If you are satisfied with Photo Deluxe, I would probably recommend that you not purchase Photoshop Elements. Although it is not as "powerful" as the full edition of Photoshop, it requires you to understand more of what you are doing than your Photo Deluxe does. Elements is a much more sophisticated photo editor then you are accustomed to working with.
Photoshop Elements is a much more sophisticated program than the obsolete Photodeluxe 4. There is a learning curve, but it was designed for the home user as a replacement for Photodeluxe. Some people have a little trouble with PSE at first if they’re looking for the same level of simplicity they were used to, but once they learn to use it they dump the Photodeluxe in a hot minute.
Not sure what type of computer and operating system you’re using, but I believe PhotoDeluxe has been discontinued and may not run under some operating systems (like XP?).
They’ve said it all for me…thanks guys !
Elements is a bit challanging at first, but it is 100% worth every second you spend on it. I was the beginner from the farthest end of beginnerdom in March, but I have come a long way with PSE.
Go for it! You will be astounded what you can do within a couple of months! Jane
I have XP and no problems with the Deluxe 4 program. I am a quick learner and what I don’t understand I buy books to help, so you think it is worth purchasing Elements to fine tune what I am doing now with Deluxe.
Chuck,
I remember 2 1/2 years ago calling Adobe because Photodeluxe 2.0 caused my new Win XP machine to crash.
They advised that V4 PhotoDeluxe would be compatable with XP.
ya buy it…you’ll be doing more that ‘fine tuning’…PSE is a whole different world…DO IT ! We are here to help you along the way. Never heard of it working in XP before…you must be doing somethin’ right !
Yes. You will love it. Many wonderful books available, many tutorials, you will be up and running in a week or 2.
Jane
Pete, that’s good to know for those still using PD4 that are contemplating an upgrade to XP. Thanks!
Carole, Elements is a great purchase, and there are plenty of books, tutorials, and friendly forum denizens to help learn the ropes! You’ll be able to fine-tune your PD images and much, much more!
Thanks to everyone for all your help and speedy response. Think I will head out to the store tomorrow to see if I can purchase it. What is a reasonable price or is there a good place online to purchase from. I do know I want the latest which I believe is 2.0. Is the bundled package with photoshop album worth the extra price or should I just look for elements? Thanks again.
I believe Fry’s is selling both (Elements 2 and Photoshop Album 2) as a package for only about $69 with rebate. Check with them ASAP is there’s a Fry’s in your area.
Carole, if you’re a Sam’s Club member or have access to someone who is, they had Elements for $52 or thereabouts in the last few weeks. I believe Costco has a similar deal…?
I have a Sam’s just 4 miles from my house and a Costco not too far. Will try them. Thanks.
Picked it up at Sam’s Club like you said for $52 and change. That was great. Thanks again for all of your suggestions and help. I will probably be back once I get the program up and running. Wish me luck.
YAY !Good Luck !!….talk soon 😉
Carole, that’s great! Glad they weren’t sold out. They still had a few Wacom Graphire 2 tablets left on Christmas Eve (when I was doing my shopping); wonder if they’ll continue to stock or if Wacom is clearing their warehouse?
Chuck, no broken limbs today ?? That’s good to know…unless you got your laptop propt up on your body cast 🙂 ha ha ha…I’m sorry…I need humor at this point in the day…humor me 😉
Carole, welcome to your new family.
Leen
Jodi: tired but intact – no bobbiting, no frostbite!
🙂
Chuck, well that is good news ! 🙂
When are you going home ?
Jodi: 2 day drive beginning 1/2.
I had assumed that PSE was an update for Photo Deluxe 4. I have never read a more confusing tutorial.
It took em 30 minutes to find that it would cost me to get a question answered by Adobe.
Would you please give me directions on how to insert a photo in a picture frame? This was quite easy with Photo Deluxe. Load the Frame Load the picture. Drag the picture to the frame and SAVE it!
Also where is the ability to resize a picture by clicking on the edge or a corner and dragging the edge?
Any where I can find understandable instructions?
Thanks,
Charlie
Charles
I suspect you will find that initially Elements is a bit trickier to use than Photo Deluxe but if you keep at it in a very short time you will find that it is far more powerful. While Elements does have frames it is also reasonably easy to make your own.
But for the first part.
1) Have you photo in Elements.
2) click on Windows>Effects.
3) select Frames from the pull down window.
4) double click on the frame you want to use.
g.
Charles,
Understandable writtings can be found at these places (3 of the thousands which qualify)
<
http://tinyurl.com/2gakw>
<
http://tinyurl.com/2z4qu>
<
http://tinyurl.com/2nkbo>
Understanding pixels and resolution is a foundation stone one must have. I wrote the below in answer to someone else’s question, but it is pertinent.
"Files from digital cameras are all 72ppi. The ppi number is only relative to printing and has no bearing on screen viewing as monitors don’t relate to ppi. An image is really only a grid comprised of "x" pixels by "y" pixels. The higher the megapixel the camera, the more pixels in the image. One particular camera produces files of certain dimensions, in your case 1600×1200. This is an absolute (at the quality you have the camera set for). What is variable, is the degree of compactness of these finite pixels. The level of compression can merely be assigned in an arbitrary manner. The more tightly packed together these pixels are, the less physical space they occupy when printing.
A file at 72 ppi has rather large pixels and won’t produce a nice print as they will be noticable and the photo will not be sharp nor pleasing. I can assign a more appropriate ppi to said file if I want to get a decent print. With the pixels smaller, the detail in the image is much better and the tones seem continuous, rather than looking like little boxes as they would at 72ppi. The number of pixels remains the same, I only change their spacing, I crowd them together, I change the resolution. Between 180-300ppi is a good resolution for a file you wish to print. However, the higher the resolution, the smaller the printed size will be (they are crowded and take up less space). Resolution and printed size are inversely proportional."
A great site for more info on it is at
<
http://scantips.con>
To change the size of an image one would really use Image>Resize Image. But first one needs to understand the info from scantips. For small, quick adjustments you can go to Edit>Transform>Scale. With the shift key held down to maintain proportions, drag a corner outwards. (you wouldn’t want to do any major enlargements with this quicky way though)
Hopefully this will relieve a bit of the stress and frustration I hear in your post. Read up on the above stuff and come back when you have more questions. There are many helpful people on this forum, just ask.
Nancy
Thanks Nancy,
Boy, do I have a lot to learn! This PE2 is so far above my old Photo Deluxe. Always looking for a better way to reinvent the wheel!
I went to Wayne Fulton’s site last night and he has a great explanation on pixels and sizing at: <
http://www.scantips.com/>
I have taken a lot of my photos and made thumbnails for them. I’m working on a web page and will use the thumbnails to launch a large picture.
I want to frame all my pictures before I put them in an album. I think that would look neat!
From your and other help responses I will overcome!
I want to check out the "tinyurl" sites you gave me. I know there is a lot of help out there.
Thanks Much
Charlie
Charles,
Good attitude…
GO GET ‘EM !!!
Nancy
Thanks Grant!
That was pretty awesome the way the frame jumped around the pic. Now how do I get all the frames I have saved, in to the drop down box so I can select them from there?
Another question that I have been fooling with all afternoon and I believe the same problem existed in Photo Deluxe.
How do you anchor the source for the clone took? The source spot moving around with the pointing tool is for the birds!
I read the blurb about select and deselect and did not get any results with either selected.
Thanks again,
Charlie
Charles,
The frames you tried at Grant’s suggestion are in Effects with a .8BF extension, standard issue. The catch is, a file for a frame would have to be in that .8BF format and PSE is incapable of creating them. The full version of Photoshop has a function to create and save files as .8BF. So, people use PS to make Effects and these can be drag/dropped into the appropriate folder in PSE and will function. Jodi, on this forum, recently created bunches of neat frames using her PS6. They were available offsite (thanks to Ray for the mechanic-ing there) as a free download compliments of Jodi. Her files had the .asl extension and they live in the Styles folder and function in PSE. Tons of freebies by PSusers on the Adobe Exchange Studio site.
Nancy
Charles,
Above the workarea, uncheck "Aligned" when using the clone tool if you don’t want it following you around. With Unaligned, your source pt will always begin at last alt/click. A click will lay down exactly what was under your sampled spot, a drag will copy material surrounding sample spot relative to cursor.
What was the problem with Select/Deselect?
If you made some frames and saved the files, thats as far as that goes. You can’t create the required type of file for it to be in the Effects file. But you could open one you created, duplicate it and drag it to the file to frame. Resizing may be necessary.
Hi Nancy,
It appears that I also have to learn to use this message forum! I meant to drop the note on the Frames to Grant but I missed and saved it to your thread..
Yes, I looked at the file and found the Effects folder and saw the .8bf extension. I should be so lucky to be able to use a plain ole jpeg.
Are Jodis frames on the Adobe Exchange Studio site?
I would be happy to exchange my .jpegs for the .8bfs or maybe she would convert mine?? Will the .asl extension files work like the 8bf?
< <What was the problem with Select/Deselect? >> I had read in the Help to use the Select and Deselect to anchor the clone source. Maybe I should have read Aligne.
<<You can’t create the required type of file for it to be in the Effects file. But you could open one you created, duplicate it and drag it to the file to frame. Resizing may be necessary. >>
This is what I was asking Grant. I tried to frame a picture like I did in Photo Deluxe 4. I opened the Frame and when I opened the picture the frame went to Never Never land.
Would you explain the drag procedure? Where is the picture? Where is the Frame? Before the drag
I found the Adobe Exchange Studio site and am headed there to see all the goodies. Google also showed more Adobe sites.
Thanks,
Charlie
Charles,
All images that you open in PSE are displayed on the workarea until you close them. You may not see them as the most recently opened may "cover up" the previous ones. They stack on top of one another. They can all be viewed simultaneously by Window>Tile. Any image can be displayed smaller by clicking on a part of it and using Control key and the minus sign (larger=Ctrl/+). Your frame was just hidden under the image.
Very important to have the Layers Palette permanently displayed along right side of workarea at all times. The palette will only pertain to the specific image you have focused on if you have several open. Work on a copy always. Double click the "background" layer in the palette and accept the offer to rename it to Layer 0. All edits are best done on a new layer in the palette. This preserves the original at the bottom of the stack and allows for flexibility.
To unite different images (or parts thereof); have them both open, set focus on the one to add-in, make sure you can see at least a little piece of the underlying one (clicking and dragging title bar repositions image), in Layers Palette click/drag a layer and drop it on any visible part of the other image. You have added a new layer to the second image. It also will cover up the orignal image if it occupies the same amount of space. Reducing opacity for that layer in the palette you will see the one below but also the palette will show you there is a layer beneath. Mostly this is used to move a portion of an image to another one…example; you have an image and carefully selected the person in it and pasted it on its own layer above the image–you click/drag the layer containing only the person and drop it on another image. Holding down the shift key while dragging will center the item when dropped.
You can easily create frames so it is not hard to create one for each pic as you go. A very simple one would be; create a new blank layer at top of palette stack, Image>Resize Canvas size to add extra space around image for frame, choose a color for frame in foreground Tool Box color, click Magic Wand in transparent area (the checkerboard), press Alt/backspace and color will fill in. Colored border now on top layer. Can apply a layers style for bevel etc if desired.
Most people were able to use Jodi’s frames as .asl. I’ll post a message for Ray to see if he still has her frames available for download. Due to the size of the files, and Jodi having dialup, Ray put them on his site for downloading.
You deselect the starting point of the clone tool by choosing another (alt/click) or switching to another tool.
edit—-don’t remember if I suggested you do some studying at Jay’s fine site
<
http://www.arraich.com/elements/psE_intro.htm>
Charles,
OK, Jodi will email you what she can of her frames, being the dear person she is.
Click on her name from one of her posts to get her email address. This way you can give her the address you want her to mail them to.
WoW!
I printed out your instructions and will try to work my way through them. Yes, You gave me the "Jay Arraich" web address. I looked at it and bookmarked it but,I haven’t had a chance to get into it.
I hope he explains LAYERS so I can understand them. Your instructions will help.
My scanner/printer lost it’s brains this AM and I spent the day in surgery. When scanning a document still stops at 97% and flips out before it saves the scan or runs the OCR on it. I’m beginning to think it’s a mechanical thing.
I have concqured the anchoring of the clone source, I can now change the size and rotate a photo with the click and drag. (I hope to learn the proper terms for these functions pretty soon)
I’ll drop a note to Jodi RE: the picture frames.
Thanks a bunch!
Charlie
Charles, i just deleted some mail. I don’t open mail that has attachments from names i don’t recognize. If ya sent mail that had an attachment…sorry, you ended up in cyber trash.
Jodi,
That’s O.K. I had only worked on them for 6 hours!
Only kidding. I had selected three frames, only a total of about 50k.
I followed Nancy’s instructions and was able to drag and drop a picture to a frame. Too bad I didn’t remember the steps because I tried it again and no luck.
Maybe I out to use the STEPS log from Jay Arraich’s web site.
I spent about 1.5 hours on his site this PM trying to understand layers. It’s a tough concept or I’m just too thick!
Thanks and if you find your frames I would appreciate having a copy of them.
Charlie
Charles, click on my name up here to get my e-mail address and I’ll send them to you.
Charlie,
Stick with it … it won’t be long before it all clicks into place, and when you get stuck just ask and someone will always help.
Give it a couple of months and you will be answering questions for others. 🙂
Wendy
Thanks Wendy,
I have already had a ton of help on this Forum.
Now my CROP tool don’t do like it’s supposed to.
I can not mark the full area I want to crop.
Draging the corners still don’t allow the while ares to be marked. There are no points mid way between the corners to drag a line. I’m probably using the wrong layer or draging tool.
I’ll get back on it tomorrow and start from scratch. I have worked it before.
I’m about ready to turn in to a "pumpkin" it’s way past the witching hour. Pretty soon I will have a screen full of carriage returns!
Thanks,
Charlie
Charlie,
If you are using the Crop Tool and it won’t cooperate, trying resetting the tool by clickin of the icon of the tool on the options bar. It’s all the way to the left.
See if that clears it up.
Or, are you using the rectangular marquee tool to do your cropping? If that’s the case, check the options bar and make sure that "Normal" appears in the Stle: box. If you are not seeing the handles in the corners or the sides, it’s a good bet you are using the rectangular marquee tool instead of the crop tool.
Perhaps this will hep.
Dick
Dick
Your "FIX" worked!
I wasn’t using the marquee tool I’m sure. I had the corner handles and the rotate handle, just no hadles between the corners. They probably wouldn’t have worked anyway.
I don’t know how it got out of sync but it must be a common happening that there would be a "reset" function.
I just found another tutorial site that I think will explain how to use LAYERS. That has to be one of the most confusing thing that I have ever came across!
Thanks,
Charlie
Charlie,
With layers, it’s as if you are looking down on them. Like sheets of cellophane with painting on them stacked up, some created with the paint not covering the entire area (if you had selected out part of an image and pasted it on its own layer, therefore transparent edges), some contain an entirely different image or some can be adjustment layers (to change some properties of the image without actually changing the original pixels). They can be discarded if desired or readjusted. A layer can have varied opacity, if not at 100% opacity, it is possible to see the layer below in some degree. If parts of a layer are transparent, the layer underneath will show through. Layers keep things separate, which allows for a lot of flexibility in making different edits to different elements of an image which don’t destroy the image you began with which resides on the bottom of the stack. Keep your Layers Palette open on the side of the workarea.
Here’s one source
<
http://tinyurl.com/2z4qu>
Nancy
Nancy,
What a great way to describe layers ….. 🙂
Wendy
Charlie,
A common, incorrect assumption is that an image inherently possess layers. It does not. When you open an image it is one layered, the Background layer. The naming does not imply that it contains only the "background" info (for example; only the blue backdrop if you photographed a person against it). The background is whatever file you opened, in its entirety.
In the example above, if I wanted to change the tone of either the blue backdrop or the person, or change the tones of each but differently, I would need to separate the person from the blue using one of the selection tools. This would allow my correction to be applied to only the person or only the backdrop. I could select the person and copy/paste to a new blank layer above the background. I could change the tone of that layers contents, the person, without affecting the blue. If I wanted to add something to that person (a hat, brighter lips, blue eyecolor etc) I would create a new blank layer above the others and paint my additions on it. New blank layers are transparent, so everything looks the same onscreen until you add something. The advantage of painting on a new layer is that you have not disturbed the original pixels, so if you don’t like the changes, you can just throw the layer away and create a new one to try again. If I wanted to add text to my image, I would do so on a new blank layer. This would allow me to reposition the text if desired. In fact, I would use a new layer for every line of text. The layer would be transparent except for the text, allowing my image on the bottom to show through.
wrote:
A common, incorrect assumption is that an image inherently possess layers.
It does not. When you open an image it is one layered, the Background layer. The naming does not imply that it contains only the "background" info (for example; only the blue backdrop if you photographed a person against it). The background is whatever file you opened, in its entirety.
Nancy,
Your insight is right on the money, IMHO. I had begun to note, in threads like this one, that folks expressing frustration with the concept of layers seemed to think that layers already exist… but I hadn’t quite put it together into a cogent thought, as you did.
I think your description is one of the most concise ever, and will be often referenced in the future, when the concept of layers needs just a bit more clarity.
Well done!
Byron
Byron,
I’ve been called many things, but not concise! Glad it sounded reasonable to a reader.
Nancy, Too bad the writers of the manual couldn’t have described layers as well as you just did.
Nancy,
How about "succinct"?
Shan
Hi Nancy,
As Wendy said that is a great explanation of Layers.
I understand that. My problem is the mechanics on using them. From the top…
I open PSE, a "menu" is in the main screen area. Do I select New File .. and get the work area screen or just browse to my pictures and make a selection?
Now I have selected a picture to edit.
When I click on layers, (far right tab)it’s there.
When I change the first picture how do I make a layer out of it? Now I go to LAYERS, on the menu bar, select New.
The picture that I edited is displayed.
I edit it. …..
Here I’m lost.
What I’m trying to say is I don’t know the mechanics of creating and saving layers, I hate to think about putting them all together.
Wow, about 4 new responses have showed up! Is this a chat room?
Anyway, Nancy, I’m sure the frustration will ease once I get deeper in to the use. Or I’m sure more frustrations will arise!
Thanks,
Charlie
Charlie, somewhere on the big, big internet is a great site for learning about managing layers, but I can’t find it right now; the bookmark must be on the other computer. While we’re waiting for somebody else to show up with it, here’s a little exercise you can do that might begin to give you a feel for how these layers work. It will be very simple, mind you!
First open a copy of some image. (We’ll make a mess of it, so make sure it’s a copy!)
Make sure your Layers palette is open so that you can see the Background layer – which is the image currently open. See the little padlock shaped thing on the right? That indicates the layer is locked, so we’ll get rid of the lock by you double clicking on the layer itself in the palette. You should get a little screen asking if you want to Simplify the layer – say OK.
Now, go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer. You’ll get a submenu where you can choose various kinds of adjustments. Pick the first one on the list, which I think is Levels. It’ll give you a chance to rename the layer, so just call it ‘levels’.
Make some ghastly change to the levels of the photo – something that’ll be real obvious.
Now go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer and choose another correction, like Hue/Saturation. Name that one accordingly and make some equally obvious change there.
You should have three layers showing in the palette, and each will have an eyeball to the left, indicating the visibility of the layer is turned on. Pick one of your two adjustment layers and click on the eyeball. See how your ghastly correction goes away?
You’ve just made adjustment layers that can be edited individually. If you decide to go back and change the way you’d adjusted those levels, for example, click on the layer in the palette named "levels" to activate it, and then go to Layers>Layer Content Options. You’ll get the Levels adjustments back, and you can once again make changes to the levels of your image without creating another brand new layer.
Let’s clone now. Choose Layer>Duplicate, and name it ‘cloning’. Now choose the Clone tool and stamp something completely out of your picture.
You’ve got four layers now. Turn off your ‘cloning’ layer. See how your item comes back?
This is very rudimentary, but it should give you a little better feel for how to crreate various layers on which you can make individual adjustments. There are all kinds of variations.
And let’s hope somebody gets here pretty soon with that great URL! You could also go a Google search for "Photoshop Layers tutorial" and I bet some good stuff would turn up.
This is really fun once you get past the frustration! Good luck!
CAROLE,
If you do, or even if you don’t get PSE come on back here and look at Jane Carter’s stuff and all the others. A few of us were cold beginners. With Photo Deluxe I got as far as using the automatic FIX and a couple other basics. I didn’t even do copy/paste till I got Elements …. so believe me I WAS A NOVICE!
My system has always been to ‘overbuy’ and even then I often wish I’d jumped another step up. You can do the very easy stuff with Elements and later mess around with other features. Go for it, Carole!
Marty
Thanks Beth,
Nancy sent me to <
http://www.elated.com/tutorials/graphics/photoshop/intro_lay ers/>
He has a tutorial on a STONEHENGE. I saved the file off and worked with it a while this morning. I was able to make additional layers and edit them, could not figure how to get them in and out of the layers palette.
I kept getting "layer is locked" when I tried to do something. I could not find any reference to locked layers in the instructions.
I’ll go through your information ans practice more tonight after supper. I have been getting plenty help on this forum. I hope it falls in place pretty soon. I looked at the "Challenge" site and that is quite interesting to see what can be accomplished!
I have to get off this thing and fix supper. Crock pot Beef Stew tonight!
Later,
Charlie
fix supper??…I just happen to have an opening…
Wish you were here!
I had to eat leftovers tonight.
I cook much better than I do Photo Elements.
Saurkraut and spare ribs tomorrow night,
Nancy,
A little encouragement today.
I have been working with layers yesterday and today and learned a little. I have learned how to do the thing I initially ask about on this forum. I can put pictures in frames.
Still have to work on the sizing resolution relations, which so far has been a trial and error method of getting what I want.
New question?
I was trying to save a portion, the head and shoulders, of a photo off in a circle and/or the lasso. I was able to get the outline, marching ants, but no matter what I did I couldnt save the selected image.
Another one
The simplify option. I kept getting this when I this to make changes in a layer. The only way I got around that was to flatten the layer I was working on. There must be a better way.
The HELP on screen and the book dont explain either of the above enough for me to understand.
Thanks again for all your help.
Charlie
The only time I have received the "simplify layer" message is when I had several layers grouped and then highlighted one of the adjustment layers rather than the layer that actually had image data on it (the bottom image in the group). I think the key is to keep the layer pallette open so that you can keep close track of where you are in your image.
Charles,
When you get the marching ants do EDIT>COPY then EDIT>PASTE ….. you should then have a new layer with your outlined portion on it. If you go to LAYERS in the pallette you will be able to see it.
If you want to save it into a new file then instead of the above do EDIT>COPY then FILE>NEW then EDIT>PASTE
Hope this helps
Wendy
Charlie,
As relates to your simplify question…I don’t know what you are doing to get this message. But remember to…
* always have the Layers Palette visible on the side of your screen, drag it out of the well if need be
* an image is always composed of at least one layer. If you have opened an image for the first time, from say your camera, this one layer will be named "background" in the Layers Palette. In the palette, double click on this layer and accept the default for it to be renamed "Layer 0". Not all editing functions are available to a "background" layer so merely changing the name expands possibilities.
* you said "flatten the layer I was working on". This statement implies a little problem with your conception of layers, or perhaps the problem is just semantics. Remembering that an image is composed of layers and each layer is like a sheet of cellophane, a layer is already flat. One can flatten layers, which would be like taking however many sheets of cellophane there are and gluing them together so as to form one sheet (which equals one layer now). Flattening an image glues all the layers together so the image is comprised of one layer. One can also elect to flatten (merge) the visible layers only (the ones with the "eye" showing in the palette). One can also click on one layer in the palette to select it and Layer>Merge with previous, which will ‘glue’ the highlighted layer to the one below it, reducing by one the number of layers in your image.
* create a new image from part of an image—Wendy went over this in the prior post. I would just add that most editing techniques require one to separate out a portion of the image, usually with a selection tool. Once you have the marching ants outline, you can copy it to a new blank layer on the top of the stack in the Layers Palette. Your view of the image will not change however because that new layer contains the selected portion of the image rimmed with transparency. This transparency allows you to see the contents of the layer below (ie the entire image). If you click on the "eye" in the layers palette for the bottom layer, making it invisible, you will see displayed the one layer containing only your selection.
* with a selection on its own layer in the palette, ctrl/click on the layer to produce the marching ants, edit/copy, File>New>OK and then Edit>Paste to create a file comprised of only the selection. Of course you could just continue to use the file you opened and make invisible the bottom layer so only the selection is visible. Your printer will not combine data from an invisible layer when preparing the file to print, it will be ignored but still present.
* if you have created an adjustment layer, for example a Levels Adjustment Layer, and then later decide to lighten the image a bit more….highlight that layer in the palette (by clicking near the right edge of the layer) and then double clicking the leftmost of the two whitish boxes, the one with the graph. The Levels screen will open and you can change the position of the sliders. To lighten, I might move the middle slider a bit to the left. OK it. You have readjusted your adjustment. If I wanted to only lighten the head and shoulders of a person in an image, I could select that portion to produce the marching ants, pull up an adjustment layer, make my adjustments and OK it. In this case I have not selected out a portion and put it on it’s own layer to change it, it will be changed because an adjustment will only affect that which is selected if some part is selected (otherwise the adjustment applies to the entire layer).
* for understanding resolution and print size, this site is the best at explaining this important principle <
http://scantips.com>
Nancy, what a terrific discussion of layers! I would only add emphasis to the concept that flattening or merging layers is a permanent change, at least once the image has been saved and closed. Layers do add a lot to the size of an image file, but maintaining the flexibility to change them or delete them is certainly something to be considered in the editing process. I have a bunch of multi-layer files out on my hard drive just waiting for me to decide that the editing process is over and I can flatten them!
Chuck
If you want to flatten your layers and still maintain the individual layers try this. Open a new layer then press Shift>+< Ctrl>+<Alt>+E and all open layers will be merged onto this new layer but you still retain all the other layers. Now you have hide any layers if you wish. Thus you have the best of both worlds. Of course your file still grows.
g
Grant,
I just re-learned that last week. It is now a permanent part of my arsenal of tricks.
Dick
