Black screen in slide show preview PSE 3

[Shawna]

I created a custom slide show and when I try to preview it, all I see is a black screen! The bar moves across the bottom and I do hear the music (thanks to other posts!)--but see no pictures. Please help! It's for a 40th wedding anniversary party this weekend. Thanks.

[ATR]

Sorry that I do not have better news for you at this moment....

Have you read the Forum Thread below?:

http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10716&highlight=Black+Screen

Bayla's problem did not seem to re-occur after her computer upgrade. I do not recall seeing a follow up from MikeMike.

Except for the black screen in your slideshow preview, are you experiencing any other problems with your computer system? Is this your first Elements 3.0 slideshow? Could you offer a description of your operating system with its major specs? Are you getting any computer messages?

If no one else answers, you could try posting your question at the Adobe User to User Photoshop Elements Forum at http://www.adobe.com.

I will watch for your progress.

ATR

[ATR]

I just had an idea.

First, let us make sure that we are on the same "page"

You select photos from Organizer, hit Create, Slide Show, Custom Slide Show.
You have slides in the film strip that you can see in the film strip???
You have music in the audio bar that you can hear from the audio bar???
When you hit the play button in Preview, you have a Black Screen, but can hear the music?

This is the big question. When you are getting the Black Screen in the Preview Window and still hearing the music, do you still see the photos in the Film Strip at the bottom that is located above the audio bar?

If yes to the above, go to the hard drive location where the photos are supposed to be housed. Are they still there?

I found that one way to match the syndrome of Black Screen in Preview/music still playing/photos in film strip is if the source photos are moved or deleted from their location on the hard drive at the time of the Preview. I have not found anything else that fits so far.

Keep in mind that what you see in the Organizer Window are just thumbnails of the source photos on the hard drive. Do you remember moving the source files around in the course of preparing the slideshow?

ATR

[Shawna]

Here's answers to your questions:

1. Except for the black screen in your slideshow preview, are you experiencing any other problems with your computer system? No--everything else works great

2. Is this your first Elements 3.0 slideshow? This is my first slideshow. My husband has made others without problems. Here's how I did it: I scanned in all my old pictures, then I brought them in to the PSE Organizer, rotated, cropped, etc. I then group all of them into a collection and used that collection to create the slide show. No editing done after bringing them into the slide show.

3. Could you offer a description of your operating system with its major specs? Are you getting any computer messages? No messages, but here's the specs: Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.8 Ghz and 1.25 GB Ram Total hard drive Capacity: 223.52 GB, available 87.08 GB

We are on the same "page"! I have slides in the film strip that I can see in the film strip. I have music in the audio bar that I can hear from the audio bar. When I hit the play button in Preview, I have a Black Screen, but can hear the music. When I am getting the Black Screen in the Preview Window and still hearing the music, I still see the photos in the Film Strip at the bottom that is located above the audio bar! The photos are still on the hard drive, too.

Hopefully this will help you help me!
Thanks. Shawna

[ATR]

Shawna,

Thanks for the info.

I went back for another look. Came up with the same thing as my very last post. Even tried scanning, pictures to Collections, Create/Slide Show/Custom Slide Show. Still only way to get that Black Screen effect is to delete the originals from the hard drive just before I hit Preview.

But, this question came to mind. You are in Collections with your slides selected. You hit Create/Slide Show/Custom Slide Show. Then your Slide Show Editor Window opens for the first time, and you see your slides in the film strip. Do you see anything in the Preview Window at this time? (you have not yet hit Preview) When you open in the Slide Show Editor, that Preview Window should be showing the slide that is then highlighted in the film strip...this is even before you add music and hit the Preview button to view the entire slideshow.

Have you tried taking one or two different photos (maybe ones stored in Documents/My Pictures and trying to prepare a Custom Slide Show as a test? If you have to go to this mini test, please let me know how that turns out. I will continue to work on this.

ATR

[Shawna]

The black screen problem I was having has been resolved :) I had downloaded a trial version PSE 4 and it just came to me that maybe that was the problem. I removed that version and now my show plays perfectly! Thanks for everyone's help and sorry I am such a yahoo!
Shawna

[ATR]

Shawna,

You do not know how happy you have made me with the great news that everything is now OK.

I know you are busy, but, if and when you get a chance, could you comment on whether you think that the tryout had a "bug". Is it possible that you had more than one Photoshop Elements installed at the same time and there were conflicts? Other? The reason I am requesting feedback is because of these "black screen" problems that pop up in these Forums from time to time with no causes found or outcome posted.

Continued good luck.

ATR