PS CS5: The Undo/Layer Dance

killnpc · Dec 2010

Know what I'm taking about? It goes like this:

1. Work on layer 200.
2. Move to layer 1 to work.
3. Make a mistake and 'Undo'.
4. Try again
5. Realize you're working on layer 200. /facepalm
6. 'Undo'
7. Go to step 2.

I find this mildly annoying.

Is there a way to disable this Photoshop "feature"?

thx,
-kp

MoP · Dec 2010

Not as far as I know. That behaviour has been in since forever. I wonder if you could script/action around it... it is very annoying

fearian · Dec 2010

When this happens to me, I make a mark and erase it to give myself some undo command breathing room. Such an annoying 'feature'.

Mark Dygert · Dec 2010

Yep, and we had an Adobe rep on the boards not that long ago and he explained that if they change that behavior then it upsets a larger group of photo editing people so they leave it as is.

At the time I found the answer absurd. Why not provide people with a toggle so if they like their layers switching around when they undo they can leave it that way, if not they can have it functional for them. But no we get pins animation tools and flash BS that don't belong in photoshop.

I'm still waiting for them to bind incremental opacity to keys (like [] for brush size) so I can use the touch strips on my tablet, like I wanted to do back in 1995...

PolyHertz · Dec 2010

Did anything really come of the talks with that Rep after all? I haven't used cs5, but from what I've heard it didn't sound like any features that were requested got implemented.

Yozora · Dec 2010

mildly annoying? This is extremely annoying

But the good thing is it has taught me to collapse layers more often or put "completed" things into minimized groups just to avoid scrolling as much as possible for when this happens.
So it has made me more tidy, yay.

haikai · Dec 2010

Are you guys using the actual Undo or Step Backward (in History)? Undo actually doesn't change the layer for me, but Step Backward does (in CS3). Unfortunately, I prefer to rely on Step Backward because I can go back multiple steps more easily.

This "feature" is useful for making Actions that need to know what layer is active and stuff like that... but yea, it's been mostly an annoyance, and it seems like someone over at Adobe could figure out a way around this during their lunch break if they really wanted to.

Vrav · Dec 2010

fearian wrote: »

When this happens to me, I make a mark and erase it to give myself some undo command breathing room. Such an annoying 'feature'.

I do this too! Sometimes. Kind of an annoying thing to have to work around.

pior · Dec 2010

Yeah that history think bites me in the ass every day. I think its absurd to not implement a feature just because it would annoy a large group. No one asks for the removal of the original - all we want is a tick box option.

Which is *exactly* what they did with the current vs legacy brightness/contrast window. Come on Ha Do bee!

StefanH · Dec 2010

i got used to it.. what i do ALL THE TIME is ctrl+a followed by ctrl+d on the layer i want to work at then i do my changes. That way undo is not changing the layer!

i agree its very annoying...

Bal · Dec 2010

Yeah I hate this too, in the earlier versions of Photoshop it didn't switch layers, was so much better.

fearian, you don't need to make a mark really, you can just give a quick eraser stroke in an empty area and that works just as well (it's what I do, still super annoying). What would be needed is a little script that does a bogus history action each time you switch layer, not sure if that would be possible though.

Farfarer · Dec 2010

Yep, this pisses me off, too. Gets me every time and when I realise it's invariably too late to fix it.

I think we asked for a tickbox option way back when the rep was asking us what new stuff we'd like to see in PS but it doens't seem anything's come of it.

This thread (in case anyone wants a browse);
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62582

doc rob · Dec 2010

Not a fix, but this bug has taught me to scribble a bit outside of the canvas (in the dead area) before doing my brushstrokes in the canvas area. PS considers those strokes outside the canvas as history states, so it won't switch to the other layer when you step backward.

sinistergfx · Dec 2010

Here's a quick hack job script http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3580711/StepBackwardSmart.jsx

All it does is store the current active layer, do a step backward, then restore the old active layer.

It doesn't seem like there's a standard script function for Step Backward, so I had to use the script recorder. I'm not totally sure this will work on all versions of PS, as I was only able to test in CS5. You'll get an error if you use it to step back through creating a new layer.[EDIT: This error should now be fixed]

Record an action of you executing the script for hotkeyability.
[EDIT: You can also assign whatever hotkey you like to the script through the Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts interface, even replacing the Step Backward shortcut. This is only available in PS CS4 and above (I think).]

I'll do some investigation to see if this can be done more elegantly, but give this a try for now.

Mark Dygert · Dec 2010

Fuck yea...

I

you Will Fuller.

killnpc · Dec 2010

sinistergfx: thx, I'll give this a try sometime tonight.

Eric Chadwick · Dec 2010

Added here, thanks Will!
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/PhotoshopTools

If you know of other cool tools, lemme know, always on the prowl...

Bal · Dec 2010

sinistergfx, cool, is there a way to replace ctrl-z with it though? I can only assign (ctrl/shift+)Function key shortcuts to photoshop actions, and I can't seem to get the script to appear in the script list (have to browse to it to run it).

sinistergfx · Dec 2010

For the script to show up in the script list, you have to put it in the Program Files\[photoshop folder]\Presets\Scripts folder.

Actually, yeah you can also assign whatever hotkey you like to the script through the Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts interface, even replacing the Step Backward shortcut. This is only available in PS CS4 and above (I think).

Bal · Dec 2010

Right, had it in the wrong scripts folder, works fine now with ctrl-z, thanks!

Mark Dygert · Dec 2010

Yep works fine for me in CS4 and 5. It threw up an error when I ran it in CS3.

Error 8800: General Photoshop error occurred. This functionality may not be available in this version of Photoshop.
-The object "layer6 of document 40" is not currently available.
Line: 15
-> docref,activeLayer = saveLayer

I doubt there is much anyone can do about it except run it on CS4 and higher.

Thanks for the script, works like a dream!

sinistergfx · Dec 2010

Updated the script to catch some errors, should be "safer" to replace your original Step Backward hotkey now.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3580711/StepBackwardSmart.jsx

Mark: That's actually the error you would get if you undid the creation of a layer. This should be fixed now, give it a try again.

Farfarer · Dec 2010

Fantastic, nice work Will

Mark Dygert · Dec 2010

Oh yea hahaha /facepalm
I should probably do more to test it than open file create layers and run script... duh...

Works fine in CS3!

Yozora · Dec 2010

thank you very much for fixing one of the many annoyances I have gotten used to!

Been using it for a few hours and I don't notice any problems so far.

killnpc · Dec 2010

Thanks sinistergfx!

I also get an error message when undoing "create new layer". (CS5)
If this could be removed, it'd be primo.

kary · Dec 2010

Very nice, thanks.

sinistergfx · Dec 2010

killnpc: Did you grab the updated version? That should be fixed now.

killnpc · Dec 2010

It works! User error.

I think I dropped the newer version you made into my 86x version scripts folder rather than the 64 bit folder. I keep doing that. Fucking future computers. "Of course there are two version of the same program lulz, have fun!"

Thanks again for the script!

airbrush · Dec 2010

...hmm..doesn't work for me in CS3, although i have a colleague running CS3 and it works fine....strange

error:

Error -34: Execution halted.
Line: 6
-> var docRef = app.activeDocument

sinistergfx · Dec 2010

Do you not have a document open/active? o_O

mayaman · Dec 2010

that behaviour made me smash my head on the wall lots of times...

airbrush · Dec 2010

sinistergfx wrote: »

Do you not have a document open/active? o_O

Yes, painting on a new doc with multiple layers.

sinistergfx · Dec 2010

I really have no idea. That's a really odd place for it to error out and the fact that it works on the same version on another computer. Also, I can only test on CS5.

Are you having issues running any other scripts?

Mark Dygert · Dec 2010

Yea I would chalk it up to something wacky on your system rather than something wonky with the script, it seems pretty simple if you look at it... genius but simple.

Thanks for the script its running great in CS3 and CS4 for a few days now. I passed it onto a few friends (credit to you of course) and they love it.

airbrush · Dec 2010

Mark Dygert wrote: »

Yea I would chalk it up to something wacky on your system rather than something wonky with the script, it seems pretty simple if you look at it... genius but simple.

Thanks for the script its running great in CS3 and CS4 for a few days now. I passed it onto a few friends (credit to you of course) and they love it.

Yup, probably something on the system...no idea

Jeff Parrott · Dec 2010

Will you are the man as always!

EVIL · Dec 2010

You know I never really noticed it, since I usually paint in one layer at a time and don't jump around allot. but I now see what the deal is about.

TsunamiZ · Jan 2011

[delete post]

TsunamiZ · Jan 2011

btw, if you want adobe to officially fix this problem, show your support and help request for this fix in the adobe forums topic linked below...

Make "step backward" command maintain current layer selection (like the "undo" command's behavior)...
http://forums.adobe.com/message/3395997#3395997

malcolm · Mar 2011

This script works fine in CS4 if a I run it through the scripts menu but when I assign it to a hotkey it brings up some java debugger thing, I'm not planning to use it assigned to an F key kind of defeats the purpose of the script. Any help?

airbrush · Mar 2011

airbrush wrote: »

...hmm..doesn't work for me in CS3, although i have a colleague running CS3 and it works fine....strange

error:

Error -34: Execution halted.
Line: 6
-> var docRef = app.activeDocument

Okay I was playing around with another script today and noticed the stepbackward script in my file menu/scripts...totally forgot about this due to the previous error.

So I select it from the menu and it works fine, but if I assign it to a keyboard shortcut that's when the error comes up...

PixelApocalypse · Feb 2012

Hi i'm very new to scripts. Never used it actually. I get how to assign it with an action now. But this only allows the f2-f12 keys. Is there a way to have the script bound to ctrl z?

nordahl154 · Feb 2012

When that happens I just paint a bunch of strokes (or whatever you're doing) outside of the canvas on the layer I want to work on, to use those as a buffer.

Chai · Mar 2012

this is awesome, works fine in CS3, thanks !

lysaara · Mar 2012

PixelApocalypse: Use the Keyboard Shortcuts panel(Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts...) - once you've installed your script in the right folder(something like C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS5\Presets\Scripts) it will appear in your File > Scripts menu, so in the Keyboard Shortcuts panel choose Application Menus and it'll be in there.

This is a super handy script and works fine for me, thanks!

raul · Apr 2012

Thank you!!!!!!

calbar · Nov 2012

Hey y'all, just stumbled on this. Works like a charm on my Mac in CS4! Thanks a MILLION Will, as that's probably the number of times I've had to deal with this annoyance!

**For anyone having issues running this script via keyboard shortcuts!**
Try using a shortcut that doesn't include the Alt/Option key, as this runs scripts in debug mode when held.

For example, my shortcut was going to be Control+Option+Command+Z, but I changed it to Control+Shift+Command+Z and everything works great.

Good luck!

yannick1976 · Nov 2013

Hello all ! Thanks for that simple and nice hack !
But am I the only one whose display flickers (showing briefly the same checkers PS uses to show transparency) when the script is called ? I'm using CS6.
That is inconvenient, especially I can't easily see what I'm un-doing !!

The flicker doesn't appear if history/back is not called from a script, so I could get around the problem with a 1st class hack :
- I mapped History/Back to a shortcut (Ctrl+Q)
- I created (well adapted actually) a C++ program that simulates a Ctrl+Q keystroke
- I replaced "executeAction" in Will's script by a call to that program.

It works but it's really messy... any ideas ??

jodzeee · Dec 2013

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

DirkJan · Mar 2014

Thanks. I was searching for this for so long haha.

PS CS5: The Undo/Layer Dance

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