Non-destructive mirroring with stroke

I’m trying to achieve this…
…but with Appearances, so that I can still edit the graphic later, say if I wanted to do something like this (alt+drag to dupe an item within the group)…
(desired outcome in outline mode)
Anyone know how to do this non-destructively, so that I don’t have to recreate the black stroke around the whole thing every time I want to make a change?
Steps I take to do this now:
Create the two squares, group them, and create an appearance (fx>transform) to reflect x with one copy (mirroring the object along the left side).
Expand the appearance.
Copy all, paste behind, add the paths together, and add the black stroke.
This gets me what I want to see, but it's a pain in the neck to edit/modify/polish. I want to get the stroke around both objects in the group and still be able to non-destructively (i.e. don't expand appearance) modify the group with updating the stroke and the reflection. Can it be done? Without a script?
Cheers,
_Petros

Fantastic! You guys are the best! I see now that the reason I wasn't able to figure this out on my own is that I was trying to add the stroke my normal way (i.e. setting the stroke color to black from absent in the tool bar) instead of using the appearance panel to add the stroke. If anyone else goes through this, see scott w's note. It won't work right unless you add the stroke from the appearance panel. Kind of obtuse, but I'm super-psyched that it's actually possible. Thanks for the help!

Similar Messages

Using Non-destructive filter with Nested XML data

Hi,
How do you use Non-destructive filter with Nested XML data?
I am using the non-destructive filter sample with my own xml which is setup to search for the <smc></smcs> in my xml below. But when i test it it only searches the last row of the "smc". How can i make it work so it can search for repeating nodes? or does it have something to with how my xml is setup?
    <ja>
        <url>www.sample.com</url>
        <jrole>Jobrole goes here</jrole>
        <prole>Process role goes here...</prole>
        <role>description...</role>
        <prole>Process role goes here...</prole>
        <role>description....</role>
        <prole>Process role goes here...</prole>
        <role>description...</role>
        <sjc>6K8C</sjc>
        <sjc>6B1B</sjc>
        <sjc>6B1F</sjc>
        <sjc>6B1D</sjc>
        <smc>6C9</smc>
        <smc>675</smc>
        <smc>62R</smc>
        <smc>62P</smc>
        <smc>602</smc>
        <smc>622</smc>
        <smc>642</smc>
        <smc>65F</smc>
        <smc>65J</smc>
        <smc>65L</smc>
        <smc>623</smc>
        <smc>625</smc>
        <smc>624</smc>
        <smc>622</smc>
        <audience>Target audience goes here....</audience>
    </ja>
here is the javascript that runs it.
function FilterData()
    var tf = document.getElementById("filterTF");
    if (!tf.value)
        // If the text field is empty, remove any filter
        // that is set on the data set.
        ds1.filter(null);
        return;
    // Set a filter on the data set that matches any row
    // that begins with the string in the text field.
    var regExpStr = tf.value;
if (!document.getElementById("containsCB").checked)
        regExpStr = "^" + regExpStr;
    var regExp = new RegExp(regExpStr, "i");
    var filterFunc = function(ds, row, rowNumber)
        var str = row["smc"];
        if (str && str.search(regExp) != -1)
        return row;
        return null;
    ds1.filter(filterFunc);
function StartFilterTimer()
    if (StartFilterTimer.timerID)
        clearTimeout(StartFilterTimer.timerID);
    StartFilterTimer.timerID = setTimeout(function() { StartFilterTimer.timerID = null; FilterData(); }, 100);
I really need help on this, or are there any other suggestions or samples that might work?
thank you!

I apologize, im using Spry XML Data Set. i guess the best way to describe what im trying to do is, i want to use the Non-desctructive filter sample with the Spry Nested XML Data sample. So with my sample xml on my first post and with the same code non-destructive filter is using, im having trouble trying to search repeating nodes, for some reason it only searches the last node of the repeating nodes. Does that make sense? let me know.
thank you Arnout!

How do I non-destructively sharpen, re-size and save my images if I'm using both LR & CS6?

Hi guys {and gals}...
Ok... here is my dilemma. I am having an incredibly difficult time understanding the best way to sharpen, re-size and save my images for both posting on the web and giving them to clients. I completed my first paid photo shoot (yay!), but as I finished editing each image, I re-sized it and posted it on my FB photography page. I later learned from a fellow at my local print shop that this is a destructive and irreversible edit (not yay! ).
So... before I pull out every last strand of hair on my head, I REAALLLYYYY need to get a good grasp on how to do the following things so that I can establish a good workflow: 1. Sharpen my image well {w/ Smart Sharpen}. Does this have to be done on a flattened image... and isn't flattening irreversible? 2. Re-sizing my images for both web display and client work/printing. Is it true that once I set it to 72ppi for web display, that I lose a great deal of the detail and quality? Do I need to create a copy of the file and have 2 different image sizes?
I am self taught, learning off the cuff through tutorials and constant error... and I just want so badly to have a smooth and beneficial work flow in place.
Currently, my workflow is as follows... 1. Load images into LR and convert to DNG files 2. Quick initial edit & then send into PS CS6 3. Perform detailed/layered edit(s) 4. {I know I'm supposed to sharpen now, as the last step, but am afraid to permanently flatten my image in case I want to tweak the layers later..} 5. Save the file (unflattened) 6. Go back into LR and Export the file to the appropriate place on my hard drive
So... at this point, my image is still at 300ppi {not appropriate for web display}, unflattened {I'm told flattened images are ideal for client work and printing} and not as sharp as I want it to be {because I don't know when to apply Smart Sharpen filter}.
HELP!!!!!!!
Thanks in adavnce for "listening" to me ramble...
~ Devon

There are a lot smarter guys on this forum than I so will let them give you ideas on the sharpen workflow.
Is DNG the same as RAW in that all the edits are non-destructive? With RAW all the edits are put on a separate XMP file and believe with DNG the XMP file is written to the image. In this case would suggest you save the DNG then create a jpg to send to clients or on web. A jpg will not save layers so it is by its nature flattened.
Since you are new to this try this test to understand ppi. Click on Image/image size.
      Change Document size to inches.
      Now uncheck "unsample image" as if this is checked all the pixels will be modified to adjust to the new size. Unchecked no pixels will be changed.
      Now adjust the resolution from 72 to 300 ppi (pixels per inch). Note that the Image Size in pixels does not change, but the document size changes. This means resolution is unchanged.
      Now click "resample image" and change the resolution. Note how the image size changes and document size stays the same.
Bottom line quality of picture is the image size in pixels. THe larger the numbers the higher the quality.

HT204291 how can I download airplay in my imac to mirror with my apple tv?

I bought my Imac april 2011. Is this computer too old to use airply to mirror with my apple tv? If not how do I do it?

About AirPlay and Airplay Mirroring
AirPlay Mirroring requires a second-generation Apple TV or later, and is supported on the following Mac models: iMac (Mid 2011 or newer), Mac mini (Mid 2011 or newer), MacBook Air (Mid 2011 or newer), and MacBook Pro (Early 2011 or newer). For non-qualifying Macs you can try using Air Parrot.
Several Apple Articles Regarding AirPlay
Apple TV (2nd and 3rd gen)- How to use AirPlay Mirroring
How to set up and configure AirPort Express for AirPlay and iTunes
About AirPlay Mirroring in OS X Mountain Lion
iTunes 10- About playing music with AirPlay
Troubleshooting AirPlay and AirPlay Mirroring
Using AirPlay
Thanks to the $15 Beamer, AirPlay streaming is still possible on Macs that do not support Airplay and mirroring.
Another solution is the Air Parrot.

How can I tell if a non-destructive crop has been applied when opening an image?

I've wrapped my head around how to reclaim the stripped-out portion of an image that has been non-destructively cropped in CS6: click the image with the crop tool, or select Reveal All from the Image menu. Short of doing this every time I suspect that I may have cropped an image, is there anything in Photoshop's interface to tell me at a glance if the image has been non-destructively cropped? I guess I could check the document dimensions in the pop-up status display at the bottom of the window, but I'm looking for something more direct that doesn't make me search.
2009 iMac 3.06 GHz Core 2 Duo; OS 10.8.1
Jeff Frankel

If you primarily edit files from a particular camera, then your idea to set the status box at the lower-left to show the image dimensions is a good one - just watch for dimensions that are not the norm.
You shouldn't have to set the readout to Document Dimensions more than once, though... Open one image, set that field to read Document Dimensions, then close the document and quit Photoshop gracefully. From now on it ought to read Dimensions when you open a new document.
I wasn't aware 10.8.1 was out.
-Noel

FCPX 10.0.7 hangs when loading multiple projects - a non-destructive work around

FCPX 10.0.7 hangs when loading multiple projects - a non-destructive work around....
Hi Guys, I upgraded from FCPX 10.0.6 to 10.0.78 and discovered to my immense frustration that many of my 100+ FCPX projects would not load.
Symptom:
FCPX 10.0.7 appears to hang ("spinning beachball") with either high CPU% on a single core or with 1-2% CPU busy (activity monitor.app) when a FINAL CUT PROJECT is selected. No logs error information in /var/logs ..hmm
notices that the "status circle" spins around endlessly.
Actvity Monitor.app shows "Final Cut Pro (Not Responding)
and also I notice in some cases that an OEM filter ("NEAT VIDEO NOISE REDUCTION") is in progress to be loaded. FCPX V10.0.7 must be FORCED QUITtted to remove it from system.
History: Upgraded FCPX from V10.0.6 to V10.0.07.
"FINAL CUT EVENTS" and "FINAL CUT PROJECTS" on a single file system on SAS 16TB disk array (768MB/sec read via AJA system test) and 60% utilised capacity… FCP EVENTS has 400 events in it .. some 5.2TB of Prores essence etc .. all works fine! (i.e. the storage system is first class and is NOT the issue)
32GB of RAM on MAC PRO 2009 Nehalem 16 x Vcore with ATI 5780 card and ATTO HBA's (i.e. plenty of resources!)
As usual with any "upgrade" to FCPX 10.0.? all the EVENT objects need to be upgraded. In my case this takes an hour or two.. so I do that when asleep.
After experiencing above, I restored the FCPX EVENTS LIbrary of that file system from LTO4 tape archive (BRU-PE ) and still had the same issues as above.
WORKAROUND:
FORCEd QUIT FCPX V10.0.7
RENAMEd "/volumes/some_file_system_volume/Final Cut Projects" to "/volumes/some_file_system_volume/Final Cut Projects_original"
created (make) a new "/volumes/some_file_system_volume/Final Cut Projects" (use finder)
For each project !!! in "/volumes/some_file_system_volume/Final Cut Projects_original", (do one project at a time!!!)
MOVE "/volumes/some_file_system_volume/Final Cut Projects_original/one_fcpx_projext_nnnn_folder" to "/volumes/some_file_system_volume/Final Cut Projects"
Make sure you move ONLY one project at a time. If you have a subfolder of projects, please do each project one at a time (serially!)
Launch FCPX V10.0.7 and BE PATIENT!!! .. DONT click or fiddle with the UI.. it seems when you intervene it locks up as well…
Let FCPX V10.0.7 settle….
select the project you just added above and RELINK any objects it needs. Thumbnails and proxies will be rendered again.. just be patient
wait until ALL the rendering as stopped.
QUIT FCPX V10.0.7
(now if FCPX locks up, just force it out and start again as above).
repeat for all projects in "/volumes/some_file_system_volume/Final Cut Projects_original" (go to step 4 ad do until all projects moved)
When all is COMPLETED MAKE SURE YOU ARCHIVE an instance (or make a backup ) of "/volumes/some_file_system_volume/Final Cut Projects"
If this procedure has worked the folder "/volumes/some_file_system_volume/Final Cut Projects_original" will have zero (nill, none) projects in it.
I have managed to restore ALL my "/volumes/some_file_system_volume/Final Cut Projects" this xmas between drinking etc. I'm satisfied that its all ok.
Other issues:
use DISK WARRIOR or TT PRO 6 to make sure that the file system volume where your "/volumes/some_file_system_volume/Final Cut Projects" are is physically ok. I noticed some entries in file system's volume table that represented objects in "/volumes/some_file_system_volume/Final Cut Projects" were at fault when I used these utilities… FWIW.
SUMMARY: yes this took ages to d, however luckily I had everything in at least 3 instances in an archive which has saved me many time in the old FCP& and prior days… it was just a matter of time to put it back together.
I put this outage down to may be my own impatience when I first fired up FCPX 10.0.7 after the upgrade.
I'm interested if this workaround is helpful to others and in addtiion if others have a more satisfactory remedy.
HTH
warwick
Hong Kong

Hi Eb, yeah I could not see any "memory leak" or unusual consumption of REAL memory whose less availability would cause excessive PAGEing and SWAPping as seen in the Activty Monitor.app
I watch this carefully especially the use of REAL MEMORY by 3rd Paryy apps. BTW there are a few that cause ALLOCATED but NOT USED memory (blue in the A.M.app UI). Simply a unix PURGE command can release that memory and help clean up the PAGE and VM swap files (its alleged!).
Yes, you may be might with the element of "Luck" involved. I would add though, that having MULTIPLE project displaying in the STORYLINE window and loading always caused my FCP 10.0.7 jam up at startup with h symtoms and observations I described.
TIP: I might also add that for a super speedy launch of FCPX one may also emply setting each PROJECT's UI to show only AUDIO thus negating the need to contstruct or reneder out a PREVIEW ui in each clip in the storyline.
Your/Apples suggestion of the movememt (rename) of "Final Cut Pro Projects" to "Final Cut Pro Projects Hidden" is similar to what I proposed above to stop FCPX 10.0.7 accessing and building it up at startup. This workaround has been useful inthe past as well.
ALso one might also get the stick out and remove (delete/rm) the ~/Library/Saved Application State/com.apple.FinalCut.savedState in one's home ~/Library so that FCPX wont do such a neat job reinstating FCPX last time you crashed it... This has been helpful also in diagnosing my issues.
Lastly I have noticed that:
impatience clicking on the FCPX UI when in the unstable state causes it to lock up with NO visible CPU% busy.... as if its waiting on something which is usually me MEMTERMing it via FORCE QUIT and
the projects where I have employed the NEAT VIDEO Noise Reduction OEM filter for FCPX seem to exasserbate the PROJECT loading issues when several PROJECTS are available at FCPX startup time.
As of yesterday I have some 400+ EVENTS Final Cut Pro Events and 130+ projects of varying compexites in a single file system on Final Cut Pro Projects all working fine and as good as gold again!
Oh and one more thing, I had to RE-RENDER many projects of them again... strange as the FCP PROJECT library was renstated from a recent LTO archive as of V10.0.6 FCPX.. strange that...I would have expected if the projects and events were 10.0.6/7 compatable as proposed by Tom, that this would not be necessary... hmm straneg that
I'll monitor this thread.
Thanks for your comments lads!

I Dislike the Terms "Destructive" and "Non-Destructive" Editing

Some folks in the Photoshop realm use the terms "destructive" and "non-destructive" to describe ways of using Photoshop in which transforms are applied directly to pixel values vs. being applied via layers or smart filters or smart objects or other means.
Do you realize that the term "destructive" is actually mildly offensive to those who know what they're doing and choose to alter their pixel values on purpose?
I understand that teaching new people to use Photoshop in a way that doesn't "destroy" their original image data is generally a good thing, and I'm willing to overlook the use of the term as long as you don't confront me and tell me what I'm doing when I choose to alter pixel values is "wrong" (or when I choose to advise others on doing so).
For that people who claim editing pixel values is "destructive", I offer this one response, which is generally valuable advice, in return:
Never overwrite your original file.
There. The "destruction" has ceased utterly.
It's common sense, really. You might want to use that file for something else in the future.
If you shoot in raw mode with a digital camera, then you actually can't overwrite your raw files. That's a handy side effect, though some don't use raw mode or even start working with digital photographs.
In any case, when you open your image consider getting in the habit of immediately doing File - Save As and creating a .psd or .tif elsewhere, so that you can subsequently do File - Save to save your intermediate results.
There can actually be many advantages to altering pixel values, if you know what you're doing and choose to do so. But sometimes even the most adept Photoshop user might find that a given step created a monster; that's okay, there's a multi-step History palette for going back. I normally set mine to keep a deep history, to give me a safety net if I DO do something wrong, though I tend to use it rarely.
And for those who would tout the disadvantages to editing "destructively", there can be huge disadvantages to doing it "non-destructively" as well... Accumulating a large number of layers slows things down and can use a lot of RAM... With downsized zooms the mixing can yield posterization that isn't really there, or gee whiz, just TRY finding a computer fast enough to use smart filters in a meaningful way. Just the concept of layers, if one hasn't worked out how layer data is combined in one's own mind, can be daunting to a new person!
So I ask that you please stop saying that the "only" or "best" way to use Photoshop is to edit "non-destructively". There are folks who feel that is offensive and arrogant. I think the one thing everyone can agree upon is that THERE IS NO ONE OR BEST WAY TO USE PHOTOSHOP!
You go ahead and do your editing your way. I prefer to do "constructive" editing.
Thanks for listening to my rant.
-Noel
Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it.

function(){return A.apply(null,[this].concat($A(arguments)))}
Aegis Kleais wrote:
When you alter image data in a manner that cannot be reverted, you have destroyed it.
Really?
That's one of those things that one is not supposed to question. It just sounds so right!
Problem is, it's insufficient in and of itself, and misleading... It's a rule of thumb that's way too general.
What IS "data" anyway? Arrangement of magnetic spots on a disk? My disk is still whole, so we're not talking about physical destruction here.
One could argue that all the data is all still there in many cases of pixel-value-change editing (e.g., where there has been no resizing). The image file is the same size! Same amount of data.
Upsampling, or making a copy of an image is actually creating more data, not destroying data. Thus there is no general "destruction", but the terms "construction" or "creation" could be used.
But wait, perhaps you're really talking about destroying information, not data... Well...
As it turns out the term "destructive" is still off base. I have altered the information, possibly even adding important information. If I make a copy this is a no brainer. Even if I don't, depending on a person's skill in editing, the altered result could still carry all the original information that was important plus information added by editing, and be quite possibly better for its intended purpose (human consumption) than the image before the edit. That's the goal!
So now we're talking about important information vs. unimportant information. And of course we're talking about fitness for a future purpose.
As with anything, there are multiple ways to get there and multiple ways to interpret the words.
The term "destructive" in my opinion was invented to further someone's agenda.
-Noel

Paging and Non Destructive Filter

Hi all,
I am trying to create a list screen for a small application I
am working on and I've hit a problem.
Originally my list was to show just 10 results at a time and
for this I used the code from the "Paging Sample" and managed to
get this working with next and prev buttons.
All fine at this stage.
However, I now need to be able to filter the list based on
criteria enetered into a text feild by the user and the "Non
Destructive Filter Sample" provided a good solution.
I implemented the functions and it sort of works. When the
list first loads the paging functions filter this full list to the
10 results I require and pressing the next button shows the next
10. The non destructive filter also works in that it will filter
the list based on user input.
The problem that I have is that if a user keys in a some
criteria that makes the non destructive fiter show more than 10
results (say 30 results) they all show and the paging functions are
no longer used.
I have tried in vain to apply the paging functions to the non
destructive filter funtions so that when they return the rows it
will limit the results to 10 at a time.
Has anyone else come accross this? Does anyone have any
advice or sample code that may help.
Thanks in advance.
T12

Hi T12,
Checkout this sample:
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/spry/samples/data_region/SpryPagedViewSample.html
It's a preview of a paging approach we're playing with. The
idea is that you use the paged view data set for displaying the
data, but you use the original data set to do all your filtering,
sorting, etc.
--== Kin ==--

Destructive and non-destructive buffer reads on branch wires

I was asked this morning what are "Destructive and non-destructive buffer reads on branched wires" are.
I was at a loss at first and the I thought some and read a posting by Jim that inspried me.
My first thought was the case of an array wired to a replace array element and an index array function. I that case the the index has to execute before the replace array element because the replace re-uses its input buffer. Not really detructive but seemed close.
There is also the case of a buffer (like a string) being wired into a CIN and the same buffer being re-used be the CIN to return the result. The CIN "destroys" the original values.
Jim mentioned the concatenate string having to destroy the buffer
s hold the strings that are concantenated and moved to another buffer.
Also when I do a AI read the buffer I read from is destroyed after I read it. Similarly with reading from VISA and the like.
What does the above phrase really mean and are there other examples that I have missed?
Trying to learn something here,
Ben
Ben Rayner
I am currently active on.. MainStream Preppers
Rayner's Ridge is under construction

That phrase may have been describing a combination of factors. Documentation from NI points out that if a wire branches, LabVIEW will try to avoid making a copy of the data, including scheduling (as in your example) read operations on branch A before write operations on branch B if possible. Since branch A doesn't tamper with the data, no copy is necessary.
The author of a CIN or DLL could indeed choose to create his function in such a manner that it uses the same physical buffer in memory for input and output. This is by no means the only way to return values from a function, but it's quite common for efficiency reasons. LabVIEW might even assume that a CIN or DLL always overwrites any buffer passed into it (and may therefore make a copy if a wire branche
s both to a CIN and somewhere else).
So to me, the phrase you cited connotes the G compiler's decision of whether or not a wire branch modifies the data (e.g., string concatenation, removing elements from arrays) or just reads it (e.g., an index or input to a calculation).

Any way to non-destructively edit in PSE and save edits ?

any way to non-destructively edit in PSE ? or is this only available in CS and LR ....I would like to use Viveza and to be able to save my edits.
thanks

It is the way Apple has chose to deal with external editor edits.... as I have wrote below in various other threads so no one else has to talk to someone for over two hours on the same thing....
Okay.... so after being on the phone with an Apple senior developer for 2 hrs and 29 minutes, the duplicating of originals has been completely intentional.
Basically, in a nutshell, we have lost the ability to revert back to previous versions of a photo. So, KEEP YOUR ORIGINAL!!!!!!!! Once you make an edit in an external editor, there is no going back unless you go back to the original. There is no reversing any edit in an external edit.
It only makes a copy off the original. So, if you make an edit of an edit, you will only have access to the photo where it is after the second edit. The revert to original does not work on external edits.
I gave suggestions on how to make an original automatically hide or be tagged somehow so it can be hidden and also a check before you delete..... I discussed many different ways of going about this (other than reverting to the way '09 worked)... not sure what they will come up with. But, I played around a lot with this new way of editing... and I could give a full scenario of what is happening with your photos as you edit... but, basically, it seems that Apple has met Windows in this '11 upgrade in that if you want to access different steps of a series of edits, you need to make copies as you go.

Mirror with mac book pro

can an older mac book pro mirror with apple tv

About AirPlay and Airplay Mirroring
AirPlay Mirroring requires a second-generation Apple TV or later, and is supported on the following Mac models: iMac (Mid 2011 or newer), Mac mini (Mid 2011 or newer), MacBook Air (Mid 2011 or newer), and MacBook Pro (Early 2011 or newer). For non-qualifying Macs you can try using Air Parrot.
Several Apple Articles Regarding AirPlay
Apple TV (2nd and 3rd gen)- How to use AirPlay Mirroring
How to set up and configure AirPort Express for AirPlay and iTunes
iTunes- Troubleshooting AirPlay and AirPlay Mirroring
iTunes- Using AirPlay
Apple TV (2nd and 3rd gen)- Understanding AirPlay settings
About AirPlay Mirroring in OS X Mountain Lion
iTunes 10- About playing music with AirPlay
Troubleshooting AirPlay and AirPlay Mirroring
Using AirPlay
Thanks to the $15 Beamer, AirPlay streaming is still possible on Macs that do not support Airplay and mirroring.
Other solutions are the Air Parrot, StreamToMe, and AirServer.

How to create a non-destructive luminosity/b&w mask for (de)saturation?

Someone asked me this question: CG renders (created in Modo, Max, Blender, Maya, Vray, Octane, etc) can be made to look more realistic by desaturating the colours in the highlights. It was also requested that this move would be done in 32bpc as well (something that is often required in a CG compositing workflow).
This is easy enough to do: create a selection based on luminosity (or a black and white version of the image), and use that as a layer mask in the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, and turn down the saturation.
However, this is a destructive action: suppose we want to import an external file as a smart object, and then we need the option to have the file automatically update with any change we make to the original artwork.
In that case we would have to recreate that luminosity mask again and again as well.
Ideally, an update of the external file will result in an automatic update of the entire layer stack.
Now, in Photoline this is easy to do:
Since layer masks behave like regular layers in PL, and layers can be virtually cloned (not unlike smart objects), it is a mere case of cloning the original external file layer twice, and adding adjustment layers. Finally, that one instanced layer is used as a layer mask for the adjustment layer that controls the saturation. Done.
Replacing or editing the original source will then automatically update and cascade the changes through the entire layer stack.
This is a very handy technique to have! Since I teach Photoshop classes, I thought this would also be handy to know how to do in Photoshop, and I tried several methods (clipping masks included), but I cannot seem to achieve the same non-destructive result. Clipping masks do not work with adjustment layers. Groups cannot be used as clipping masks. Layer masks cannot reference a smart object.
I have a feeling there ought to be a reasonably straightforward method to achieve this, but how?
Would anyone have a suggestion how to solve this in Photoshop in a non-destructive way?

csuebele wrote:
I'm still not seeing it. Your example does not have a pixel based layer clipped to the group which is causing my problem. I hope I can explain this. See below. the layers in the group create the "mask". In this case a b&w adjustment layer was added to control how the "mask" is converted to b&w. You can see what these layers look like in the mid section top section of the image. any color showing though is from the very bottom layer, as the group has a blend if on it allowing the shadows to come through. The top image has a curve layer with no adjustment, while the bottom image has a curve layer to clip more of the shadows. You can see this change in the upper right corner of both images. The curves are allowing more of the image to be clipped in the area is masked out on layer "Layer 0 copy 1", as more of the color of the base layer is showing though. However, that b&w areas are suppose to be just the mask and you should see the b&w, just color as seen in the bottom image. However, the curves are not changing the transparency in the areas that have the layer to return the color.
I don’t get it – what good is the pixel Layer ("Layer 0 copy 2") clipped to the Group supposed to do? Don’t you want to use the Mask on an Adjustment?
Edit: Maybe this can help clarify how I suppose the issue would be approached.

Elements 9, not non-destructive?

I'm using the trial version of Photoshop Elements 9. MacOS X 10.5.8. I imported some test photos from a folder into the Organizer. I rotate the photo, and Elements rotated the actual photo! I can't undo it! I check the file on finder, and it's rotated permanently. Now I never use Elements before, but I have Lightroom. In Lightroom, everything is non-destructive. Why is it not the case with Elements? Isn't this dangerous, the fact that Elements is targeted for lay people? Any other photo organizer program like iPhoto and Picasa are all non-destructive. Am I missing something?
Oh, and I press the Auto-fix, tried to undo it, Elements gave me an error, saying it's not possible to undo. ????

For all edits, Organizer 9 creates a version of your photo.
Rotation may be an exception to this rule. In case of rotation, a new version of file may or may not get created. For rotation, it depends whether your preference "Rotate Jpegs/Tiffs" using orientation metadata" is checked or not, whether the aspect ratio of your images falls in multiples of certain image dimensions or not to meet lossless rotation.
In case of rotating a file using orientation metadata tag, the version would not be created as the rotation of files only happens through metadata and in windows browser, you would see the file unrotated unless your file is read only and a new version has to get created.
Yes, LR and organizer are different. LR does non destructive editing while Organizer creates separate version on editing.
Hope that clears a bit!
~V

Non-destructive layer mask editing?

I just finished sweetening a mult-layered texture I was creating and suddenly had a thought - I create my texture in overlaid layers so that I can endlessly tweak, and my process is non destructive, but when I create layer masks for each layer, those have to be edited destructively... so I dupe layers in case I decide I want to go back. This makes for lots of extra backup layers.
So - is there some clever way of non-destructively editing a layer mask? It sounds kinda crazy, but would be super cool if there was a feature to have nested layers just for my layer mask.

Well, you could save as alphas, but then you are still doing destructive edits and archiving them. Only now, they are removed from the layers palette, and it would be easier to forget what goes where. If I leave the copies in the layers palette and turn them off, at least I can group in folders or something - I have a clearer picture of what goes with what.

Non-destructive waveforms...

I use Garageband right now and as far as I can tell, when you change properties of a track the original waveform will not visually change. I know that this is called "non-destructive" blah, blah, blah and some people prefer it.
Here is what I would like though. I would like to be able to get visual feedback as to how an edit I have made is affecting the waveform as I have seen it done in Audacity and Pro Tools for example. Say I am doing a simple mastering job or something and I add some compression or EQ etc. to the track, I want to be able to see that change visually in the waveform.
Is that possible in LE 8?

no. as you say, the editing is non destructive, that is, by adding the compression, eq etc. you're not actually altering the underlying sound, you're just adding effects on the output, so the waveform that's generating the sound will not alter. some functions like fade in and out and reversing will change the visual waveform however
you can do some destructive editing in audacity. effectively here you would be taking the original waveform and added effects and exporting it as a new file, and hence with a different waveform

Non-destructive mirroring with stroke

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