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FeedbackCommunityMember
Inspiring
July 13, 2011
Released

P: Don't understand the undo/redo system

  • July 13, 2011
  • 81 replies
  • 5339 views

Unlike most modern apps, Photoshop only has a single "undo". If you press command-z a second time, Photoshop will redo the change instead of continuing to undo. Not even Illustrator or InDesign works this way at this point.

To work around this issue, I customize my keyboard shortcuts to use "step backward" (command-z) and "step forward" (command-shift-z). For the most part this works great and I've been very happy with it.

But it brings up a new problem: if I change the selected layer, then press command-z ("step backward") then the layer change is undone as well. This is a constant frustration for me, and it seems there's no solution to get both the behaviors I want.

To me, there are two possible ways to fix this problem:
• Adopt a standard undo/redo system with multiple levels of undo/redo
• Make layer selection a separate step in the history

Personally I don't care that much, I'd be happy with either. But adopting a standard undo/redo system makes more sense to me, for consistency amongst the CS apps (as well as other apps). Perhaps it could be an option if there's disagreement over what works best for people.

    81 replies

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    yoyo34000
    yoyo34000
    Participating Frequently
    May 22, 2014
    I think that the best solution would just be to reprogram the stepbackward function.
    Ideally, you could setup the things you want to have integrated into this stepbackward: brush strokes, layer selection, layer visibility, selecting a color, whatever.
    A menu with boxes to thick or unthick would just be perfect and solve everyone's problem i guess.
    D
    DermotPower
    Participating Frequently
    May 22, 2014
    This works for me most of the time (see my comment from a year or so ago above). But the dreaded 'layer select undo problem' came back a few days ago and I realised it was because p'shop had lost a lot of my keyboard shortcuts - not sure why, I reset them again and have fixed the problem. Photoshop keyboard shortcuts often don't 'stick'. For example I have set 'command shift A' as flip canvas horizontally but half the time it brings up the camera raw conversion dialogue box despite going in to the preferences and setting the Cam Raw keyboard shortcut to blank. And restarting p'shop and even restarting the computer. But you are right this script is a great workaround - when it fails it is probably because the shortcut fails. And when it fails i usually don't notice until I realise I have been working on the background layer again.
    yoyo34000
    yoyo34000
    Participating Frequently
    May 22, 2014
    I confirm that this is solving the problem for me !

    To install the script StepBackwardSmart:
    1*Download it from:
    http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/35...

    2*Put it in the photoshop folder:
    C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC (64 Bit)\Presets\Scripts
    It is probable that you can put it whenever you want, i don't know.

    3*In photoshop, go to File - Scripts - Script Events Manager

    4*In the down part of this window, open the dropdown menu of "scripts", choose "Browse", it is all the way down

    5*Go to the file at the location described in the second step

    6*Clic "Done"

    7*Go to Edit - Keyboard Shortcuts Or use the shortcut alt shift ctrl K

    8*The shortcut you want to assign is in the Application menus - File - Script (search a bit, the name is "StepBackwardSmart")

    Voilà !
    D
    DermotPower
    Participating Frequently
    May 22, 2014
    This still causes problems for me on a daily basis - Photoshop seem to be more motivated to broaden the software than tighten the existing version. I wish they had a good competitor that we could move over to but the competition is just not good enough yet and Corel Painter is steadily worse with each release. Hopefully Art Rage Or SketchBook pro will sort their keyboard shortcut problems out and we can all stop having to make do. (Art rage's brushes are far superior to Adobe's but the software is too clunky to use- at least for me). Check thru the history of this problem and particularly Kris Hunt's patronising replies to see what you are up against. basically it's the user's problem!
    A
    Allen_W
    Known Participant
    May 21, 2014
    unfortunately, adobe will probably never fix this...
    alectriciti10264655
    alectriciti10264655
    Participant
    May 21, 2014


    Stepping backwards will often times undo a layer selection. This gets messy. I will select a layer, make a modification, then step backwards. It will then select back to the previous layer I had. It's terribly frustrating and disorienting.

    I work with several others who run into the same problem. If this is a 'feature' of step backwards, I highly recommend adding multiple undo options and keep them separate from step backwards.

    Thanks for listening!
    F
    FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
    Inspiring
    January 7, 2013
    I am REALLY sick of after chosing a layer, making a brushstroke that isn't quite right, clicking "Step Backward" (alt-ctrl-z) AND PHOTOSHOP AUTOMATICALLY SELECTS THE LAST LAYER I WAS ON. This has cost me countless hours of drawing directly on the background layer. I have my Wacom pen set to "Step Backward" because I want to have more than one level of undo, but because it selects the previous layer, unless I am being really careful, I end up drawing on the wrong layer. Usually, I have had to learn to select a layer, choose the eraser tool, then pretend to erase something, just so that if I have to step backward it won't select my previous layer. If this has been addressed, great, but I keep thinking it will be, and cannot believe that by CS5 it's still happening.

    shaddys47798381
    shaddys47798381
    Participant
    January 7, 2013
    It his hugely annoying for me that step undo also undoes your layer selection. If there was a way to turn that off I would LOVE it. I waste tons of time every day fixing mistakes caused by being on the wrong layer because I selected it made some marks, quickly undid the marks, started making more marks and then later realizing I'm on the old layer! PLEASE FIX! it's been a major issue for 10 years!:)

    A
    Allen_W
    Known Participant
    August 3, 2012
    yes that's the problem. adobe needs to see this video of the problem.
    G
    Gene_Poole_2012
    Participating Frequently
    August 3, 2012
    That's exactly the problem Rory, thanks for sharing. Perhaps you or someone can forward that video to Adobe programmers for a possible fix. If they can't (or won't) fix it, I would love to hear their reasoning behind such an idiotic and frustrating action.
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