photoshop-layers

photoshop-layers

Layer management skill for Adobe Photoshop. Provides complete CRUD operations on document layers plus visual property changes (opacity, blend mode, fill).

Tools

• create_layer — Create pixel / group layer
• delete_layer — Delete a layer by name
• duplicate_layer — Duplicate a layer
• rename_layer — Rename a layer
• set_layer_opacity — Change opacity 0-100
• set_layer_visibility — Show / hide
• set_layer_blend_mode — Change blend mode
• fill_layer — Fill with solid color
• verify_layer_batch — Report layers that contribute nothing to the composite

Silent no-ops

A layer write can succeed while being mathematically invisible. overlay over a solid white backdrop evaluates to exactly white again, so the layer disappears from the composite even though every layer property reports the value that was requested. Opacity 0, a hidden layer, and a fully masked-out layer behave the same way.

None of these raise an error, so a batch run can produce a document that looks correct and is missing content. Two entry points make the no-op measurable rather than silent:

• set_layer_blend_mode and set_layer_opacity accept verify (default true). They then return an effect block with no_op, max_delta and a human-readable reason. Pass verify: false to skip the read-back.
• verify_layer_batch checks a whole batch in one call and returns no_op_layers. Use it after a batch of writes instead of verifying one layer at a time.

The probe samples the composite inside each layer's bounds, hides the layer, samples again, and restores visibility — so it measures what the document actually looks like, not what the layer properties claim.

verify_layer_batch toggles visibility while it runs, so it is not a read-only tool.

Reading the report

no_op is tri-state, and only true means "measured and invisible":

no_op	meaning
true	measured: the layer changes nothing (ok), or it is hidden / zero-area
false	measured: the layer does change the composite
null	unknown — the probe could not measure this layer, so nothing is claimed

A null never reaches no_op_layers. The report separates the outcomes so an unsampleable layer is never mistaken for a clean one:

• no_op_layers — measured, contributes nothing. Safe to act on.
• inconclusive_layers — status is unsupported, error, missing or no_bounds. Coverage gap, not a pass.
• unrestored_layers — the probe could not show these layers again; check them before continuing.

Each per-layer report also carries visibility_restored. If restoring visibility fails, the layer is reported as status: "error" with visibility_restored: false rather than a normal verdict — a layer silently left hidden is the one side effect this probe can leave behind.

Layer groups are walked into, so layers nested inside a group are covered by the default scan rather than reported as missing.