Pressing delete key on selection removes entire layer

Is something not working like it should? Let us know.
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2019-01-09 15:08:59

I have made a selection on a multi-layer image and when I press delete it deletes the entire layer instead of just the selection.

I found this section of the docs:
https://www.pixelmator.com/tutorials/co ... elections/

For whatever reason "cut and paste as layer" is greyed out and there is no Clear option under the Edit menu. If I hit Edit -> Delete it also removes the layer.

A screenshot for assistance:

Image
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2019-01-09 15:39:21

Hey Mathew, there are two things potentially going on here. One, that appears to be a RAW layer, which is a special kind of layer that contains additional color information and is not a simple collection of pixels (like a JPEG image would be). For that reason, parts of it cannot be simply erased (it's not impossible from a technical standpoint, but for now, this is the way things work in Pixelmator Pro). Another thing, the layer looks to be locked, which prevents from editing it on the canvas. Deleting a selected area is an edit on the canvas. Locked layers can be freely rearranged, deleted, grouped, etc. in the Layers sidebar, which is what the Delete shortcut appears to be defaulting to now that a canvas edit is not possible. It might make sense to disable that shortcut while a selection is active to avoid confusion, though, so we'll think about this.

In any case, all of the above actually is no obstacle to what you're trying to achieve as you can simply create a mask from your selection. You'll need to Control-click the selected layer in the Layers sidebar and choose Add Mask. This is basically the same as deleting the area and has the added benefit of being a nondestructive action. :ok_hand:
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2019-01-09 15:47:55

Super helpful information, adding a mask worked perfectly and I tried locking it to prevent the layer from being removed, so that's new information too.

Thanks for the quick and very informative response!
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2019-01-09 20:21:43

by Mathew Robinson 2019-01-09 15:47:55 Super helpful information, adding a mask worked perfectly and I tried locking it to prevent the layer from being removed, so that's new information too.

Thanks for the quick and very informative response!
Glad to be of assistance!