: Turn transform selection box to selection in Photoshop - Selecting Shadow problem In a PSD i'm working with there's an image on one layer, and a shadow on another layer. Selecting the shadow

@Michele215

CTRL/CMD-G and group the two layers together.
then just select the group.

Also keep in mind, you don't always see the marching ants of a whole selection. Gradients/blurs/shadows can sometimes have ants or not, depending on zoom level.

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@Tiffany317

The problem you're running into with a Ctl-click to select the shadow layer is that the selection is proportional to the opacity of the object on the layer. A 50% opaque section will be 50% selected, the part that is 25% opaque will be 25% selected, and so on. That means that when you paste, you get a much less opaque copy! (It's just the way selection works.)


If you're trying to make copies within the same document:


Target the two layers in the Layers panel
Use Ctl-J to create copy layers

If you want to copy to a different document:


Have both documents open in Ps
Target the two layers
Select the Move (black arrow) tool
Click and drag from the canvas to the tab for the target document
When the target document appears, move the cursor into the canvas, holding down the Shift key, and release the mouse button.

To copy to a new document limiting the size to the actual layer size of the originals:


Hide all other layers than the ones you want to copy
Ctl-A to Select All
With the Move Tool (black arrow) selected, hit the up arrow button once. Selection marquee will change.
Ctl-C to copy
Ctl-N, Enter for new document (clipboard size)
Go back to original document and deselect (Ctl-D)
With the Move Tool still selected, and the two layers still targeted, click and drag from the canvas to the new document tab. Move the cursor to the canvas in the new document, hold Shift and release the mouse button.



For this last, if you're going to be doing it often, record the process as an Action.

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