Is There a Way to Repeat a Copied Selection in PS 6? 3

[bsquared18]

Often, I will have a segment of an image that I want to copy and paste several times, using Photoshop, to fill in an area elsewhere on the main image. Let's say, for example, that I have some buildings in the background and would like to duplicate them several times to fill in background elsewhere on the main image.

The way I've been doing it is to select an area, copy it, and then paste it repeatedly. After each paste, I move the image (which of course is in its own layer) to fill in part of the desired space. I repeat using "Paste" to duplicate the image portion as many times as necessary to fill in the desired area.

This method works but can be very time consuming. Is there a way in PS 6 (or later versions if not that version) where you can select an area of the "background" image, copy it, and then paste it into a newly selected area so that the image is automatically repeated as often as necessary to fill the newly selected area?

Hope my question is clear enough. If not, let me know, and I'll try to clarify.

Thanks!
Bill

 

[kaht]

This doesn't paste the area in a new layer, but you can hold ctrl+alt and use the arrow keys to copy a selected area into the selected layer.

-kaht

http://www.silkypups.com

[small](All puppies have now found loving homes, thanks for all who showed interest)[/small]

 

[bsquared18]

Thanks, Kaht. It wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, but pretty close.

Bill

 

[jmgalvin]

Based on what you described, here's somthing that might be handy.

Paste your selection into a new blank layer. Then duplicatie that layer (layers window) as many time as you wish. Use the move tool to move around your objects on the various layers until you get them where you want them.



Using OSX 10.3.9 on a G4

 

[mscallisto]

Nice post jmgalvin have a star

sometimes the obvious is out of sight under the next layer!

sam

 

[bsquared18]

Yes, and I forgot to leave a star for you, Kaht, so I remedied that omission.

It seems to me that the advantage of your method, Sam, is that each paste is in its own layer, which helps with editing.

Bill

 

[mscallisto]

Correct...but that was jmgalvin's post

 

[bsquared18]

Oops. Haste makes waist...er, waste.

Bill

 

[kiddpete]

First, be sure the selection is on its own layer. You can use copy/paste or Layer->New->Copy to do this. Then drag that layer down to the new layer icon to create a copy as many times as you wish.

 

[btraweek]

I suspect the original poster was hoping to avoid the manual labor involved with repositioning each copied segment. An example of where this can get really tedious really quickly is when creating vertically-repeating web graphic elements that are tall enough to handle tall page sizes. In this case you can frequently get away with defining a pattern (Edit --> Define Pattern). Next, create a new layer and use the paint bucket to fill it entirely in white (or whatever color, it doesn't matter). Finally, open the blending options for that layer, and enable Pattern Overlay --> then choose the newly-defined pattern that you created earlier. When creating a huge 3500-pixel tall web background texture such as this one, this little trick can save literally a half hour of manual positioning:

Sample texture

-Brad

 

[bsquared18]

Brad (btraweek), Yes, your suspicion is correct; that was my goal, and your solution looks like it may work, but I need some additional instruction:

You said, "Finally, open the blending options for that layer, and enable Pattern Overlay --> then choose the newly-defined pattern that you created earlier."

I opened the blending options for the new layer by double clicking on the layer listing in the "Layers" window. After doing that, I couldn't find a "Pattern Overlay" option, but I found an "Overlay" option on the "Blend Mode" list. But when I chose that option, it simply showed whatever was on the original layer under the new layer that I had created. I didn't see any way to "choose the newly-defined pattern."

I'm working in Photoshop 6; could that be the problem?

Any additional help you can give will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Bill

 

[btraweek]

Layer > Layer Style > Pattern Overlay. This option exists even in 6.

 

[bsquared18]

Got it! Great!

It's especially useful because you can define an irregular area that has the pattern, while leaving the rest of the layer untouched. And you can use tools like paintbrush to enlarge the pattern as needed.

Thanks!
Bill