I am trying to do a simple scrapbook page from SSB. I named my new file and turned on rulers, grid and snap to grid. My image should look white with ruler and grid lines. My screen is gray and not white. Any suggestions? I have been doing paper scrapbooking and now am giving a shot at digital scrapbooking. I purchased PSE 3 and am very frustrated with trying to learn it as no books are out on this yet that I am aware of. Any suggestions? I have looked at a few sites with tutorials, but am overwhelmed. Any recommendations on trying to learn this program?

My disclaimer is that I haven't used PSE3 yet... but it's not supposed to be THAT different from version 2....

I'm guessing that when you created your new file you had your Contents set to transparent or background color instead of white. You could start a new file and see if it is defaulting something other than white. Or with the file you already have open you could select the entire layer (CTRL+A) and fill it with white (Edit>Fill... and in the pull down menu next to Use: select white)

Sometime in November SBB's School of Scrap will be have a My First LO in PSE class. That's a great time to get help with creating simple LOs when there is someone around to help out and you get a nice set of elements to create you LO with.

I always recommend starting small with a new program. Think of something basic you want to know and look for a tutorial on that technique. If you have problems, please come in and post someone will always give you suggestions/help. I'm around a lot and try to answer as many of the PSE questions as I can.

Oh and check out the newbie challenge/chat . It's a great way to met other beginners and have someone experienced coming up with ideas for LOs to create.

HTH!

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Stacy
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avatar photo by Marja Flick-Buijs downloaded at sxc.hu

Thanks for you tips on getting started.

I am still not having any luck getting rid of that gray screen when I open a new file. It is all gray with a small white box in the middle. I tried opening a new file and even a new layer and the gray screen is still there. My background color selected is white. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Ah ha! I have another idea! It now sounds like you zoomed REALLY far out and the white box IS your new file.

Look at the top of your work window. It should say something like "Filename @ 50%(Layer 2, RGB)". If you zoom in (CTRL and + ), you should see the white box get bigger and the percentage will get larger also. If you use Fit On Screen (View>Fit on Screen or CTRL + 0) you should quickly see the largest size of your new file that will fit on your screen.

LMK if that works for you.

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Stacy
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avatar photo by Marja Flick-Buijs downloaded at sxc.hu

I tried zooming and it now says 1600% at the top of the page with the file name. It will not let me open it any more. The white box is now about and 1 1/2 inches square. Also I had the ruler, grid and snap to grid turned on. Only the ruler shows with a 0 in the middle of top and 0 on the side in the middle. I tried view fit on screen but it did not do anything.

When I close this file and try to open a new one I get this same gray box with the tiny square.

I was just wondering if there is some way to cancel any of the settings I have maybe mistakenly turned on and start fresh.

I think I was trying to work with the rectangle tool when my problem occurred.

This is driving me crazy. Thanks for your help. I just wish I could open a new file and start fresh but the settings seem to carry over.

Here's how to reset your preferences to the default settings. Right after you double click on the PSE icon on your desktop, hold down CTRL + SHIFT + ALT all at the same time. PSE will ask you if you want to reset your preferences; click yes.

HTH! If not please come back and we'll try to think of something else. It's so frustrating to want to play and not be able to!

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Stacy
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avatar photo by Marja Flick-Buijs downloaded at sxc.hu

Thank you,thank you thank you. I did control,alt and shift and reset. Now I can begin to try and learn. Thanks for your patience and help.

Have fun playing!!! It's great to hear that something finally worked. LOL

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Stacy
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avatar photo by Marja Flick-Buijs downloaded at sxc.hu