Make locked objects unselectable

What features would you like to see in Pixelmator Pro?
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2018-02-02 19:24:33

(TLDR: Allow a locked layer to sit at the top of the layer order and not respond to mouse clicks, passing those clicks to layers below)

This is going to be a difficult one. What I am asking is for Pixelmator Pro to work in a way that (as far as I am aware) is differerent to every graphics package out there. So this is going to be a tough sell.

If I'm working on a complex image I have a layer that conatins a draft. I want the draft to be visible a lot of the time but I never want to select it or draw on it. What I'd like to do is float it at the top of the layer stack, semi transparent while I draw on the layers below it.

What I end up doing is having the same semi-transparent layer but instead moving it up and down the stack so that it sits below the layer I am working on at the moment. If I'm doing lots of little edits this means that I'm constantly moving this layer. This gets frustrating.

What do you guys think?
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2018-02-05 09:37:08

Not gonna lie, that does sound a little strange in terms of functionality. Obviously, with just one locked layer, it seems fine, but things would get really tricky really quickly if you have quite a few different locked layers in an image and would have to start looking for them in the layer list rather than selecting them on the canvas. I guess turning off Auto Select isn't really an option since you still want to select layers on the canvas, just not one particular layer, am I right?
User avatar

2018-02-07 12:56:44

It may well be that I work in a different way to most.
I don't think I've ever intentionally selected a locked layer from the canvas. On the other hand, I've often selected a locked background while trying to grab a small foreground object.
I tend only to lock groups from top level of the layer list so finding them again isn't an issue for me.
Then again I may be working in a different way to most.

As you said, "turning off Auto Select isn't really an option" because, yes I do still want to select objects from the canvas, but within that could be the answer. Adding a 'Select Unlocked Only' option to either the canvas right-click or in the preferences pane would allow this behaviour to optional.
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2018-11-03 01:47:31

Having all Locked layer become UNSELECTABLE would be amazing. I often overlay textures using multiply or screen (see attached screenshot for an example of a paper texture overlaying *DOZENS* of layers) and it would be SO nice to be able to edit the layers underneath without having to turn those layers on and off over and over and over again.

Even a toggle in the prefpane would be great. Or a plist command that I have to enter from the terminal. I have dreamed of this feature.

Image