Hi! I am brand new to photoshop and just received elements 7 in the mail yesterday. I've been trying to play with it and downloaded a few grunge borders. I have my photo and the grunge border in the edit mode but when I try to merge them, the border is much smaller than the photo. I have tried to resize each of them with no luck (they just don't change). Is that what I need to do (resize one or the other?) or is there an easy way to make them merge at the same size? Also, how do you get a photo out of edit mode? Every time I edit one, when I go back to the organizer it has a lock on it and says edit in progress.
Thanks for your help - this seems like such a friendly place that I wasn't afraid to ask what might be a dumb question!
michelle

Hi Michelle and welcome to one of the friendliest forums on the internet. Although I don't have an answer to your questions, someone will, and they'll be along shortly. Don't ever worry about a question being dumb. We were all beginners once and we all remember how hard is was to post that first question.

Hang around here and you'll learn lots. Soon we'll be seeing your gallery fill up with all of your projects!

Michelle.........don't worry about the questions. We've all been there; unfortunately, I haven't been there with Elements 7, so I'm not sure what you're running into. I do know that I don't like the way frames/borders work in Elements 6, and if they're that way in 7, too, they're convoluted to work with. One thing you might want to try is open your frame, use your magic wand to select the center of the frame; go to your photo, control/click on it to select it, copy your selection and go back to your frame, Then, go to Edit, Paste Into Selection. Your picture will be pasted into your frame. Let me know if none of this made any sense to you, and I'll try to explain it better.

Hi Michelle, welcome. I'm assuming you've got two images, one a frame and one a picture. You could use the Move tool to click and drag the picture over the frame and you should have two layers in the palette. One potential problem is that you might need to stretch the frame a little and you might need to increase the size of the canvas (the background you're working on). Make sure you're on the background layer and go to Image > Resize > Canvas Size....... add plenty of extra inches in height and width - you can crop any excess off later. Now you'll have plenty of room to work in. Those two images, if they are now both layers, can be resized quite easily - just click and drag on the corner 'handles' and - if necessary - the side handles. You won't want to alter the proportions of the image itself, so just alter the frame.
When you're happy with what you've got, crop off any excess canvas. Flatten layers (if you want to) and save the file. Only when you close the image will that lock be removed from the thumbnail image in Organizer.

Everybody here will have a book or two on PSE but there aren't any PSE7 books out yet - if you found an older book on PSE4, 5 or 6 I'm sure you could get by with that, so it's worth keeping a check on the bookshops for one of those as long as it's been reduced in price - don't spend a lot on it. I'm sure there will be books out soon but the PSE6 books took at least six months after the software was published. In the meantime, get all you can from the Help files and don't hesitate to ask on here.

Hi Michelle, I'll echo what has been said -- we all had to ask questions, over and over and over, when we got started. And we still do

Your Organizer is probably telling you it's locked for edit because the image is still open in edit. When you have finished making your edits, save the file. I don't use the Organizer so I'm not sure if you have to also close the file after you have saved it. One or both of those actions, in that sequence, should do the trick.

Rusty

Hi Michelle

Let me add my 2 cents. Ctrl T will give you the free transform box. Try this on your frame layer. Then just drag the corners until they fit over the picture. When you are happy. Use Ctrl E to merge down your frame layer on to your image. You can also go to edit and save as a jpeg and it will save at one.

I suggest you make a brand new folder somewhere you can easily find it. Name it Michelle's PSE work, or something along those lines. Then save all your edit images into that folder. It will make your life much easier.

Ask away if you need more help. There is always someone around.

Hi Michelle and welcome to the forum!

Thank you all! Those suggestions worked great. Here's the finished product! (the frame is a little off on top, but I'm happy with it overall)
http://www.cutestkidsclothes.com/Oliviacheer1.jpg

I wish there was a book on PSE7 now (yes, I'm impatient)! There is supposed to be one out next week, so I have my fingers crossed (PSE7 The Missing Manual). Has anyone had previous versions of that book? Is it worth the $30? Its so much easier for me to see something in print and then follow along.

Let me ask one follow up question.... should I always start with a background and then add my pic and frame as layers or can the pic be the background layer? And what is the difference between a background and a canvas? I am determined to conquer this program! Thank you for all your help! This is such a nice community!

Michelle

Michelle... it looks great. A grungy frame, a girl after my own heart.

No you don't need the background layer. you can double click on it to turn it into a regular layer, right click and hit delete layer. This is great if you have opened a new document and it is blank. If it is your original image. Use Ctrl J to make a copy of the background layer and work your adjustments off of that layer. Keep your original untouched just in case you go to far and need to start over in your processing.

The missing manual is a great book. I bought loads and loads of books. I have a very nice collection.
Elements 4, then 5, Then CS3, (have at least 3 of those) now Lightroom 2. I will be honest with you. They haven't done me a bit of good. I just can't seem to get it from a book. I am more of a show me person. If you really want to learn try and get involved in some of our challenges. I found those the best way to learn.

Like you, I was determined to figure it out. In has only been a little over 2 years and I have learned so very much!!

Thanks! I have been playing some more - the layers are really cool. Is there a place to get clipart to put on the layers? I saw a senior picture that had "senior" in a clipart image that looked really neat. I saw it on ebay - is that the only place to get them or are there free sites?
Here's one of my daughter's senior pictures I've been working on
http://cutestkidsclothes.com/kerisenior3-3.jpg
michelle