On 27 day trial...help!!!

[NancyG]

I have been using Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Designer and also have Paint Shop Pro 7. I downloaded the new Photoshop Elements 4 to see which one I want to upgrade to.
I am having trouble, I read and printed out tutorials...and am ready to give up! Everything comes in as a background, I unchecked the top box for detecting layers according to instructions but only one layer at a time shows on the right hand side. I can't understand what I am doing wrong! With psp7, even though it doesn't show you the pic, it does show each layer. I have put all pics in new layers but they still don't show up as separate layers on the right side, just in the bin...any advice?

[CVaz]

Hi Nancy,

If you are talking about when you open a picture in PSE4 it won't let you do anything. Try double clicking the padlock that is on the layer. This will onlock it and make it a layer. I hope that helps if that is what you meant. I know I had trouble with that in the beginning. I am still beginning ;)

Welcome!

[Wendy]

Hi Nancy ...

... and welcome to the forum :)

When you open any image in Elements there is just the one layer ... if you want others in there then you have to add them. If you want to add image A into image B just do this:

Open up Image A
Do Select>All (from the menus at the top of the screen)
then Edit>Copy

Now open up image B
and do Edit>Paste

... its as easy as that :)

Click on Learning Centre at the top of this page and then scroll down the screen, down at the bottom you will see Layers Part 1. That should help you :)

There is a learning curve to Elements but don't worry about it we will all help you ...

Wendy

[NancyG]

when i open a photo file it always comes in as a background...do i make a new layer first and then bring in a photo? I have been using open command to open them. I am used to just "add" command in my old program and then go to which pic and folder i want. Is open the right command? All my pics are on my external drive. Also when I try to bring in a background that is 12 x 12, my old program autosized it to the 8.5 x 11 size for me...how do I use an existing 12 x 12 in the smaller size? I have it as a separate layer....

[NancyG]

lol..i did watch the video...but can't figure out how to combine things for scrapbooking..duh :(

[kimi_boo]

not sure how much of this I can help with....

When you open a new image it will always be a background image. Ctrl J makes a copy

Ctrl O will bring up your images to open.

If you need to resize and image. Ctrl T. Hold the shift key to keep your proportions correct. Otherwise use the corner arrows to resize.

If you need to see the entire image to resize. Ctrl 0 (zero)

If you open a new image that you want to bring into your work. Hold Ctrl and drag into you image. It will make it's own layer.

Try and keep everything on a separate layer so if you want to make changes later.

Ask for help when you get lost! :D

[NancyG]

hmmmm...worked with it for about 2 hours..., got the pics in but not the background...think I will use the old psp7 to make papers, frames and retouch photos and then just use my scrapbook designer to put it all together...this is all too complicated and $$$$$. Will try again Sunday when my friend who uses version 3 comes over and explains it...or maybe it will come to me in my sleep!!:D

[seebee]

Hopefully your friend will be able to give you some pointers; lots of times it really helps being able to see what's going on, as opposed to reading instructions. Good luck! :)

But in the meantime, here's some more stuff you might try. As for the resizing of your paper, how about using the crop tool? (You can hit c for the shortcut to the crop tool.) After it's activated, type "8.5 in" for the width and "11 in" for the height, with a resolution of "300" pixels/inch. (Don't use the quotation marks, though. :)) Have your background paper open. Then, drag out from one corner of the paper diagonally to the opposite corner and hit the checkbox. You will lose some of the sides of your 12 x 12 paper this way, but unless you want to resize without keeping the proportions (which could cause distortion), this is an easy option.

Then, I would use the "tile windows" button to have all your pictures plus background paper visible on the desktop at once. (The tile windows button is that little icon of four squares in the upper right corner, next to the help search box...at least that's where it is in v.4.) Don't worry about unlocking any layers. Once your pictures & backround paper all appear onscreen, just drag & drop the pictures onto the paper in the main section/workspace. You will still see your pictures by themselves in the main section and in the photo bin, but if you look at your background paper, you should now see pictures on top of the paper. They will also appear in the layer palette of your background paper, probably listed as "layer 1", "layer 2", etc.

[NancyG]

thanks for all your help! I appreciate it but have solved the problem...took the program off the computer and will upgrade my paint shop pro! I did more in 10 minutes with that one than 2 hours with the other so I am admitting defeat or senior moments...just don't want to relearn a new program! The one thing i hated in version 7 has been redone in 10, which is showing pics of the layers... Thanks again....