Gary,
First trying resetting the clone tool. On the options bar click on the icon of the clone tool at the left and choose ‘reset tool’. If that doesn’t work then you might try deleting your preferences and restarting Elements.
To do that, close Elements, then just as you click the icon to restart the program hold down the control/alt/shift keys together and keep them pressed till you get a message asking if you want to delete the preferences. Choose yes and then see if the clone tool starts behaving.
Dick
Gary
Try turning your caps lock off.
hth
Ben
Dick,
Thanks for the advice. I have reset the tool a number of times, both before and after reinstalling the program. (I am using an XP pro system that I built myself.) I read your reply on how to do the Preference Reset to someone else for another problem they had, so I tried it on mine as well.
What I get when I do as you suggested, is a pop up that says "Scratch Disk Preferences". Then several slots numbered 1-4 or so..with the only options being Startup in the first one, and C:\ as the option..in the rest it is either C:\ or none..?? I dont even know what a scratch disk is…?? :=)
After magnifying it up to level 400 or so..I can now see that the clone tool is working..but only on a ONE PIXEL setting..nothing else. ( that is the small dark marks I had seen before.) If I change the tool size to anything else..it will not work at all. After checking the system restore, I realized the problem existed before changing the sound card as well. ( I thought maybe the software from that might be the cause..guess not.) I rolled it back anyway, did a uninstall again, and reinstalled the program, with no new software in it..and still the same problem.
IS this scratch disk preferences the settings I am suppose to reset? Or am I doing something else wrong? Sorry to be a pain about this, I have never had this happen before. I did now notice however that the blur tool, the sharpen tool, and the soften tools are now all not working as well.
Again thank you for your time, and your advice..I will continue to work on the problem. If you have any more ideas..please let me know.
Thank you very much.
Gary
Gary,
You should just get a window that asks if you want to delete the Settings file.
Try again, but remeber to click the icon to start elements first and immediately press and hold the control/alt/shift keys and keep them pressed until you see the question. Click yes and see if the clone tool comes back.
Dick
Yes..I understand that is what is suppose to happen. (It even tells how to do it in the drop down, and how to delete the pref folder to set it back to the original settings.) But no matter what I do, I click on the icon, or in the program section to start Elements, and hit control, alt, shift..but I still get the same box every time. And yes, I do keep them pressed down each time. I dont understand it..?
I even loaded it on one of my older computers, and tried it on there..and it worked fine. (The tool that is, not the short cut mentioned above..that worked the same on that one too.)
I understand this makes no sense, and I have dealt with people that didn’t understand what I was telling them when informing them how to repair their machines. But I assure you I DO understand what your explaining to me. It simply will not perform as it is suppose to. (I am sure I am hitting them soon enough as well, as it just barely opens now before I am holding down the keys. I have tried it slower as well..same effect. No option to delete the pref folder to be found.
Thanks again for your help. I will keep working at it. 🙂
You’re on a Windows machine? That Preference folder is located on your hard drive, so instead of using the keyboard shortcut, do a Find for Adobe Elements Preference, or some combination of words that brings it up. Delete it manually, however you’d do it when uninstalling software and going back for any bits and pieces that may have been left. I’d give you more specific instructions, but I use a Mac. I know, however, that it can be done manually.
Right Click on the Clone Tool and select Clone Tool. You might be on the Pattern Tool…
Thanks Beth, that is how I ended up doing it. (I just didn’t want to delete the wrong file is why I wanted to use the shortcut.)
But I found out that was not the problem anyway. I have dual 120 gig drives in this machine, but I had not checked the free disk space lately. Once I did, I found I only had about 4 gigs left on them. (I run a Mirror Raid 1 set up for backup protection.)
I think the reason it kept popping up the scratch disk option was that it just needed more space to work on the larger files I use now with my new Canon 10D. I backed up 40 gigs or so onto DVDs, and the problem was solved. I also dropped the number of back steps available down to 10, from the standard 20, to use up less ram. I run 512 megs of 32 bit RD ram in it, and it shows that it is only using 256 or so max when I use that program, but I dedicated 75% to it instead of the standard 50% as well. All works fine now. Oh..and the short cut does work on my laptop..but not on either of my 3 desktop machines..<LAUGH> so go figure..??
Thanks again to ALL of you for your assistance. This is a great forum!! Gary
Thank you Russell.
I lost the clone tool also, must have accidentally right clicked at the wrong time. Didn’t know this until I read your helpful solution.
Problem solved…..
