: Photoshop: How to duplicate layer and move it into other specific group? How can I duplicate a layer which is located in a group (folder) and easily move it into other specific group so I

@Carla748

There’s no way to copy and paste layers, unfortunately. There are some shortcuts that might help though.


⌘J = Duplicate the currently selected layers or groups.
⇧⌘] = Bring the currently to the front (top of the layer stack).
⇧⌘[ = Send the currently to the back (bottom of the layer stack).


Collapse All Groups in the layers panel menu can also be handy. You can set a keyboard shortcut for it under Edit → Keyboard Shortcuts. I’ve set mine to ⌃⌘.



This means you can use these steps to quickly duplicate something and move it to the top of the layer stack, then collapse all groups.


⌘J to duplicate.
⇧⌘] to move the duplicated layer(s) to the top.
⌃⌘ to collapse all groups.


You can now drag the freshly duplicated layer(s) to their new home a bit easier. These steps could all be combined into a single action, which can then be triggered from a shortcut.

I’ve just made that action, so I can try it out myself, and see if it makes things quicker. It’s just the three steps mentioned above.



If you’d like the action, but don’t know how to make it yourself, I can provide the file for you.

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@Nimeshi706

If I understand your question then I think you can achieve what you are looking for by using copy and paste:


For simple layer contents, you can Select All (command-a) and Copy (command-c) the layer that you want to duplicate from, then create a new layer in the group that you want to move the content to and Paste in Place (command-shift-v). This will place the layer content in the same place as it was on the source layer.
If the layer is more complex (i.e. if it's got layer styles applied to it) then you can first use the 'Convert to Smart Object' option from the Layers palette to combine the layer into a smart object and then proceed as above.


Pretty quick and easy, especially once your fingers learn the shortcuts. Hope that helps.

If you're on Windows rather than Mac, just replace command with control in each instance.

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