How do I copy a layer with its applied effects?

Question

How do I copy a layer in Photoshop in the traditional method of selecting an area and CtrlC while maintaining the layer and it's applied effects?

I don't want to drag and drop the layer; I prefer the way File → New will set the size of the new canvas to the size of the selected area.

Answer 1

Right-click/Control-click the layer (or group) you wish to duplicate.

Chose Duplicate Layer/Group...

Select New from the Document drop down and hit OK.

Choose Image -> Trim, tick the Transparent Areas option and hit OK.

One important aspect to be aware of is Global Lighting. If your layer styles are using something other than the default for Global Lighting, they may be reset to the Global Light default when doing the above. You may find it necessary to choose Layer > Layer Style > Global Light... and set that to the correct degree after creating the new document.

Answer 2

1. Select and CtrlC
2. Create a new document
3. Paste in the new document -- your partial layer appears without layer effects
4. Go back to the original document
5. Grab the fx icon from the layers panel and drag it into the new document's window

This will apply the original effects to the copied layer part.

Answer 3

The instructions are still valid, but you must have a background layer visible when making the selection because pressing CTRL C to copy will create a clipboard object that will crop itself to the size of the pixels within the selected area. Therefore, if the selected area has transparencies to the left and right of the image, it will crop away transparencies up to the first pixels encountered along the x and y axes.

Thanks to Scott for clarification on that.

1. Select the area you want the canvas size to be and press SHIFT CTRL C to copy merged. Ensure you have a background visible.

2. Create a new document with the size of the Clipboard image you've just created. It should automatically set the width and height to be the size of the clipboard object.

3. Go back to the original file and select the layer/s you want, select multiple layers by holding CTRL. Right click one of the layers and select Duplicate Layers from the menu that appears.

4. Select the new document you just created from the drop down list and press ok.

This way is slightly faster and more useful with multiple layers. When the layers are duplicated they will carry all of their styles and effects with them.

Answer 4

If this is something you do often, I think it would be best to create an action for this.

But basically, what you'll want to do is select the area from a layer that you wish to copy over, like you normally do. (Note: if you don't want a piece of the layer, but rather the entire layer just follow Scott's method)

Now right-click and say Layer via Copy, now follow Scott's method

Right-click/Control-click the layer (or group) you wish to duplicate.

Chose Duplicate Layer/Group...

Select New from the Document drop down and hit OK.

Choose Image -> Trim, tick the Transparent Areas option and hit OK

Something to keep in mind is that the layer effects may change the visual appearance of whatever you just copied because the shape is no longer the same. This is most apparent with say, a gradient overlay.

For convenience's sake, I've created the action for you. Just import the action and then after you make a selection you should be able to hit F12 and the action should run and do the rest for you.