PS Elements 4 – need help with line tool

CC
Posted By
Curtis Croulet
Feb 21, 2009
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513
Replies
5
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Closed
Everything I do to the image in the way of adding text or lines (using the line tool) creates a new layer. If I create a line and then decide that I want to get rid of it, I can’t. If I’m lucky, and if I can identify the correct "shape layer" that contains the line, I can just delete it. But many times I don’t know what shape layer the line is. What am I missing? I want to get rid of some lines.
—
Curtis Croulet
Temecula, California
33
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help line tool

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J
Joe
Feb 21, 2009
"Curtis Croulet" wrote:

Everything I do to the image in the way of adding text or lines (using the line tool) creates a new layer. If I create a line and then decide that I want to get rid of it, I can’t. If I’m lucky, and if I can identify the correct "shape layer" that contains the line, I can just delete it. But many times I don’t know what shape layer the line is. What am I missing? I want to get rid of some lines.

Of course you seem to miss something but can’t tell cuz you won’t tell what you do and don’t do at your end. Since I have no idea what you are doing so I just make some wild guess and give some general information instead.

– If you want to know exactly what the layer is the give it a NAME. Example if it’s a LINE then name is "LINE" if it’s a STAR shape then name is "STAR" or something like that then you can tell them apart.

– If you don’t wanna name then just select any layer than MOVE it around to find out which one it’s.

About you can’t delete then I have no idea, may be you need a newer keyboard with a working DEL key?
R
ronviers
Feb 21, 2009
On Feb 21, 1:04 am, "Curtis Croulet"
wrote:
Everything I do to the image in the way of adding text or lines (using the line tool) creates a new layer.  If I create a line and then decide that I want to get rid of it, I can’t.  If I’m lucky, and if I can identify the correct "shape layer" that contains the line, I can just delete it.  But many times I don’t know what shape layer the line is.  What am I missing?  I want to get rid of some lines.
—
Curtis Croulet
Temecula, California
33°27’59"N, 117°05’53"W

I do not know if it is the same in PSE but in CS2 when the line tool is selected there are options along the top of the menus, Shape Layer – Paths – Fill Pixels – the fill pixels option can be used to add lines without creating a new layer.
To make finding layers easier, try using the move tool and checking the Auto Select Layers option – it will automatically take you to the layer that has the bits under the mouse.
CC
Curtis Croulet
Feb 22, 2009
– If you want to know exactly what the layer is the give it a NAME. Example
if it’s a LINE then name is "LINE" if it’s a STAR shape then name is "STAR"
or something like that then you can tell them apart.

Sounds cumbersome, since every little thing added to the image (each line, each bit of text) gets its own layer.

Another oddity with PSE 4 is that, if I try to move a bit of text, usually I just click a couple of times, and the move box goes away. But once in awhile I can’t get rid of the move box at all, and the cursor becomes a bent arrow. There’s no way to kill it except to shut down the program. —
Curtis Croulet
Temecula, California
33
J
Joe
Feb 22, 2009
"Curtis Croulet" wrote:

– If you want to know exactly what the layer is the give it a NAME. Example
if it’s a LINE then name is "LINE" if it’s a STAR shape then name is "STAR"
or something like that then you can tell them apart.

Sounds cumbersome, since every little thing added to the image (each line, each bit of text) gets its own layer.

Another oddity with PSE 4 is that, if I try to move a bit of text, usually I just click a couple of times, and the move box goes away. But once in awhile I can’t get rid of the move box at all, and the cursor becomes a bent arrow. There’s no way to kill it except to shut down the program.

You sounds pretty smart, so I would suggest to be yourself <bg>
MR
Mike Russell
Feb 24, 2009
On Sun, 22 Feb 2009 01:04:56 GMT, Curtis Croulet wrote:

Sounds cumbersome, since every little thing added to the image (each line, each bit of text) gets its own layer.

Layers take a little getting used to. The benefit of this is that this allows you to go back and change the text or line later on. If you don’t want this capability, flatten the image after you create each layer.

Another oddity with PSE 4 is that, if I try to move a bit of text, usually I just click a couple of times, and the move box goes away. But once in awhile I can’t get rid of the move box at all, and the cursor becomes a bent arrow. There’s no way to kill it except to shut down the program.

Sounds like you found your way to a rotate function of some kind. Have you tried pressing the escape key when this happens?

BTW – This group is actually for full Photoshop users, and people here will not necessarily have specific information about Elements. There are a number of dedicated Elements groups. One of the best ones is a yahoo group called photoshop_elements. There is also a news group called adobe.photoshopelements, on the adobeforums.com news server. —
Mike Russell – http://www.curvemeister.com

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