Help a Newbie!

[Lathala]

Hi, I am currently working on a project and decided to pick up Photoshop again, having used it frequently in the past. However, I cannot seem to use any tools to affect my work, as in I cannot draw, use the lasso tool or anything that requires these tools. I have tried everything I can think of to be able to affect it, but I don't seem to be getting anywhere

I know i'm missing something simple, can anyone help?

Thanks

Lath

[BlueFlare]

However, I cannot seem to use any tools to affect my work, as in I cannot draw, use the lasso tool or anything that requires these tools.

What do exactly mean? Are the tools greyed out, invisible, do you have any messages, etc?

[qdesign]

I agree - also a newbie - my eraser works maybe 10% of the time and i cannot figure out why - layer not locked, not index, copy layer, change color to RGB.....

[Andrei Doubrovs]

It may be caused by douzens of things:
1. Check your tool settings in the Options bar. "Mode" has to be "Normal"; "Opacity" - 100%
2. Check your layer properties. Make sure it is not locked and blending mode is "Normal"
3. Make sure you are editing the proper layer (it might happen that you are erasing on an empty or adjustment layer)
4. Aren't you in the "Quick Mask" mode?
5. Is the layer itself - and not the layer mask - is active? (the layer thumbnail has to be "framed")
6. Do you use the correct kind of tool. (The "regular" tools are not applicable to "vector" layers; "vector" tools can't be applied to "raster" layers")
... and so on...