Moving layers into Group

I am a web designer and have created a script that puts a browser UI around a Photoshop document. The action places several images and creates several text layers. What I want to do is place all the images then add them into a group called "BROWSER". I can do this and it works fine in CS3, but it fails to select all the layers in CS4 and CS5.
I have tried several methods which all work in CS3, but not 4 and 5. I have selected the top layer, held shift and selected the bottom layer "Add Continuous", I have selected them individually with the "Add" modification (holding down the command). After I create the selection, I try and "Make Group from layers", however, in CS4 and 5 it only places the last layer in the folder.
I have also tried creating the Group folder, naming it and moving the individual layers into the folder. The problem here is that when moving, PS uses the layer number instead of the layer name! For instance, I have a layer call "Page Title", when using the move command it uses it's raw layer number "layer 16" or whatever.
So sorry for the wall of text. Can anyone offer any insight? I am downloading the trial of CS5 to see if that makes a difference.

Are all the layers visible?? I just tried recording an action in CS5 and had no problem. I create a new document white background layer and added 6 layers. I targeted the middle layer and then recorded this action
Alt+, (Target bottom visible layer in this case the background)
Alt+] (Target next visible layer up in the stack in this Layer 1)
Shift+Alt+. (Select continuously up the stack to the upper most visible layer 6 layers with there visibility off between will also be selected)
menu Layers>New>Group From Layers (Create new group named it test and the layers were collapsed into the new group named test)
stopped recording
I then went back into the history palette to before the group was created where I had the 7 layers. I played the action and it worked. Went back in time again and added layers till I had 100 layers on top of the background layers. I turned the visibility of some layers off. As long as the background layer and the layer above it as well as the Top layer visibility was on the action worked. All bets are off it the visibility of any or those three layers are off. The Action will fail.

Similar Messages

How to move layers into group.

Hi.
I want to make group and input it's name and get layers into it.
var doc = app.activeDocument;
var layers2 = doc.layers;
var txt = prompt("Input layer group name :");
var layerSetRef = doc.layerSets.add();
layerSetRef.name = txt;
for(var i = 0; i < layers2.length; i++) {
layers2[i].move(layerSetRef, ElementPlacement.PLACEATEND);
Can you tell me why this code shows error?
Indicator shows "layers2[i].move(layerSetRef, ElementPlacement.PLACEATEND);" is not right.

I see two main problems with your code.
One is that the enum should be ElementPlacement.INSIDE when moving an artLayer into a layerSet.
The second problem is moving layers changes the index so you can not loop using the index.
Try something like this:
var doc = app.activeDocument;
var txt = prompt("Input layer group name :");
var layerSetRef = doc.layerSets.add();
layerSetRef.name = txt;
while(doc.artLayers.length > Number(doc.layers[doc.layers.length-1].isBackgroundLayer) ) {
if(!doc.artLayers[0].allLocked || !doc.artLayers[0].positionLocked ){
doc.artLayers[0].move(layerSetRef, ElementPlacement.INSIDE);
That should move all the top level artLayers into the layerSet. It will skip locked layers and the background layer. You could change the layer locking test to change those properties if you want to move locked layers. To move the background layer you will need to convert it to a normal artLayer before moving.

CS6 dead slow moving layers and groups

I have this brand new PC, got it last week, i7 core, SSD drive, 16gb ram.
When I open my PSD doc with my design (approx 43mb psd file) then the photoshop application spikes in memory usage, to 3.5gb (from 120mb), and moving groups and layers around is DEAD SLOW, horrible lag.
I had CS3 on my previous PC, which was Core2 Duo with 4gb ram, and the speeds there were similar on the same psd document.
I've also tried CS5.1 on a similar PC hardware specs as my new PC, and moving groups and layers around is much faster.
Is it just CS6? Why is this so slow?

Wow, that was kind of an over the top response...
Many of the files I'm using were made in CS4 and didn't have this problem. I updated to CS6 about a month ago. The same files, that worked perfectly in CS4 are having this issue in CS6. It's not about the files - it's about CS6.
Maybe I worded my post wrong. The point I was trying to make is - something is wrong in SC6 Photoshop that's not unique to me or my files. A lot of other people I know complain of the same thing.
I was trying to highlight that this is an unaccepatble issue for software at this cost. And that it's a really, really big deal. What is more fundamental than moving layers?
From the volume of posts I see and the lack of an actual solution, my assumption is that there is not one and that this is a program flaw. I hope Adobe can adress this in an update soon.
If that is wrong and there is a true "solve", please advise.
On a side note. I'm an Creative Director doing web based work. The files are 72dpi. And this issue occurs when dragging / moving simple layers. They are not huge files or items that require substantial redraw.
RAM 15,214 - Photoshop allocated 10,497
History states: 50
Cache levels: 2
Cache tile size: 128
All other preferences are default.
Changing the settings above or alterting graphics processor usage or settings and no noticable affect.

Moving a layer group should not incure a performance hit (init a set of layers vs recursive)

I have finally taken the time to understand the behavior of the slughish performance of moving layer groups.
On my computer in CS6:
1. If I have just 2 layers in a layer group. Selecting both of them and ctrl-dragging them around is smooth and responsive.
2. If you have however select the layer group which contains just these 2 layers, the performance is obviously and terribly impacted. The drag is slow and choppy. With just 2 it is unbearable with regards to workflow but with a large layer group the performance it is utterly unusable. I am now looking to test what occurs in older versions.
I am a programmer. Not only that, I am a programmer who regularly targets 16 milliseconds on the scene and model graph. Learn to code and learn to program with hitting a 16ms user experience. That means abstraction culling to perform a minimum number of operations for a feature vs inertia, not the logically beautiful and sound abstractions we all would love to have on infinite computation. That's the reality of performance optimization. Performance optimization should be refered to as abstraction culling because that's what it is.
It should not make any logical difference how a set of layers is initilized for a transform. Please initialize the arrayed set of layers from the hierarchy of groups instead of executing your obviously flawed and unoptimized recursive routine.

I'm just not seeing a difference in performance between dragging a single layer around, multiple individually selected layers together, or a whole group of layers (where the group is what's selected in the Layers panel).
I tested on both Photoshop CS6 and CC. I'm on Windows 8.1. And I can honestly say I've never seen the layers panel scroll slowly.
That's not to say I'm seeing instantaneous, smooth moves of layer data - with a sufficiently large image, the update rate goes down to where the frame rate of moving things is quite visible - e.g., 4 or 5 frames per second - but that's still interactive, and it has always been like this with Photoshop as far back as I can remember. If anything, moving data around has gotten a bit snappier in Photoshop CC.
You may well have something specific going wrong on your system, or with your particular document.
Why not post a copy of a specific test image on which you can reproduce the issue, and that you'd like others to test with. I'll be happy to drag layers and groups around in it and report back.
That reminds me, I need to get software installed to capture my desktop as a video, as I need to make a training video soon.
-Noel

Problem with hidden objects when moving layers, groups or artboards

Hi there,
I am using Illustrator CS5.5 on a Mac.
Sometimes, after moving stuff around (groups, layers or artboards), I notice that hidden objects didn't move with everything else.
Does somebody knows how this can be if no objects are locked ?
I cannot make this happen on purpose with a simple example and it is really annoying not to be sure that everything was moved properly.
Thanks
R.

Emil,
A little misunderstanding here.
Like you say, clicking on the target to select (targeting objects) : this is exactly what I do.
So, SOMETIMES, when I select a group (not a layer) which contains hidden objects by clicking on its target in the layers panel, only the visible objects get selected (i.e. : only the visible objects get a full square at their right in the layers palette and the group gets a small square) AND the group is NOT targeted at all (i.e. : the target of the group is not highlighted, only the targets of the selected (visible) objects within the group are highlighted).
Then, if I move the group, only the visible objects are moved because only those are selected.
Problem is that I don't know why but when doing this (targeting objects), SOMETIMES this result in selecting everything within the group BUT SOMETIMES it result in selecting only the visible objects withtin the group.
I don't know what triggers that difference in behavior.
R.

Merging Layers into a Group

When selecting a handful of layers and grouping them, all layer names, are lost. Isn't there a way to keep the layer structure inside of the Group?

You can drag various items into a group but technically speaking you cannot put an entire layer into another group. You can though drag a layer into another layer. To select a layer click on the radio button immediately after a layer name.
You can then drag the colored squares to the right of the radio button and drag that you destiantion. In this ecxample you would
Click on radio button after top
Shift click the radio button after bot
Drag the blue square after bot to layer 3 and drop
Drag the red square after top to layer 3 and drop

How Can You Bring Illustrator Cs5 Layers into Photoshop Cs5?

Hi everyone, Is it possible to bring Illustrator artwork into Photoshop so that the layers in Illustrator are layers in Photoshop, and so that all the content is arranged as it was in Illustrator.
What I have been doing is bringing in a shape or a group of shapes into Photoshop by pasting them into a layer in PS then bringing in some more stuff from another layer in Illustrator and pasting that into another layer in PS but obviously it's a mission to line up the contents again so it is arranged like it was in Illustrator in the first place.
Any help appreciated
thanks Gareth

No, it doesn't say how to do it there
Well, then you probably haven't read carefully enough about what can be set up when exporting as .psd in Illustrator.
When you export as .psd there are several export options about preserving layers. As mentioned, there are some restrictions.
But tell me, what is unclear about the following quote?
Write Layers
Exports groups, compound shapes, nested layers, and slices as separate, editable Photoshop layers. Nested layers that are more than five levels deep are merged into a single Photoshop layer. Select Maximum Editability to export transparent objects (that is, objects with an opacity mask, a constant opacity less than 100%, or a blending mode other than Normal) as live, editable Photoshop layers.
Preserve Text Editability
Exports horizontal and vertical point type in layers (including nested layers up to five levels deep) to editable Photoshop type. If doing so compromises the appearance of the artwork, you can deselect this option to rasterize the text instead.
Maximum Editability
Writes each top-level sublayer to a separate Photoshop layer if doing so doesn’t compromise the appearance of the artwork. Top-level layers become Photoshop layer sets. Transparent objects remain editable transparent objects. Also creates a Photoshop shape layer for each compound shape in a top‑level layer if doing so doesn’t compromise the appearance of the artwork. To write compound shapes with solid strokes, change the Join type to Round. Whether or not you select this option, all layers over 5 levels deep are merged into a single Photoshop layer.

Turning greyscale alphas into group masks

Hi
I'm new to ps scripting and could do with a little help. I want to take a folder of greyscale alpha files and turn them into a single psd where each alpha layer is converted into a group mask with the filename as the group name. The script below is one I found at ps scripts and modified slightly. It works ok but turns the alpha layers into layer masks as opposed to group masks. If anyone can help me achieve this or point me in the direction of other codes that create groups and apply masks that I can study I would be really grateful.
var baseDoc = app.activeDocument;
var baseLayer = baseDoc.activeLayer;
var baseDocFolder = Folder(baseDoc.path);
var alphaSaveFolder = new Folder(baseDocFolder+'/fromAlphas');
if(!alphaSaveFolder.exists) alphaSaveFolder.create();
var alphaFolder = baseDocFolder.selectDlg('Select the aplha folder');
var alphaFiles = alphaFolder.getFiles(IsFileOneOfThese(['PSD','TIF','JPG']));// edit arguements to match your alpha files extension
for(var a = 0; a < alphaFiles.length; a++ ){
   var alpha = app.open(alphaFiles[a]);
   var alphaName = alpha.name.match(/(.*)(\.[^\.]+)/)[1];
   var tempAlpha = alpha.channels[0].duplicate(baseDoc);
   alpha.close(SaveOptions.DONOTSAVECHANGES);
// var newLayer = baseLayer.duplicate(); Old duplicate string
   var newLayer = baseDoc.artLayers.add();
   newLayer.name = alphaName;
   baseDoc.activeLayer = newLayer;
   createChannelMask();
   applyAlphaAsMask( tempAlpha );
   deleteChannelMask(true);
   tempAlpha.remove();
function createChannelMask() {
   var desc = new ActionDescriptor();
    desc.putClass( charIDToTypeID('Nw '), charIDToTypeID('Chnl') );
        var ref = new ActionReference();
        ref.putEnumerated( charIDToTypeID('Chnl'), charIDToTypeID('Chnl'), charIDToTypeID('Msk ') );
    desc.putReference( charIDToTypeID('At '), ref );
    desc.putEnumerated( charIDToTypeID('Usng'), charIDToTypeID('UsrM'), charIDToTypeID('RvlA') );
    executeAction( charIDToTypeID('Mk '), desc, DialogModes.NO );
function applyAlphaAsMask( alpha ) {
    var desc = new ActionDescriptor();
        var ref = new ActionReference();
        ref.putEnumerated( charIDToTypeID('Chnl'), charIDToTypeID('Chnl'), charIDToTypeID('Msk ') );
    desc.putReference( charIDToTypeID('null'), ref );
    desc.putBoolean( charIDToTypeID('MkVs'), false );
    executeAction( charIDToTypeID('slct'), desc, DialogModes.NO );
    var desc = new ActionDescriptor();
        var desc1 = new ActionDescriptor();
            var ref = new ActionReference();
            ref.putName( charIDToTypeID('Chnl'), alpha.name );
        desc1.putReference( charIDToTypeID('T   '), ref );
        desc1.putBoolean( charIDToTypeID('PrsT'), true );
    desc.putObject( charIDToTypeID('With'), charIDToTypeID('Clcl'), desc1 );
    executeAction( charIDToTypeID('AppI'), desc, DialogModes.NO );
    //selectComponetChannel();
function deleteChannelMask(apply){
   var desc = new ActionDescriptor();
    var ref = new ActionReference();
    ref.putEnumerated(charIDToTypeID("Chnl"), charIDToTypeID("Chnl"), charIDToTypeID("Msk "));
    desc.putReference(charIDToTypeID("null"), ref);
function newDocFromLayer(docName,layerName){
   docName == undefined ? docName = "Untitled":docName;
   layerName == undefined ? layerName = activeDocument.activeLayer.name:layerName;
    var desc = new ActionDescriptor();
        var ref = new ActionReference();
        ref.putClass( charIDToTypeID( "Dcmn" ) );
    desc.putReference( charIDToTypeID( "null" ), ref );
    desc.putString( charIDToTypeID( "Nm " ), docName );
       var ref1 = new ActionReference();
        ref1.putEnumerated( charIDToTypeID( "Lyr " ), charIDToTypeID( "Ordn" ), charIDToTypeID( "Trgt" ) );
    desc.putReference( charIDToTypeID( "Usng" ), ref1 );
    desc.putString( charIDToTypeID( "LyrN" ), layerName );
   executeAction( charIDToTypeID( "Mk " ), desc, DialogModes.NO );
   return app.activeDocument;
// from Image Processor.jsx
// given a file name and a list of extensions
// determine if this file is in the list of extensions
function IsFileOneOfThese( inFileName, inArrayOfFileExtensions ) {
   var lastDot = inFileName.toString().lastIndexOf( "." );
   if ( lastDot == -1 ) {
      return false;
   var strLength = inFileName.toString().length;
   var extension = inFileName.toString().substr( lastDot + 1, strLength - lastDot );
   extension = extension.toUpperCase();
   for (var i = 0; i < inArrayOfFileExtensions.length; i++ ) {
      if ( extension == inArrayOfFileExtensions[i] ) {
         return true;
   return false;

Do you mean clipping group or layerSet? If you mean layerSet then if I understand what you want replace
var newLayer = baseDoc.artLayers.add();// adds a layer
with
var newLayer = baseDoc.layerSets.add();// add a layer set(group)

How can I see in my address book all contaacts that have not been placed into groups?

How can I see in my address book the contacts that have not been put into groups?

The best way to do that is create a new "smart group" with the following:
This way you can identify those without a group and drag them to one.
Regards,
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How do you get your contacts into groups?

how do you get your contacts into groups?

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Go back to All Contacts (on the left) then drag and drop the names you want in that group on to the folder you just named.
Repeat as necessary for other groups.
Note that the names remain, as they should, in All Contacts, even after you have added them to a group.. You can delete a group if you want. The names will still remain in All Contacts.

I have installed the LATEST VERSION of itunes in my windows and i bought the new ipad with retina display ,i had moved music into the ipad from my windows through the itunes but I DONT KNOW HOW TO MOVE THE VIDEOS IN MY VIDEOS LIBRARY OF MY COMPUTER TO MY

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Apple software on Windows: May see performance issues and blank iTunes Store
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4123?viewlocale=en_US

My MacBook pro is freezing at the "moving items into place" phase. I have to restore from time machine each time. I'm talking about the 10.7.4 update

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Convert multiple layers into separate smart objects

I have multiple layers in a document that I want to make into separate smart objects.
If I select them and choose "convert to smart object" in the Layers Panel fly out, it flattens the layers into 1 smart object.
Can it be done, or do I need to make each layer a smart object one at a time.
OR... let me back up
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Either way would be great!

While these don't use the batch command, take a look at
from within photoshop, File>Scripts>Load Files into Stack.
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http://www.russellbrown.com/scripts.html
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photoshop document, for smart object layers, provided you have
your preferences under general to place or drag raster images as smart objects.
MTSTUNER

How to Troubleshoot why data is not moving over into the Data Warehouse after Sql Server Agent Job Run

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Moving layers into Group

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