. 

[davescm]

To be fair - Adobe have just (in v23.5) fixed the switch from 16 bit to 8 bits/ channel at zoom  levels less than 66.7%. So, I've just added my upvote to your thread @c.pfaffenbichler to see if we can go the full way and get cache level 1. We live in hope.

It would need to be explained well though as it would slow down screen redrawing - already an issue for some.

Dave

[Leslie Moak Murray]

Before merging, go Layer>Rasterize>Layer Style (or Shape or Blending Mode as the case may be).

[Geraldine35403296i3ak]

Good Morning leslie. Thank you for your responds, I usually do this when im merging layers, however Im still have the same problem. I worked with EXR for example and when I have several 3d renders (from the EXR) with blending modes active, lets say on render layer with screen with 80% opacity, another render leyer with overlay with 25% opacity in the blender mode.. and on brightness layer with mask for another render leyer  and maybe a fill color with a blendmode actived  with opacity too  once I merge all this, having my beuty render pass at the bottom... the color changed, or I lost the ajusments on those layers that has the blending mode with opacities.  

I found a way to fix it and yes, I have to rasterize all the mask first, then I have to merged from the beauty layer (bottom to top) and merged by groups, not the hole layers.,

I'm wondering if theres another way to fix this, and if is totally related with the participation that one of the expert mention at the top of the chat 

"issue can arise that the effect of Adjustment Layers or combinations of Layers with certain Blend Modes seems to disappear or weaken on flattening an image or saving a copy in a format that does not support Layers"

if so, can you please recoment a foro or any place where we can learn in more deep about this problem to understan how to work implement a better workflow inside of this ajustmen layer on psd?

thank you so much.