How do I get Photoshop to include empty transparent space in a selection?

[tokyo_teacher]

Hello Adobe Community,

My general issue is that when you free transform a layer, Photoshop automatically selects down to the boundaries of the layer. It essentially crops out transparent space outside the boundaries of the image. I want it to include the transparent space, because I am compositing groups of images based their dimensions, including transparent space.

This previous forum is the same issue I have, wondering if there have been any updates in methods in the last 6 years How to select the whole *.png content?

The workaround I have used so far is the File -> Place function, which allows you to drop in an image as a layer within a .psd file. This appears to take into account the resolutions of the source and destination files, meaning I have to scale it if the file resolutions don't match. I would rather open the source, resize it, and duplicate it into my destination file.

Thanks for any insight,

Chris

[99jon]

Hi Chris

Try using File >> Open rather than place, which creates a smart object.

When the new image opens use Ctrl+A (select all) Ctrl+C (Copy) and then select the tab for your PSD

Use Ctrl+V (paste)

[hatstead]

Try this:

1. File>new>blank file. Enter the dimensions and the desired resolution based on the source file(s). Under Background Contents: Select "transparent" in the drop-down. Now you will have a canvas with 100% transparency.
2. You can copy/paste the images. Each one will come in on a separate layer.
3. Activate the move tool to position and resize with the corner handles of the bounding box, if necessary.