Dragging Mask to trash can doesn't delete?

[GracieAllen]

Windows 10 Pro, lots of everything. Photoshop 22.1

I have 2 layers with a selection of part of the top layer, then create a layer mask so part of the bottom layer shows through. If I grab the mask and drag it to the trash can, the mask goes away but my "mask" - the area of the image that was masked, remains. The lower layer continues to show through.
ON THE OTHER HAND, if I select the mask, open the context menu and select "Delete Layer Mask", the mask gets deleted and my "masked" area goes back to normal...

Here's what I did, errors and all...
Create a new image 1000x1000
Fill with RED
Add empty layer. Fill with green. Green layer is now above red layer
Select the top third of the green layer - get a horizon so the RED can show through the green.
Create a layer mask. It'll be BACKWARDS and the BOTTOM of the green layer will have red showing through. Oops.
So, grab the layer mask and drag it to the trash can.
Is the RED layer STILL showing through the green one?
Undo the dragging the mask to the trash.
Select the mask, open the context menu and "Delete Layer Mask".
does the GREEN layer now look normal - no red layer showing through?

Is this something I have set wrong somewhere in 22.1 or is 22.1 doing something bizarre?

 

[Rich54]

Here are some comments. (I have Photoshop CS5, which is around 10 years old.)

• When you created your layer mask and it was "backwards", instead of deleting the mask you could have inverted it, which would have flipped the black and white areas and resulted in what you originally intended.
• I followed your steps above. When I attempt to drag the layer mask to the trash can, a window pops up asking me if I want to delete the mask or apply the mask. In Photoshop CS5, I'm forced to choose one of those options. If I choose "apply", then it alters the layer itself to make it look like it did while the mask was active. I wonder if, in your version of Photoshop, that "apply" setting is somehow the default setting.
• If I right-click on the mask and choose Delete Layer Mask, then the mask is simply deleted and no red shows through.

 

[IamSam]

Is the RED layer STILL showing through the green one?

No.

I got the same exact results as @Rich54 did.

I always right click on a layer mask and choose "delete" in order to..............well...........delete a layer mask.

Based on the results you seem to be getting, means that there is something else in play that we don't know about.
Can you please post a screen shot of your layers panel?

 

[polarwoc]

I am using PS 19.0 and like the two posts before me, I get the following dialog box:

When I select Apply, the following is the result:

If I select Delete, the mask is simply deleted and Green layer shows through as it should.

This is the behaviour that I find normal and one that I am used to for several versions of PS. It is likely Adobe has tinkered with the mask behaviour in V 22.1.
I am supposing there are options provided to alter this behaviour to follow legacy?

I am unclear about what you would like to achieve or what you expect the action to be?

 

[GracieAllen]

Yes, I COULD have inverted the mask. I was doing this for some people that are learning about layers and masks, so it was done backwards on purpose to show ways to fix it... Deleting and recreating was one.

In this case it sounds like I've turned OFF the confirmation and "Apply" is the default. Now that I know WHAT it's doing, I found a discussion from FOUR YEARS ago, talking about this "bug"...

It appears if you add a vector mask (usually by mistake), and want to delete it you have a confirmation to deal with. It must just offer delete, cancel and "don't show again". If you click "don't show again" it apparently turns OFF the confirmation for BOTH vector masks and layer masks, and the default for layer masks it to apply - at least that's what I gleaned from the long-ago discussion.

If that's correct, it seems like this should have been fixed YEARS ago... I'm going to go reset all the warning things in prefs and try it.

 

[polarwoc]

Try Edit > Preferences > General > "Reset All Warning Dialogs"

Do let us know if you now get a confirmation dialog on deleting Mask.

 

[GracieAllen]

Personally, as far as I'm concerned this is a BUG. It should work the OTHER way. Dragging to the trash means delete it. Period. Fiddling with the context menu SHOULD be the one that gets the dopey dialog popup.

Fortunately, the "fix" is pretty simple, though annoying 'cause you have to turn all the warnings back on.... Add a layer mask. Drag it to the trash. Click don't show again THEN select DELETE. Now create the layer mask again, create a second layer mask (the vector mask). Drag THAT one to the trash, tell it not to show again, Delete. Now if you drag the layer mask to the trash it apparently REMEMBERS you want to delete the mask. I have no idea if this will persist through sessions, reboots and/or updates, but at least I know WHAT happened and MAYBE have a way to prevent this particular thing from happening in the future...

thanks for the help.

 

[IamSam]

Personally, as far as I'm concerned this is a BUG.

Just to clarify for any future readers of this thread so there are no misunderstandings, when you click on, then drag and drop a layer mask onto the trash icon you will get the following dialog....



THIS IS NOT A BUG! While this may be annoying for some, this is a normal function of Ps. How the function acts after you choose "Don't Show Again" is determined by the user. It will either apply or delete the layer mask with future drag and drops.

Dragging and dropping anything to the trash icon is an antiquated practice that most users quickly abandon after learning easier and faster methods. I do understand that some users become addicted to certain operations because that's how they may have learned.

THE MORE ADVANCED AND FASTEST WAY TO DELETE A LAYER MASK is to right click the layer mask and then choose "delete". Also note the other options available in the drop down menu.



Right clicking a layer is also the more advanced and fastest way to delete layers rather than dragging and dropping.

 

[thebestcpu]

Personally, as far as I'm concerned this is a BUG. It should work the OTHER way. Dragging to the trash means delete it. Period. Fiddling with the context menu SHOULD be the one that gets the dopey dialog popup.

Fortunately, the "fix" is pretty simple, though annoying 'cause you have to turn all the warnings back on.... Add a layer mask. Drag it to the trash. Click don't show again THEN select DELETE. Now create the layer mask again, create a second layer mask (the vector mask). Drag THAT one to the trash, tell it not to show again, Delete. Now if you drag the layer mask to the trash it apparently REMEMBERS you want to delete the mask. I have no idea if this will persist through sessions, reboots and/or updates, but at least I know WHAT happened and MAYBE have a way to prevent this particular thing from happening in the future...

thanks for the help.

Hi @GracieAllen
Glad that you have the problem resolved. I have seen similar issues in other places in Photoshop and Lightroom where I makes one type of choice in such a dialog and ask for it to never be shown again and much later wonder why I am getting a certain action when the dialog no longer shows up. It can really cause a loss of time trying to figure out what happened and when I figure out that it was doing exactly as I had previously requested, it feels as if I kicked myself in the rear. The good news was I could reset the dialogs and change it to my new preference of the default action.

The bad news is that it is not permanent in all cases. If you reset Preferences in Photoshop the option dialogs will all come back.

BTW - technically speaking, the Layer Mask is deleted in either case. It is just Delete the Layer Mask or Apply the Layer Mask (Convert to the Transparency Layer along with the image pixels) and then Delete the Layer Mask. I personally prefer that I am supplied the option of which to choose each time or set the default action and bypass the dialog. It gives me the flexibility and control. Just my perspective of course.
John Wheeler

 

[GracieAllen]

IamSam, thank you for your feedback. I'm certain you have far more credence here than do I, but my OPINION stands. NOT that the confirmation EXISTS, but that the behavior is inconsistent (dragging to the trash can forces confirmation but right-clicking and dealing with a menu (the "more advanced" way) doesn't. Worse, to have canceling future confirmations when deleting a VECTOR MASK cancel the confirmation when deleting a layer mask AND for the deletion to apply the mask without warning or confirmation is, in my opinion, poor behavior and IS A PROBLEM.

As "thebestcpu" stated, inconsistent actions like this can cause a significant loss of time trying to figure out why unexpected modifications to a layer or image are occurring. Causing an unrelated action that has as IT'S DEFAULT to alter a layer without warning is a bug in MY OPINION. Clearly you, and Adobe, disagree as it was discussed in a forum at least 3 years ago and nothing appears to have been changed.

I'm currently monitoring a multi-week class of 30 new Photoshop users, whose instructor deletes layers and masks using the less evolved way of dragging them to the trash can. As did several of the photographers presenting at the recent Photoshop Summit, grabbing the mask, or layer, with their tablet stylus and dragging it to the trash can. Seemed pretty advanced to me.

In any case, I've performed the workaround and this can now go on the screw-it pile with the other niggling time-wasting pain in the neck stuff.

 

[IamSam]

@GracieAllen - I can certainly appreciate that you have your opinion, and one that you are more than entitled to. My comment was not to demean your opinion. My comment was to set the record straight for future readers that this was in fact not a bug..............even though you may believe that it is.

As I also stated above, there are many people who still use the drag and drop method since that was the way they were taught. I myself have been a guest presenter in a Ps class with our local universities graphic design program and I can assure that the drag and drop method (for deletion) is no longer being taught there, even with tablets. This is where I learned of what was termed as a "more advanced" way to manage layers and layer content. I apologize if this offends in any way as this was not my intent.

Bottom line is...............you do what is easiest and what works best for you. Perhaps a change would be in order, but the function at the center of this discussion is not a bug. This is not my opinion but a fact. I again apologize if this is offensive.

 

[thebestcpu]

......
In this case it sounds like I've turned OFF the confirmation and "Apply" is the default. Now that I know WHAT it's doing, I found a discussion from FOUR YEARS ago, talking about this "bug"...

It appears if you add a vector mask (usually by mistake), and want to delete it you have a confirmation to deal with. It must just offer delete, cancel and "don't show again". If you click "don't show again" it apparently turns OFF the confirmation for BOTH vector masks and layer masks, and the default for layer masks it to apply - at least that's what I gleaned from the long-ago discussion.

If that's correct, it seems like this should have been fixed YEARS ago... I'm going to go reset all the warning things in prefs and try it.

I just checked this out on Photoshop 2019 (version 20) and found that turning off the Vector Layer Box dialog when dragging to the trash icon was independent of turning off the Mask Layer dialog box when dragging to the trash icon. Checking of one of them did not automatically turn off the other

Maybe this problem as you described it is no longer a problem.
I actually never used the dragging to the trash for Layer Masks nor Vector Masks yet good to know it exists.
John Wheeler

 

[JeffK]

@GracieAllen - should you want to dispense with the warning box issue, you can always just hold down the ALT key (OPTION on Mac), then drag the mask to the trash.
This will delete the mask and leave the pixels intact with no warning box displayed.

As far as presenters dragging masks to the trash with no loss of pixels is most likely the result of once dragging the mask to the trash and then using the Don't Display Again checkbox and deleting only the mask. That way they can repeat the action without having to deal with the dialog box every time they delete.

Sometimes we're at the mercy of the developers and we have to adapt to their logic. If there's massive pushback from the users, they might change it on the next update.
Then again, sometimes the bugs are behaviors that we've "written" into the program ourselves.
- Jeff

 

[IamSam]

should you want to dispense with the warning box issue, you can always just hold down the ALT key (OPTION on Mac), then drag the mask to the trash.
This will delete the mask and leave the pixels intact with no warning box displayed.

Excellent! I had forgotten about this! Good call and solves the problem.

 

[thebestcpu]

Thanks @JeffK
I don't think I ever knew that shortcut.
John Wheeler

 

[JeffK]

@IamSam and @thebestcpu - I can't take full credit for this. I found it buried in a discussion about the very same issue...deleting the mask takes the hidden pixels with it.
BTW - the solution offered - aside from the shortcut - was the same offered here: Edit - Preferences - General - Reset All Warning Dialogs (or Reset Preferences on Quit).
By then it was too late - a shortcut was now embedded in my workflow.

Maybe it's not so terrible I have too much time on my hands...

- Jeff