Need photoshop help

[Zen]

I had a photo accepted for a gallery exhibit and wanted to do a bit of work on it so...
I installed my new cs5 software.
Now when I try to do levels, curves, cloning, smudging, almost anything...
nothing happens!
What could I possibly be doing wrong?

I'm on a tight deadline. Help, please.

[tulip]

I just wanted to say Congrats on the gallery submission!

I'm sorry that I cannot help you with Photoshop. I stopped using it 3+ years ago when I changed jobs and the new one didn't provide it.

[Zen]

Thanks, Tulip.

I know it's probably just one stupid thing I'm doing but withe the complexity of Pshop who knows?
School is closed for break or I'd go there.

[zoom-zoom]

I would be tempted to uninstall the new version and reinstall an old one--at least until you have time to figure out what is the problem. I have no idea.

Though I will say that I'm kinda annoyed at Adobe. When I bought my new computer...earlier in the year, I had to upgrade to CS4, since my old Mac was a PPC model and the new one is Intel. My old CS2 wouldn't run on the new machine.

So I upgrade to CS4 and those jerks released CS5 just weeks later. The least they could have done was give me a heads-up. I could have managed a few weeks without Photoshop and waited for the next version.

[OakLeaf]

DH doesn't have any suggestions, but he says Adobe has really ace phone support.

[limewave]

Congrats on the gallery submission!

I'm known as the PhotoShop wizard where I work. Unfortunately, it's hard to know what's wrong without standing over your shoulder. I'm guessing it has something to do with the layer being locked or working on the wrong layer. It may have something to do with the Mode or Configuration. I agree that you should call adobe, they can probably walk you through the steps.

You didn't perhaps install a "trial" or "student" edition of PhotoShop? It's been a long time since I used a student-edition, but it seems like some of the features are locked.

[NbyNW]

Limewave and Zoom-Zoom both have good ideas.

I'm still running CS3 on MacOSX.4 (Tiger) because I can't justify upgrading.It was my last big software purchase before losing my student discount, and CS4 came out maybe a year later.

Some of the new versions won't run well on older OS and vice versa.

[limewave]

Some of the new versions won't run well on older OS and vice versa.

I forgot about that. There are system requirements to CS5:

Multicore Intel processor with 64-bit support
Mac OS X v10.5.7 or v10.6.3; Mac OS X v10.6.3 required for GPU-accelerated performance
2GB of RAM (4GB or more recommended)
10GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on a volume that uses a case-sensitive file system or on removable flash-based storage devices)
7200 RPM hard drive for editing compressed video formats; RAID 0 for uncompressed
1280x900 display with OpenGL 2.0–compatible graphics card

[Zen]

Bah!

[blackhillsbiker]

Are you on a Mac or PC? Try starting Photoshop in 32-bit mode. I was having some issues at work and this solved them (at least temporarily) for me.

Deb

[bluebug32]

Could you use another program to adjust your levels in the meantime? Even standard photo editing programs like iPhoto have this capability.

[pll]

Zen: I'm not a Photoshop expert but in my office there are several pros, so I can ask them. What is the format of your picture file and what operating system are using?

[Zen]

I'm going with BHBikers suggestion first and see what happens.
Thanks, everybody.

[Zen]

I had to reinstall CS4
I kept getting the NO symbol (circle with slash) when I tried to do anything in CS5

[blackhillsbiker]

You probably already know this — when Adobe products misbehave, they rarely do it only on one computer. My lifesaver has always been typing the problem I'm having (sometimes I have to reword it multiple times) into the search box at http://forums.adobe.com/index.jspa

Usually there is someone having exactly the same problem, on the same operating system, and someone else with a solution. I have occasionally run across problems that have no solution until they are fixed in an upgrade, but then someone usually has figured out a work-around. This is essential because I almost always have a major glitch with a big job that is due later that same day.

I also keep one version back on my computer for quite awhile after upgrading.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you,
Deb