Moving, Copying, and Pasting Selections and Layers

You can move or copy selections and layers within or between images—and also between images in other applications. Moving selections and layers within an image. The move tool lets you drag a selection or layer to a new location in the image. With the Info palette open, you can track the exact distance of the move.

To specify move tool options:

1. Select the move tool.
2. Select any of the following in the options bar:

• Auto Select Layer to select the topmost layer that has pixels under the move tool, rather than the selected layer.
• Show Bounding Box to display the bounding box around the selected item.
• If multiple items are selected, you can choose one of the alignment options.

To copy a selection:

1. Select the area you want to copy.
2. Choose Edit > Copy or Edit > Copy Merged

To copy a selection while dragging:

1. Select the move tool, or hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) to activate the move tool.
2. Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS), and drag the selection you want to copy and move. When copying between images, drag the selection from the active image window into the destination image window. If nothing is selected, the entire active layer is copied. As you drag the selection over another image window, a border highlights the window if you can drop the selection into it.

To create multiple copies of a selection within an image:

1. Select the move tool, or hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) to activate the move tool.
2. Copy the selection:

• Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS), and drag the selection.
• To copy the selection and offset the duplicate by 1 pixel, hold down Alt or Option, and press an arrow key.
• To copy the selection and offset the duplicate by 10 pixels, press Alt+Shift (Windows) or Option+Shift (Mac OS), and press an arrow key. As long as you hold down Alt or Option, each press of an arrow key creates a copy of the selection and offsets it by the specified distance from the last duplicate.

To paste one selection into another:

1. Cut or copy the part of the image you want to paste.
2. Select the part of the image into which you want to paste the selection. The source selection and the destination selection can be in the same image or in two different Photoshop images.
3. Choose Edit > Paste Into. The contents of the source selection appear masked by the destination selection.