merge visible problems.

[Colin Walls]

When you say "greyed out eyeballs", do you mean a grey square where the eyeball was before you hid that layer?

If not, please explain further.

Otherwise, Merge Visible should do just that. For example, if I create 3 layers and paint a blue blob on one, green on the next and red on the next, I can see all 3 blobs. If I click on the "eye" of the green layer, it disappears. If I now click Merge Visible, I get a visible layer with just blue and red on the bottom and a hidden layer with green on top.

If I insert an adjustment layer and hide it and Merge Visible, its effect does not show in the merged layer.

Am I missing something?

[Mark Reynolds]

Hes probably using layer sets - thats where the grey eyes come from

Dougleax - layer merging can sometimes produce different results from what you might first expect. Escpecially if some of the layers are embedded within sets

Another way is to LINK the layers you want to merge and then choose "merge linked" this may sort out your problem

[dougleax]

Example:
1. create three layers with different blobs.
2. top layer, add an adjustment layer, anything, then group it to the top blob.
3. turn off top layer that is grouped.
4. the adjustment layer eye gets greyed.
5. select background
6. merge visible
7. the top layer is still there but, the grouped adjustment layer is gone.

I like the idea of linkeng then merge linked.

[Eric Purkalitis]

I've noticed that merge linked and merge visible seem different in PS7 too. I've found that if an adjustment layer has it's visibility turned off, I often can't merge layers. Grouped layers sometimes cause problems too.

So far I haven't actually needed to figure out what's changed in version 7. I'm sure theres an explanation somewhere.