Hi - I am having trouble figuring out how to select a photo within a layout so I can work with it. For example, I have a photo in its own layer and want to soften its edges. When I select that layer, I see the bounding box around the photo, but I can't select the feather option unless I use a marquee tool first to select part of the photo. Is there any way to soften the edges of the whole photo? What is the best way to soften the edges of a photo in elements? Thanks in advance for any advice.
Jennifer

You probably should do everything you want to do to the photo before you bring it into the layout. That includes softening the edges. Basically want you want to do is use the marqee tool to select approximately the part you want to delete, add a feather to the selection (try Selection-Feather which is where the command is in Photoshop), and hit the Delete key. You will need to experiment to see how much feathering you want.

If by softening you mean a feathering out to either white or black, you need to put the white or black layer under your photo and then flatten the photo before you pull it into your layout file.

By the way, ALWAYS work with COPIES and not the original photo file.

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Stella

My Gallery

If you hold down the "ctrl" key and click on the image of the layer in the layers palette, it selects just the item you want to work on, and not the extra empty pixels.

If you are looking to make the edges a bit see-though, you can then erase the edges using a reduced opacity on the tool you decide to use (eraser of a paintbrush in "clear" mode). Not quite sure about the look you are trying to find, so there may be more tool options to play with. Shout if you need more help

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Colleen in Friendly Manitoba...
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