Pasting Transparent Pixels

[jujumbura]

Hello,

I have been using Gimp for a lot of "tile based" images, which feature layers composed of several "tiles" pasted into those layers. However, I just recently started creating transparent tiles, and pasting them.

One of the strangest things I have run into here is that I don't seem to be able to move my selection ( Floating Layer? ) if the opacity on the source pixels is 0.25 or less. Specifically, I do not get the usual "drag box" when I hover over the transparent pixels. Instead, I get the "anchor box" ( which seems to crop the pasted area before anchoring ). I tried this on a composite image with some more transparent pixels ( 0.25 ) and some more opaque pixels ( 0.26 ), and the "drag box" appears only over the more opaque pixels.

Does anybody know why this might be happening? It could be that this is just context-sensitive cursor behavior which varies on transparency, and if so, is there another way to move the pasted selection?

Thank you much for any advice!

[ofnuts]

Make the floating selection its own layer (Layer/New layer), then move the layer, then merge down (if really necessary)

[jujumbura]

Really? Is that the only way to do this? Why are highly transparent pixels treated specially?

[ofnuts]

I get it... it's the "layer picking" rule of the Move tool. By default, the Move tool autoselects the layer to move and it does so by picking the topmost layer that is opaque under the clicking point. I have always thought that "opaque" was "opacity > 0" but as you found it is really "opacity > 25%". There is an easy fix, in the Move tool options, select "Move the active layer".