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Author Topic: Combining Type Layers in Photoshop  (Read 478 times)

David Eichler

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Combining Type Layers in Photoshop
« on: July 14, 2020, 08:24:57 pm »

When I merge two type layers with different opacities in Photoshop, it changes the opacity of the type in at least one of the layers in the process, but this doesn't happen when flattening an image. Is it possible to retain the look of the different layer opacities when merging type into one type-only layer? If so, how do you do it? I am assuming the fact that this is vector content has something to do with it.

I am in CMYK if that matters.
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kirkt

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Re: Combining Type Layers in Photoshop
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2020, 11:18:00 pm »

In your Color Settings for the current working profile, trying unchecking the box "Blend Text Colors Using Gamma" and see if Merge works as expected.

In PS CC 2020, on a Mac, I was able to reproduce your issue - the lighter text got darker when I merged two text layers (I was working in sRGB).  I unchecked the blend with gamma option in the working color settings and Merge works as expected.

Even when the blend with gamma option was enabled, Flatten and Stamp both worked as expected.  It was just merge that caused the shift.  Incidentally, if you create a 32bit per channel document and do the same experiment with merge, it works as expected.

Kirk
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David Eichler

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Re: Combining Type Layers in Photoshop
« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2020, 11:40:49 pm »

In your Color Settings for the current working profile, trying unchecking the box "Blend Text Colors Using Gamma" and see if Merge works as expected.

In PS CC 2020, on a Mac, I was able to reproduce your issue - the lighter text got darker when I merged two text layers (I was working in sRGB).  I unchecked the blend with gamma option in the working color settings and Merge works as expected.

Even when the blend with gamma option was enabled, Flatten and Stamp both worked as expected.  It was just merge that caused the shift.  Incidentally, if you create a 32bit per channel document and do the same experiment with merge, it works as expected.

Kirk

Thanks. Will have to study when to use that feature.
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Peano

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Re: Combining Type Layers in Photoshop
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2020, 06:29:36 pm »

If you don't need the text to be editable, you can rasterize the type and then merge layers. That will preserve the different layer opacities.

Garnick

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Re: Combining Type Layers in Photoshop
« Reply #4 on: July 16, 2020, 06:49:22 pm »

Another way to get around your merge dilemma would be to group the text layers.  In that way the layers are totally editable and of course you can move the group and thus the text layers as well.  Quite often when putting together a document with a lot of text layers I will group the text layers that have relevance to each other and then group all of those groups so that I can move all text layers at once if necessary, which is often the case.

Hope this helps  :)   
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Peano

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Re: Combining Type Layers in Photoshop
« Reply #5 on: July 16, 2020, 06:58:19 pm »

group the text layers.

Good solution. If the purpose of merging is just to make the layer stack more compact, I would group the text layers as you suggest ... just in case editing is needed down the road.
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