Trouble with palette well

[gearhead]

This is my first real experience with Elements. Got it for Christmas, and I'm all fired up to dig into it. Today I started the tutorial from lynda.com for Elements, and about ten seconds into it I've become totally confused.

The video is showing a layout for Elements that doesn't look like mine. There is a shortcuts bar at the top that has something the guy keeps referring to as a palette well, and he's doing all these nifty manipulations with dragging stuff in and out of it.

I don't have a palette well showing. The instruction manual doesn't mention one, and the help feature on the software seems to be exactly like the written manual, so I'm already completely lost. I don't know if this is because the video is done on a PC and I have a Mac or what, but I'm very confused.

On the right side of my screen there are the How-Tos (which don't work, apparently), Styles and Effects, and Layers. That's all I got.

Can anyone help me here? I suppose it's important to note that I'm using 4.0 on a Mac platform.
Thanks.

[Diana]

Hi,

The palette well must be what I've always heard called the palette bin, and if you see your layers palette and styles & effects palette on the right side of your screen, you have the palette bin open.

What may be happening is the videos you are watching may have been recorded in the newest version 6.0, which looks quite different than the previous versions. In fact, if the interface of the version in the video is dark charcoal color, rather than the lighter gray colors, it is version 6.0. The palettes and toolbars, I believe, are laid out quite differently than the previous versions. I use version 5.0 so I can't tell you exactly how 6.0 is laid out.

Edit:
I found a screenshot of version 6.0...Here's a screenshot:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Adobe_Photoshop_Elements_6.png

Diana

[gearhead]

Diana,

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, the tutorial does not specify either what platform or what version it is teaching from, making things a little difficult. I've seen examples of V6 backgrounds, and I'm pretty sure that's not what's going on, but regardless, there are a lot of little variations between what I'm seeing on the tutorial, and what my own screen looks like. I think that the video is using a PC platform. I've kind of moved past the whole issue with palettes, seeing as how the instructions with my software don't make them look any different than what I've got, so it doesnt' appear there's much I can do about that. It's just annoying. I've watched another session, and there are several more variations (like the location of the 'link' icon for linking two layers), but those details I've been able to work out just fine.

I'm kind of wishing I knew how to make a screen print and post it here. I suppose that would help.

I guess I'm on the right track, but this is kind of bugging me all the same. I have managed to take some palettes and place them in the bin from the Window menu at the top, and then remove them again, so at least I have a handle on how its done on my end. The version I'm watching shows them arranged in a little window in the tools bar immediately above the palette bin and they look like file folder tabs that you can just drag down into the palette bin. The tab window is referred to as the Palette Well in the video. Ya got me there.

[GaryK]

Hi

I wonder if you are watching a full blown photshop tutorial.
Which one is it at lynda? If you are using 6 then some of the stuff has been moved around and renamed.
I don't recall a pallet well in any version. I'm not saying there isn't I just don't remember calling anything that.:rolleyes:

[gearhead]

Gary,

I wondered if they were using the full version in their examples as well. The series I'm watching is entitled "Learning Photoshop Elements." I wonder if they didnt' just use the same tutorial for both versions of the software. I'm using 4, but this tutorial doesn't specify that it's for any particular version.

For instance, when they're showing you how to go to Preferences, they say to go to Edit in the menu bar and then it will be under that. Well, I knew before I even went back to double-check that Preferences aren't under Edit, they're under Photoshop Elements. That's why I'm thinking the video is of a PC versus my Mac software.

[GaryK]

I'll have a quick peek and see if I can figure it out.

There is one big difference in the Mac software and that is it does not have the organizer. You would either use iPhoto or bridge.

[GaryK]

Ok just peeked.

I think that is version 2 (been a while) but it looks as though it is the Mac version.

If I recall pretty much everything is doable in each successive version. Sometimes buttons are moved or removed and some other things are moved around but the basics remain the same.

[gearhead]

Thanks, Gary.

I'm getting things figured out, just a little confusing that it doesn't translate one-to-one.

So this whole palette deal - basically you pull them down from the Window menu and put them up in the bin if you care to, right? I guess I can also have them floating around the screen all over if I want as well.

[GaryK]

Yup that pretty much sums it up.

I think the only thing that got lost from 2 was the recipes.

[gearhead]

Thanks, Gary. I guess I'm getting the hang of it like everyone else: little by little.

I'm all proud of me now for...straightening and resizing photos! Woohoo! Um, well, maybe I'll be doing more exciting stuff down the road.:rolleyes: