Question for photoshop users

amother

Tue, Sep 12 2023, 11:48 am

I have a question for photoshop users.
I'm trying to enlarge a part of an image, but it should enlarge two layers at the same time.
I tried grouping, linking and clipping the two layers together. Then I selected the part I wanted to enlarge but it ends up enlarging the entire image, not just the selection.

Specifically, I have an ink layer and color layer in a drawing of five people. I want to enlarge just one person, ink and color together. How do I do that?
Tia.

amother

Hotpink

Tue, Sep 12 2023, 12:14 pm

I don't have PS open right now to check, but can you just lock all of the other layers before making your selection?

Or you can select the layers you want and press cmd-T (transform) instead of using a selection tool (which tries to use all visible pixels)

amother

Tue, Sep 12 2023, 12:25 pm

Thanks.
I'm not sure how locking the other layers helps.
When I tried doing CtRL-T, after selecting both layers, it does the same thing as if I used the lasso tool, namely it makes a selection around everything, ie, all 5 people.

To clarify: I have a drawing if 5 people. The ink is on one layer. I colored on another layer.
Now I want to enlarge just one person. But I can't seem to select that one person and have both layers linked.

sunspot

Tue, Sep 12 2023, 12:26 pm

A few questions:
1. Are the specific people isolated on a different layer on their own?
2. Linking the 2 layers of just those 2 people and then scaling should work then

amother

Hotpink

Tue, Sep 12 2023, 12:28 pm

amother OP wrote:

Use the lasso tool and copy both the person and the ink to a new layer. (or layers)
Then enlarge that layer.

amother

Tue, Sep 12 2023, 12:29 pm

sunspot wrote:

A few questions:
1. Are the specific people isolated on a different layer on their own?
2. Linking the 2 layers of just those 2 people and then scaling should work then

1. No. The whole drawing (all 5 people) is on one layer.
The coloring of all 5 people is on a second layer.

I assume there should be a way to link the two layers together , and then make a selection and transform just that selection, which will apply to both layers at once.

amother

Natural

Tue, Sep 12 2023, 12:33 pm

You can't resize a selection on one layer together with another layer. You need to put the selected pixels on a new layer. Ctrl+J.

amother

Tue, Sep 12 2023, 12:37 pm

Hmm. That's what I have done in the past.
But if the drawing is an intricate one, it takes time to carefully resize and fit the color into the ink drawing.(and sometimes the color is spread over several layers eg. shadows and highlights, etc. )
I know there's a way to link or group two layers together for the purpose of transforming both layers in one command, so I just assumed there must be a way to select just a part of that grouping. Scratching Head

amother

Tue, Sep 12 2023, 12:39 pm

What is after I finish drawing and coloring a whole scene, I just want to enlarge one person's head. I would have to literally do each layer separately?

amother

Natural

Tue, Sep 12 2023, 12:47 pm

amother OP wrote:

What is after I finish drawing and coloring a whole scene, I just want to enlarge one person's head. I would have to literally do each layer separately?

Why wouldn't you do this anyway? It's much better to keep original artwork untouched and do everything on copied layers.

But no, you don't have to enlarge everything separately, unless you're trying to enlarge it together with another layer.

amother

Tue, Sep 12 2023, 1:02 pm

amother Natural wrote:

My point is that the colors are in the right places on its own layer. And if I want to enlarge just a small piece of the scene, I want all the effects and colors to move together with that.

If I draw an apple and banana on one layer. Color them both on another layer, and now I want to just enlarge the apple (ink and colors) is there no way to do that together?

amother

Lime

Tue, Sep 12 2023, 1:36 pm

amother OP wrote:

Are you saying thr apple and banana are sharing a layer?

Separate the apple and banana into two layers. And the Colored layers, you need to separate the apple and banana too.

Then select all the layers of the apple and its colors, and transform them together. (You can duplicate the layers and group or convert to Smart object before you transform)

amother

Tue, Sep 12 2023, 1:39 pm

amother Hotpink wrote:

Move them to their own layer. You can merge them back afterwards if you want.

Ok. I'm not sure what you mean.
I figures out a way to do it that doesn't involve me having to match the two layers after enlarging them. Bur it still seems like it's too many steps.

What I did was, I duplicated both layers. Then I linked the copies. Then I was able to erase the part I don't want to enlarge (the 4 other people.) Then, I can go to edit, free transform and whatever is left will then be able to be enlarged together.

Back on my original layers, I had to erase the last person (the one I wanted to enlarge ).

As I said, this saved me from having to match all the layers after enlarging, but I can't imagine there isn't a way to select an area once two or more layers are linked.

amother

Tue, Sep 12 2023, 2:03 pm

amother Lime wrote:

Yes, this is what I did. (I'm only seeing your response now. )
But then, I would need to erase the part I'm not using on each layer, right?
Because if I just select the banana on the original layer and paste it onto another layer, the position will change.
Only if I duplicate the whole layer does everything stay in place. Is that not right?

amother

Natural

Tue, Sep 12 2023, 2:06 pm

amother OP wrote:

No...
Press Ctrl+j and it will copy to a new layer in the same place on the canvas.

amother

Tue, Sep 12 2023, 2:23 pm

amother Natural wrote:

No...
Press Ctrl+j and it will copy to a new layer in the same place on the canvas.

Ok that worked, thabk you and thank you for your patience with me!

So back to my example of the apple and banana.
I want to enlarge the banana.
So I go to the ink layer, select the banana with the lasso tool and press Ctrl+J.
Then I go to color layer and select the banana and press ctrl-J.
Then I go to the two new layers that were just created, link them, and free transform them.
That works!
But then I have to go back to the original layers and erase the banana from those layers, correct?

My question was if there's a way to temporarly link or group the two original layers, and then select only the banana to enlarge. That would save me the step of having to go back and manually erase the original banana on each layer.
Does that make sense?

amother

Hotpink

Tue, Sep 12 2023, 2:39 pm

amother OP wrote:

While you have the lasso tool still selected, just delete the selection on that layer.

amother

Tue, Sep 12 2023, 2:53 pm

amother Hotpink wrote:

While you have the lasso tool still selected, just delete the selection on that layer.

The selection dissappear as soon as I hit Ctrl-J Sad

But that's a good idea. Instead of erasing, to just re-elect and then delete.