A little while ago Adobe introduced a new feature that many users really didn’t like (myself included).
They added a small badge in the right-bottom corner of the thumbnails shown in the Layer panel for layer masks and vector masks (see Figure 1).
Fig 1 - Layer / Vector mask badges
These were designed to enable you to quickly tell whether the thumbnail represented a normal layer mask or a vector mask. However, the icons were so similar, especially when viewed so small, that many people thought they just got in the way and obscured the bottom corner of the thumbnail.
Initially there was no way to remove these badges but in the latest versions of Photoshop they have made the badges optional. They can be turned on or off using the “Show layer mask badges” check box in the Layer Panel Options screen, accessed from the flyout menu in the Layer panel (see Figure 2).
Fig 2 - Layer Panel options
In the latest versions of Photoshop I believe that by default the badges are not displayed (at least that was the case for me), so if you are someone that liked them, now you know where to turn them back on, if yours are still there and you don’t like them, make sure you have the latest Photoshop version, and go turn them off.
Another item found in the same dialog box, that may be of interest, is the Thumbnail Contents option. This can be set to either Layer Bounds or Entire Document.
When set to Entire Document every thumbnail takes the shape of your document and the contents of the layer can be seen in their position on the canvas.
When set to Layer Bounds each thumbnail only shows the actual contents of that layer and you see a “larger” version of the contents if they are smaller than the whole layer. This can be helpful when you have very small elements on the layers and make them easier to see and to recognise.
Figure 3 shows examples of what the Layer panel might look like with each option.
Of course, you can switch between the options whenever you like.
Fig 3 - Thumbnail Contents
This article was first published in the February 2024 issue of Artists Down Under magazine.