deselecting tools

DP
Posted By
Donald Pike
Sep 29, 2003
Views
891
Replies
5
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Closed
Sorry if this comes up again and again. I did a search and did not find anything. How do you deselect a tool and just go back to a mouse pointer? I’ve been trying to use the lasso tools but it seems that once any one of them is selected I’m stuck with it; I don’t seem to be able to just put it back or deselect it.
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PD
Pete D
Sep 29, 2003
Donald,

Because the mouse pointer is useless in Photoshop Elements it stays with the last tool used. (meaning if you are doing something on the photo you need a tool selected. when you go to the menu bar at top you can select items like normal no matter what tool is selected)

This probably is different than other programs you use but you will get used to it. I personally click on the "move" when I am done using one of the other tools. Kind of like "parking it there". Everyone has there own choice of where to "park" it.

So pick a non destructive tool to click on just so you know what you have selected. (non destructive meaning you don’t want to have something like the eraser tool active and make a pass over your picture and erase parts inadvertently.

PeteD
DP
Donald Pike
Sep 29, 2003
Thanks Pete D.

I inadvertently used the "search" up there next to the shopping cart and got nothing. Then I noticed the "forum search" and got some results. Anyway, if I select one of the lasso tools it will not go away, even when I completely close one image and open a completely new one.
PD
Pete D
Sep 29, 2003
Donald

if I select one of the lasso tools it will not go away, even when I
completely close one image and open a completely new one.<<

That is correct. The lasso tool is one I would categorize as destructive (not that it destroys; just that it annoys when its selected and you don’t want to use it 🙂 Try the move tool or the hand. Neither will do anything that will bother anything.

PeteD
BH
Beth_Haney
Apr 3, 2004
First answer: There is no way to deselect a tool. This doesn’t make sense at first, but when you stop and think about it, if you’re not using a tool, you’re not doing anything, either. 🙂 The cursor comes up automatically when you move your mouse off of an image, so that’s all you need to have. Many of us have a tool we go back to, in my case it’s the marquee tool.

Second, the problem you’re having with sizing is tied in with image resolution. There’s basically no relation between what you see on the screen and what prints, except totally by chance. One way to resize the image that lets you kind of learn about the program as you go along is through using the Image>Resize>Image Size option. If you don’t have a grasp of the concept of image resolution yet, let me know and I’ll give one of my famous (or is that "infamous"?) posts on the subject. If you’re going to want to print an image – as opposed to sending it by e-mail or posting it on the internet, you’ll want to maintain an image resolution of between 150 and 300ppi until you get a feel for print quality using your equipment. Below 150 is likely to produced a pixelated or fuzzy print, and there’s usually little point in printing above 300ppi, because the differences in most cases are too slight to warrant the increased system resources required.

Check out the link given in this thread. As you can tell, people find great information on the basics of digital imaging.

Wendy E Williams "Beth Haney: Thanks for the reminder" 4/3/04 7:36am </cgi-bin/webx?13/4>
MM
Mac_McDougald
Apr 3, 2004
Some tool is always active. The last one you choose. This is normal.

As for the second concern, forget "size" onscreen. There is no real correlation between image size on screen and print output size. Choosing View/Print Size will often be pretty close, but not guaranteed.

Make ruler visible if you want to see what size you have set to print.

Now, it SHOULD print at the exact size you set in Image/Resize/Image Size.

If it doesn’t, it is likely you are doing something to override it in print dialog box of Elements or your printer driver (like a "best fit to page" option or somesuch).

Others will chime in, I’m sure.

Mac

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