When flatten image yellowish blotch appears

[nebulaoperator]

Hello,

...so I was working on the sRGB 8bit file where model has textured suite top(blueish) Once I flatten image or merge in anyway one particular place always gets yellowish blotch that appears of the size of palm. It never happened before so I am a bit confused what is going on here. I have tried many different ways including save for web my PSD file. Blotch still persist.

[skoobey]

Re: When flatten image yellowish blotch appears

And this is why you never ever ever merge. Why would you merge all your hard work? Just use "Save as" and save it for whatever flat format you need to.

[nebulaoperator]

Re: When flatten image yellowish blotch appears

Tell me then how do you save as Jpeg for web use? The fact is you can't upload PSD, TIFF +layers on website can you? I never had a problem in my life ( apart until I nailed my saves for Jpeg)

[skoobey]

Re: When flatten image yellowish blotch appears

Use Save as?

Go through your layer stack and it'll appear, it's either a Color or a Normal blended layer.

[nebulaoperator]

Re: When flatten image yellowish blotch appears

Same thing here too.

[klev]

Re: When flatten image yellowish blotch appears

If you hit flatten, that shouldn't happen. You have an error in the way they're merged. Without seeing the psd I can't tell you where it's located, but you should be able to just hit flatten. If it's merge visible, or you are merging one by one, you can end up with errors.

[nebulaoperator]

Re: When flatten image yellowish blotch appears

I tried it many times. And every possible other way. Doing stamp on top or duplicating psd file all end up same at the end. Do you want to see my layers lay out? Should be that enough for you?

[nebulaoperator]

Re: When flatten image yellowish blotch appears

Solved it was sharpened layer. filters>unsharpen.

[klev]

Re: When flatten image yellowish blotch appears

Do you want to see my layers lay out? Should be that enough for you?

You seem to have it figured out now, but just knowing the composition wouldn't help. These things typically surface due to the order things are merged conflicting with some amount of opacity difference in an alpha channel somewhere. I still don't entirely understand from your followup where you found the problem. In my own experience it's better to structure these things in a way that mitigates the possibility of problems.

[skoobey]

Re: When flatten image yellowish blotch appears

You seem to have it figured out now, but just knowing the composition wouldn't help. These things typically surface due to the order things are merged conflicting with some amount of opacity difference in an alpha channel somewhere. I still don't entirely understand from your followup where you found the problem. In my own experience it's better to structure these things in a way that mitigates the possibility of problems.

That's what I thought. Also, be aware that if you don't flatten at once ,but in steps, these kind of problems can emerge if you affect the layer stack while flattening. This is why I said that if it looks good, just keep it as it is, and simply flatten by saving.

[klev]

Re: When flatten image yellowish blotch appears

This is why I said that if it looks good, just keep it as it is, and simply flatten by saving.

That's how I typically save out jpegs, assuming they don't need to be resized. The goal should always be to minimize errors by the way things are structured. Avoid duplicates of the same layer mask assigned to different layers. Instead use "create clipping mask" or a layer group with the mask assigned. Try to always keep a reliable background layer so as to avoid accidental partial transparency. Avoid duplicates of the same adjustment layer type unless there is a real reason you want to keep them separate. Delete explicit layer masks on any adjustment layer that should be applied over the entire image. That way you can't accidentally add some small amount of density. This isn't related to flattening issues, but label everything with a short descriptive name. These are things that I use to keep files as manageable as possible.

I think that's my list, and most of it contributes to avoiding these kinds of things.

[nebulaoperator]

Re: When flatten image yellowish blotch appears

@ klev
Thanks for advice. I am attaching screenshot to make things easier for us. Sharpened layer is marked in red. Whenever I leave this layer ON while flattening at once all layers to a single layer image yellowish blotch appears. If I turn OFF this red layer or delete it problem gets eliminated.
I have also checked all layers opacity , density feather one by one nothing unusual. All opacities at 100% so densities. I had feather on one alpha(mask) at 9 so I turned it back to 0 problem was there still the until I eliminated RED sharpened layer. Surprisingly after image was flattened I copied ctrl+J layer on top and sharpened it the same way I do all the time. NO problem whatsoever.
@skoobey What do you mean? ,, Also, be aware that if you don't flatten at once ,but in steps, these kind of problems can emerge if you affect the layer stack while flattening."
As I said I never experienced problem like this before and the reason I flatten it is my client wants flattened TIFF as final. Is there any other way to do it?

[klev]

Re: When flatten image yellowish blotch appears

Did you examine that problematic layer to see if the blotch is there? These things usually happen due to an error in a mask, a layer with some transparency not related to the layer mask (typically accidental eraser tool or previously applied mask), and a couple other reasons. If you're having trouble when that one is turned on, then look at it. Also make sure to re-open afterward. There's always the remote possibility of something being redrawn incorrectly when not at 100%. Typically that only happens with strange layer combinations, but it could happen.

[nebulaoperator]

Re: When flatten image yellowish blotch appears

I know what you mean. those little bits and pieces that causing problems time after time. RED layer is 100% opacity on. What I also did is repeated same proceeder from last layer up to RED with RED OFF and I still get same result. When looking at image zoomed in it doesn't appear so bad as soon image is zoomed back it gets even worse. I don't have time to investigate further for now at least I found ,,error,, in RED layer which is satisfactory for me now.

[AKMac]

Re: When flatten image yellowish blotch appears

I wonder if the problem might be to do with sharpening areas of the blue cloth which are in or out of focus. Where the cloth is in focus the sharpening halos which emphasise the fine highlight and shadow components of the texture may encroach on the mid-toned areas where the colour resides. If this were the case, the resulting areas might appear to take on a complementary cast i.e. yellowish.

I've attached a sample of what I mean, which is rotated to avoid moire problems.