PSE 9 Problems with lasso tool.

[Alex60]

Hi, I have just started using PSE9 and I am having problems with the Lasso tool, when selected and start to use I get a warning message stating 'No pixels Found'. Also when using the tool, PSE9sometimes goes into 'Not Responding mode' for a few seconds and then I lose the selected area. I am using Windows7.
Has anyone else experienced this problem, or is it me thats doing something wrong???.

Best wishes.

Alex.

[GeoffWessex]

The selection made (by any tool) needs to be big enough and with not so much feathering as to be reduced to zero pixels, and you cannot make a selection of a blank layer (one with no image).... other than that, you should be ok.

[Alex60]

Geoff, Thank you will try again...

Alex.

[marcus]

Not sure if you've managed to sort out your problem but I had the same issue and finally came acrooss a solution.

1) Right click on the PSE 9 shortcut item on your desktop.
2) Click Properties and then click the "Compatibility" tab.
3) Click on the drop down menu that shows a selection of operating systems.
4) Choose Windows Vista (I had to pick the one marked Service Pack 2), Apply and OK.
Job done hopefully.

Mark

[GeoffWessex]

I really don't think the Operating System or compatibility has anything to do with the problem...... it's far more likely that the OP is trying to make a selection on a blank layer.

[marcus]

That's possibly the case for the first problem Alex mentioned alright but regarding the second issue, there does actually appear to be a problem with the ordinary lasso tool (as opposed to Polyganol and Magnetic). What happened to me was, I'd start making a selection and after about 5 seconds the screen would jump, selection would stop and marching ants would complete itself from that point, giving a very incomplete selection also showing a "Not Responding" message in the top left of the Elements window. Strangely it always happened after about 5 secs so if I made my desired selection within that short time there was no problem. This had nothing to do with layers or feathering being too large as the other two Lasso tools work perfectly. Looking for a solution to the problem on the internet yesterday, it appears there are many others with the same problem.... http://forums.adobe.com/message/3333409
Strange one alright and I'm not sure how or why the operating system fix that I came across has sorted the problem but it certainly worked for me.

Mark

[GeoffWessex]

Ah yes, sorry - I'm afraid I tried the PSE9 trial and gave up because, like the OP's, it just stopped responding whenever it liked. PSE9 really is 'resource hungry' and needs a lot of processing power and memory. While I can see that heavyweight software like CS needs plenty of power, I'd have thought that Elements, which is, after all, meant to be a cut down version, should be designed to run on something less than cutting-edge. My PC, running XP, has done well for five years but PSE9 was a step too far, even with extra RAM. It needs Vista or Win7, so that extra RAM can be used, and probably a dual-core processor as well.

[marcus]

By all accounts you're right - I'm running it on Windows 7 and don't have any problems (apart from that Adobe bug in the lasso) but ironically PSE 9 actually seems to be running faster than my previous version - 5. Must load it onto my old PC (running XP) and see how it runs. Or doesn't maybe.

[MattUK]

The "no pixels selected" warning means you currently have a layer selected that is empty. Make sure you have the right layer selected

[Oly Paul]

Originally Posted by GeoffWessex

. While I can see that heavyweight software like CS needs plenty of power, I'd have thought that Elements, which is, after all, meant to be a cut down version, should be designed to run on something less than cutting-edge.l.

Hi Geoff, believe it or not PSE9 and CS5 have the same engine and it's just that access to some of the features are blocked out or altered. That is why there are so many workarounds to access channels and other features that are supposedly only in CS. Also when the add a new tool to PSE that was in CS, they just have to alter it to allow access to something that is already there.

For example the CS3 Program is 1.09 GB in size and PSE9 is 2.59 GB which strangley enough is the same size as CS5.