Photo Shop Question

Framar

WOW Framer
Joined
Jul 24, 2001
Posts
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Buffalo, New York, USA/Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada
This is a really stupid question - I am a total dunce when it comes to Photo Shop - I simply blunder my way around in there and if I am really lucky, pixel by pixel I can achieve my goals.

I have version 7 and even an entire paper book (!) about it and for the life of me I cannot figure out any way to do what I am trying to do.

I have an image I have made. I want to print 4 copies of this image on a sheet of transfer paper to make Christmas presents. I have resized my image to 3.75 x 3.75 and I have resized the "canvas" to 8.5 x 11 - and that is far as I have gotten.

I cannot seem to activate the "copy and paste" thingie as I could in ANY OTHER PROGRAM and the selection tools just seem to get in my way - I have tried marquee tool, a whole bunch of tools actually and the program just cannot seem to fathom what I am trying to do anymore than I can fathom how to do it.

What magic button am I overlooking? What simple command have I missed???
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My image is comprised of many layers, some of which I suspect have absolutely nothing in them. I have tried copying, heck, even MOVING my image with layers locked and unlocked to no avail.

H E L P !!!!!!
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(thank you!)
 
Framar, I feel your pain. I also have Photoshop 7 and it still drives me nuts most of the time. Great program if you can figure it all out. My son is a photographer and has a part time studio in the back of my building and he can do all sorts of things with it that I would think was impossible. But then again, he workes in the chemistry department at Purdue University and I'm just a framer. :D

Rock
 
Mar,

Assuming that your image is on the background, draw a marquee around the image.

Create a new, additional layer from it by hitting the “Control-J” (command-J on the Mac) keys. Do that two more times. Nothing seems to be happening, but now you’ve got four images stacked one on top of each other.

Select the Move Key (keyboard shortcut V) and with the first layer selected, move it to where you want. Click the second layer and Move it, too. Do the same with the third layer.

If you want them aligned, choose one layer and then activate the “merge” button in your layers palette. Chose Menu –> Layer –> Align Linked until you get them where you want them.
 
Last nite I created a setup with alot of copies of the same photo. I created a new canvas by going under file and clicking on new. This creates a new canvas that you size to what you need to hold whatever you want to print. Once that is set up, I go back to the photo and click and drag it into the empty canvas. This places it in there. Then all you have to do is position it where you want it and go back and do it again until you have as many as you want.

Then you go under layers and go to merge down or Apple E (I guess it is control E on a PC) and click it over and over until all of the layers have merged down to one.
Then send it to the printer and you are done.

That wasn't so hard now, was it?
 
Another way would be the duplicate layer function.
 
Framar -
Go to "IMAGE" > "DUPLICATE"
This will duplicate your entire image, if you have multiple "LAYERS" you will need to go to "LAYER" > "FLATTEN IMAGE"
Return to your original - go to "IMAGE" > "CANVAS SIZE" and set your canvas to 8.5x11 you will also see a "box" with 9 "boxes" - (the middle box is always set as the default) Select the upper left box & hit "Enter" - this will place your original image in the upper left hand corner of your page.
Go back to the "FLATTENED" duplicate and by using your "MOVE" tool, just grab the duplicate and move it to the original canvas and you can place it where-ever it needs to go. You will need to go back to the "DUPLICATE" and grab it & move it 2 more times to get all four on your canvas.
You may also want to go to "VIEW" > "SNAP" to assist you when lining up multiple items on a page, or if you are having difficulty in lining items up the way that you want them lined up, go to "VIEW" and turn "SNAP" off.
Hopefully, I didn't add to your confusion
:eek:
 
Holy cow! Thanks for all the directions! I am just going to have to sit down and conquer this thing!!!

Thanks, EVERYONE!!!
 
If your doing a lot of work with collage images consider LumaPix Fotofusion.
http://www.lumapix.com/

A fraction of the cost of photoshop and 10 times easier to use. Drag the image into the page, drag to resize, add a border and add text all in a couple of minutes.

We bought it to make collages for our pro customers and found it to be the most useful software in the lab.

Doug
 
Or... you could just go get the neighbors 6 yr old to come over and they will have it done in no time!!

The older we get, the harder they make this stuff!!
 
In all fairness, Adobe has their own way of doing things which happens not to be intuitive to those used to using Microsoft applications.

Framar, get used to using the layers palette. once you "get it", it will vastly simplify your Photoshop dealings. If you already have your image in the expanded canvas, all you need to use is the move tool and the layers palette. At the bottom of the layers palette is the new layer icon. Click on the image layer and drag it to the new layer icon and release the mouse. This copies the layer (i.e. the same as cut and paste). Now using the move tool, reposition it as desired. Do the same thing twice more. Now you can print.
 
The nice (if often frustrating) thing about Photoshop is that there is often a dozen ways to do the same thing.

All of the suggestions that were posted here work. You just have to find the method that is most comfortable for you.

If you have the time and inclination, you might scope out Adobe’s <u>Classroom in a Book</u> series. They are brilliantly written tutorial lesson plans which come with a CD filled with images to work on. Each “lesson” takes about an hour, but, of course, you can work at your own pace since no one will be looking over your shoulder. By the time you finish, you will have learned just about everything Photoshop has to offer (well, maybe, 90% – I’m still amazed at what it will do). In the long run the CIB for PS, it’s a great time saver. Since Adobe has superseded version 7, you may be able to find a used copy on eBay and save yourself some dough.
 
Why are you going so hesitantly about this?

All Framar has to do and know is this:
1. Make sure your image is in printable condition. That is Resolution 200 dpi and mode CMIK.
Go to Image>Image Size in order to fix picture's size and resolution. Then go to Image>Mode>CMIK for the other part of it.
2. With your picture active on the screen, clik Select>All and then Edit>Copy. Now you have copied the image and need a new document to paste and arrange that image onto it as many times as you need it to.
3. Go File>New and give yourself a 8.5 x 11 inch
page SAME RESOLUTION (200 dpi) as your pic.
4. Finally go Edit>Paste. With the "move tool" (it looks like a cross) you move that newly pasted image on its right place and then you click Paste again and move the second pic to its final place then again Paste and move till you are done with all four pics.

Each time you make a paste you actually bring about a new layer into your project but you don't need to bother with that if you paste and move as I told you before.

You can print that document right away or you can go Layer>Flatten first. This is not important. But printing at the same resolution (200 dpi in our example) as your project was conceived will assure same scale print reproduction. So make sure your printer is calibrated to print your project as 200 dpi and you'll be just fine. (incidentally, if our document is of a lager resolution than your printer, the printed image will be smaller than needed, and vice versa).
To fix printer's resolution according to your project's resolution you go File>Print>Properties
 
I'm sorry, Cornell, but I cannot agree with that advice. There's no benefit for Framar to convert the image to CMYK, particularly considering that most inkjet printers expect RGB images.
 
Mar, I have Photoshop 7.0. Maybe it's 8.0 - I don't remember. It's not installed on my computer at this time.

I use Photoshop Elements. It's now in version 4.0 and it does everything the non-professional needs - it just does it more intuitively.

You would select File > Print > Print Package and the choose the layout. I'll bet Emibub could do it.
 
If you have the Layers palette open simply click the layer you want to dupe and hit "CTRL+J".
 
Sorry, my last effort to answer was interupted, I would assume that you are having trouble with the copy and paste method either due to the background layer being locked (double click it on the layers palette to release) or possibly because your computer does not have enough memory to perform the copy function.

There are lots of ways as have been mentioned - the key is to find one that works for you. Personally I would alter the canvas size, set a guide to the edges of the layer to be copied - then Alt+Drag+Shift to make and move a copy.

Photoshop takes a lot to learn if you force it - it's not so much about learning the commands and features though. Once you understand the "logic" used by the creators it becomes second nature.
 
OK - now all of you are starting to scare me - the one thing I absolutely hate the MOST about computers is that they are too much like life - many roads lead to the same destination - and here I am seeking the one true path!

YIKES!!!
 
Like Ron, I also use Elements. That Picture Package feature is great. You can even do a sheet like they make for school photos, with a couple of 5x7's and a bunch of "wallet size". And, you don't have to use all the same image within a package sheet. You can mix and match them by assigning a different image to each size block. It's a very efficient way to save on expensive photo printing paper.
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Rick
 
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I DID IT!!! Flattened my layers, created a new page, duplicated the image and used the MOVE tool (which had previously eluded me!) to create the new panel of 4 images!!!

THANKS EVERYONE (and I have printed out this thread for future reference!)!!! ;)
 
I know just how you feel, Mar. (Well, not the "I DID IT!!!" part, but the "one true path" part.)

One of my pet peeves is driving around with a passenger giving me directions. The passenger says something like, "At the next intersection, turn right and go three blocks. Then turn left. OR, you could go straight for another two blocks, THEN turn right and . . ."

I'm always tempted to pull over and walk home.
 
photoshop has this thing called something like "paste special" or something. parts of photoshop are awful.

you could also probably save the image that you made and just use the regular thing that comes with xp to print it. like where you view, and then you choose print, and you can say you want 4 on 8.5x11 at 4x6 size etc and it will just print them on one page.
 
Originally posted by xenniferx:
photoshop has this thing called something like "paste special" or something . parts of photoshop are awful.

you could also probably save the image that you made and just use the regular thing that comes with xp to print it. like where you view, and then you choose print, and you can say you want 4 on 8.5x11 at 4x6 size etc and it will just print them on one page.
Very informative. You sound almost as qualified to commentate on the usefulness of Photoshop (yet another program which I've never had any trouble using) as you do on Lifesaver POS.
 
Very informative. You sound almost as qualified to commentate on the usefulness of Photoshop (yet another program which I've never had any trouble using) as you do on Lifesaver POS.

Ouch! TGLAM!
 
The best way to do this is to save the one photoshop image and then place it 4x in a publishing program. It could even be Word. Save it to size as a Tiff or a Jpeg in Photoshop. Close it - open Word and then go to insert to picture. Once on the document move it where you want it. Go to edit - copy (control c) and then edit - paste (control V) . Arrange it on the page. It will be a MUCH smaller file size than pasting it up in Photoshop. An 8.5 x 11, 200 dpi color image in Photoshop is 20 mgs and up and some computers really balk at files that big. BTW all of the suggestions given will pretty much work in any Photoshop version. Photoshop usually doesn't delete much from version to version - just adds more possibilities. It's quite mind boggling at times even for those of us who work with it everyday!
Jacqueline
 
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