Two CS3 questions

[gowanstl24]

Hi Everyone,

I'm an old pro with Photoshop 7/ImageReady and just made the leap to CS3. There are two things I can't figure out for the life of me, and I was hoping someone here could help.

1. To select the filled space in a transparent layer in PS7, you would hit Ctrl and left click on the layer. Then it would select anything that was not transparent - like using the magic wand on everything at once. This does not work in CS3. How to I select only all drawn pixels but not the entire layer other than the magic wand?

2. I can't make animated gifs! Once I create the layers and set them in CS3's animation window as I would in ImageReady, I go to save it and there is no "save optimized as" option. When I hit "save as" it saves as a gif but not animated. What am I missing?

I tried Photoshop's help section and looked all within the program and couldn't figure out either of these two problems. They are the two things holding me back from using CS3 exclusively.

Thanks in advance,

Tammy

[Nora]

2. I can't make animated gifs! Once I create the layers and set them in CS3's animation window as I would in ImageReady, I go to save it and there is no "save optimized as" option. When I hit "save as" it saves as a gif but not animated. What am I missing?
Try save fore web :) That's what I use..

[Jen]

1. There is nothing to select in a transparent layer and it's empty, so I'm not sure what your trying to do...

2. Save for web, there you have your options......

Hope this helps

[Ammy]

For #2... The Save for Web option under File :)

Edit: Whoops too late :P

Cs3 just annoyed and confused me too much... I went back to cs2 and Imagready... it's so ridiculous that you can't open animations with cs3 :/

[Ajay]

1) um i guess cntrl+layer then ctrl+i to invert it to select everything outside the filled area?

2) pretty sure they did away with saved optimze as you have to use file > save for web

edit: nm i don't know what you're talking about for the 1st one :/

[gowanstl24]

Thanks about the save for web thing - I'll try it.

As for the transparent file, obviously there are images on it otherwise there would be nothing to select - I meant it has a transparent background...I want to select only the image and not the transparent pixels surrounding it.

So, if you are familiar with the Ctrl left-click function in PS7 then you should automatically know what I'm talking about.

Thanks. - I'll let you know about the save for web thing. :)


Tammy

[Ajay]

the cntrl+left click works with cs3 too.

[gowanstl24]

Save for web worked for the gif! Thank you! It's also WAY more customizable than it was in ImageReady. Can't wait to play with the options.

tytytytyty!

Tammy

[Greg-J]

Ctrl+left click on the layer thumbnail will select all drawn pixels.

[gowanstl24]

The ctrl left-click does not work for me. I tried it again in case I was tripping. When I do it, nothing is selected. When copy to a new layer in vain, nothing is pasted.

Maybe my settings are off....still messing around with it. :)

Tammy

[Ajay]

sounds like you're in indexed color instead of rgb color, or a locked layer.

[gowanstl24]

Thanks for the tip - I checked and nothing looks locked. I made a quick avi of what I'm seeing and I'm uploading it as I write this...one moment.

[Ajay]

send the psd instead :D

[gowanstl24]

Here it is: http://www.sendspace.com/file/jjka7o

I did the control left-click in the layers section then went to a blank new file and hit vtrl V and also went to see if file/paste was working, neither worked.


green rep for all helping - I really appreciate your time.

[gowanstl24]

here is the psd with 3 random layers: http://www.sendspace.com/file/q6jz9u

[gowanstl24]

Just checked - it is RGB and not anything else...still messing with it. It's probably something simple that I'm missing.

[Ajay]

wow, just checked out the psd and i'm able to cntrl+click the layer just fine. i have no idea.

[gowanstl24]

Thanks for looking at my file! Ya, it def sounds like a strange setting on my end. The good news is that my file is technically okay, so I can rule its settings out.

Thanks a lot. I'll post back here if I figure it out. I use the hell out of that function on ps7, so it's good to know CS3 has the same thing even if it's messed up right now on mine.

You all rock and green has been sent.

Tammy

[gowanstl24]

Guess what!! Yep, user error. Before you laugh, read this from Photoshop help:

"Note: When selecting, Ctrl-click the area outside the layer thumbnail. Ctrl-clicking the layer thumbnail selects the layer transparency."

In PS7 you can have your pointer anywhere within your layer's little section once your layer is selected. I wasn't clicking on the thumbnailed image itself just now. In CS3 you have to click exactly on the thumbnail image and I was off to the right in the blue, and nothing happened.

Thanks again everyone. I feel like such a tool because I let such a tiny difference in versions paralyze me.

T