Changing background color

[dicklaxt]

I am the greenest of green and am about six feet between the ears so its hard to get things thru.

I have been looking for days in an Elements 7 book,I have Elements & software loaded and I can't find anything any where that tells me how to do this.

In my eyes this has to be a simple task but I need someone to tell me in plain simple terms such as "Put Tab A in Slot B and bend tab over to make corner C",you know just simple and plain instructions with out any technical stuff.

I am a little bit smarter than the average bear but am finding this difficult to grasp.I'm 73 years of age BTW ,maybe thats the problem ,help if you can.

Thanks

dick

[frank abramonte]

dicklaxt, if I read you correctly is this what you're looking for?


http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1oDizRqwc1UDObHPZpoehP7IgsP0il1_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1oDizRqwc1UDObHPZpoehP7IgsP0il1)

[Wendy]

Hi Dick ...

... and welcome to the Village :)

I think that we all felt like that when we first got Elements ... so don't worry about it.

Wendy

[dicklaxt]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Wendy.LOL

No Frank, I guess I didn't make my self very clear.

Example I have a picture of a red flower and of course green leaves and stems with brick and dirt as a background.

I want to change that background in the photo to solid black.

[Wendy]

Hi Dick ..

This is one way to do it :)

Select the lasso tool (just the orginary one)
Set it to "Add to" (those little boxes up at the top of the screen ..hover your cursor above then and you will see the one I mean)
Zoom in very close using the zoom tool (it looks like a little magnifying glass) and start your selection.
Just go round the edge of the flower a little at a time and then do a sort of circle inside the flower to join up to the beginning of the selection.
Now you can pause for a moment before continuing ..
To continue just start again and you will see that you are adding to the selection.

When you have gone all the way round stop and check your selection. Make sure that all of the flower is selected.
If you have parts that need a little more adding in then use "Add to Selection" ... but if you need to remove a little then change over to "Subtract from Selection". Do this until you are happy with it.

Now do Edit>Copy then Edit>Paste
and you will have the flower on its own layer
You can then add a new background black behind it by creating a new layer. Layer New Layer
Then go to the Layers Palette and drag this layer below the flower layer
Next select black as your foreground colour and do Edit>Fill Layer

Wendy

[dicklaxt]

Okay let me print this and I'll give it a try,it will take a week or two(LOL) but I'll get back with the answer

dick

[Wendy]

Just take it slow and you will be fine :)

Wendy

[dicklaxt]

Right you are,Wendy, it worked fine after I figured out where eveything was that matched what you said to do.It still took a long time,is there an easier faster way?

Aha!!!! I found the way,thats easy for me and is very fast,using the magic wand,shift key and layer-new fill layer and of course selected color desired.

dick

[tmfan43]

I'm glad you figured it out and btw, I love your since of humor.:)

[Wendy]

Hi Dick ..

which selection tool works the best does depend on the individual images ... if the flower is mainly one colour and the background mainly another then the magic wand can do a great job :)

Wendy

[marryingbill]

Hello I am a new member and a new owner of elements 7 it was a gift. and now I am trying to learn to use it (and lord knows I need all the help I can get) lol lol I am trying to I guess you could say take two rings out of the box. so that they can be used on the cover of a wedding ceremony booklet. and I simply cannot get it to do that and that was the main reason for the Gift. I sure hope they did not waste their money. and I also am an old goat.(Maybe the problem lies there) and still trying to learn this new fangled machine and it's workings.. so if any of you brave souls out there feel like a challengs maybe you can help me and remember I know zilcha bout this thing thanky in advance for any help http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/images/icons/icon5.gif

[Wendy]

Hi ...

... and welcome to the Village :)

First thing you will need to do is select the rings and out then on their own layer. If you take a look at message No 5 in this thread it will tell you how to do that ...

Try doing that and see how you go on with it :)

Wendy

[BenjamanT]

Hi - new to the forum as well. Had to take a sec and thank Wendy for her excellent and succint directions to the originating poster's question. I have spent several hours this evening trying to find the answer to this question without success. So again, thanks much!

Best Regards,
Ben

[ladybug]

Dick,Marryingbill and Ben welcome to the forum.

[Wendy]

Hi Ben ...

... and welcome to the Village :)

Glad that you found the instructions helpful ...

Wendy