Border Break-out or Out of Bounds

[roframan]

I have some success with my efforts at crafting out of bounds with the help of the many tutorials that are available online. The one that has me stumped though is the one by Dave Cross (the man on the surfboard) which seems to be so straight forward and well explained. Not for me though as I come upon a stage that brings everything to a grinding halt. I get to the point (around 2:43 in the QT movie) where I have trashed Layer 2 and go to the Background layer to make a duplicate of the Background layer and it does exactly that BUT does NOT create Layer 2 as shown in the video (this Layer 2, which I am unable to create, shows the bottom portion of the selected image in Dave Cross' video). I have tried this time and again to no avail - I must be missing something along the way but be darned if I can figure out what. Am using PSE 6 on my Mac. Your assistance will be most appreciated.
Regards .. Ron

[Diana]

Hi Ron, Welcome to the forum,

After you trash layer 2, make sure you still have the selection (marching ants) on your image, then make the background layer active, and press Ctrl-J to send a duplicate of the selected part of the background to a new layer 2.

It sounds like you may not still have the selection active after you trash the black filled layer 2.

Perhaps an explanation as to the reason for the layer may help. In Elements, after you make a rectangular selection with the marquee tool, you cannot adjust just the selection. However, you can adjust the area if you fill the selection with color so there are some pixels there to work with. Then once you get the selection transformed to the shape you want it, the colored layer is no longer needed - it has served its purpose, which is to transform the selection. But when you trash the layer, you must keep the selection to use for the next step.

Diana

[roframan]

My thanks to you Diana for heading me off into the right direction. The "press Ctrl-J (or Command-J on the Mac) was the answer to my dilemma. The voice over on the tutorial never did mention that keystroke for that action at that time, rather it was stated to duplicate the background layer which for me, did not result in what was the promised result as shown on the QT Video screen.. Given that I appear to be the only one who encountered this specific problem, I can only wonder, if in fact, I WAS the only one. Your explanation clarified the situation for me and I thank you very much for your help. I have noticed that your name appears quite frequently and I can only assume that many others are likewise thankful for your assistance.
Regards - Ron
P.S. I attach the quick and simple OOB that I was able to do with your valued input.