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QUESTION: OK, I think I might be going crazy! Twice now I have tried to copy something from a textbox in Photoshop Elements 5 (PSE5) and paste it somewhere else. It will not let me do it. I'm sure I've done it before, but maybe I'm wrong.
The other thing that drives me crazy about text boxes is that when you use them to journal and you have to change the size later to fit more writing, it doesn't resize to the box, it just shrinks the words and then it doesn't look nice in the text box. Does that make sense? Is there any way around this? Maybe there's some setting I don't know about. Need some help!
ANSWER 1: I can help with the first problem. The text editor in Photoshop is very basic. I discovered that I couldn't copy and paste special characters, such as quotation marks, exclamation points, apostrophes, etc. If I am trying to copy and paste the journaling into the messageboard, I would copy up to the special character and type that character by hand and then copy some more. It was one of the fixes that I was happy to find when I upgraded to PSE7.
To answer the second problem, I need a little more context. Are you trying to change the font size or just using the Transform tool to resize the text? I have found that I have accidentally grabbed the handles on the text box and it screws up the text. Unfortunately, I no longer have a copy of PSE5 to open up and try it out.
Like I stated above, the text editor in Photoshop is very basic. It was designed to be a photo editor not a text editor. Adobe assumes that if you are doing more than basic stuff, you will be using Illustrator or InDesign.
ANSWER 2: Thanks, Sara. That might explain why I'm pretty sure I've done it before and for some reason, it's not working now. So the question is, what special character is bothering it? All of them? I have a lot of quotations marks in this journaling, so is that the problem?
The second problem is when I have made a text box to journal in, and then I either need more space or have too much, so I resize the text either bigger or smaller. It never conforms to the text box. I don't know if it's even possible for it to do that when I go from, let's say, 14 point to 12 point. Maybe it can't, but it seems like it should be able to when there is extra room or I'm making the text smaller to fit in the box. It's hard to explain this in words. Wish I could show you.
ANSWER 3: Yes, sometimes the messageboard can be limiting. Is there definitely space for the word below to fit? Did you try putting the cursor there and hit Delete? The simple text editor may not be able to handle the change. I think the text editor is the main reason I was desperate to upgrade to PSE7.
I found that I couldn't copy and paste any quotation marks. There were times I just left the journaling out of the description when I posted on the messageboard, especially if it was long and complicated.
ANSWER 4: Thanks again, Sara. Do you know if this is a problem in Photoshop CS4?
ANSWER 5: As for resizing text in PSE, if you are resizing with the Move tool, it will treat the text just like any other layer. If you were resizing a layer with brush work, it would make all of the parts of the brush larger or smaller at the same time, right?
If you just want to resize the text box and force the words to wrap differently (such as changing a wide text box into a tall thin one), you need the Text tool to be active. Then you can click on the resizing handles in the corners of the text box and make changes. That won't affect the point size of your text.
ANSWER 6: Thanks, Anna. I'm not trying to resize the box with the Move tool. I'm trying to resize the text inside the box to fit the box better. Does that make sense? How do you know when you start journaling in a text box whether 12 point or 14 point or whatever is going to fit that size of box?
I always end up needing more room in the box or having too much room. Then I change the point size and it gets all wonky in the box and doesn't fit anymore. I guess I don't see why it shouldn't resize the text to fit in the box instead of leaving big spaces at the end of lines.
ANSWER 7: To copy and paste a text box in PSE5, make sure all the text is selected (double click on the text box, so the words are editable). Then copy and paste.
If you type in the text box and use the Enter key to go to the next line, the text can rearrange strangely when you resize it, because it "keeps" the return to the next line. You can place your cursor in front of that word and hit the Delete key and the text will adjust.
ANSWER 8: Sometimes I trick the words by making the box a little wider than I really want. Then for the words that run over the space they should be in, I manually put in a return (Enter) so that they show up on the next line. I have truly spent hours manually adjusting words and sneaking in or exchanging words to get it all to fit. I like the thesaurus.
ANSWER 9: I understand exactly what you mean. If you have existing text and you either change the size of the font or increase the number of words, the text box does not resize to fit. Instead, the extra stuff is "hidden" and you must increase the size of the text box manually to accommodate the changes.
As for copying and pasting text, I'm not sure why you are having a problem! I just did a test with it and it worked fine for me, including symbols such as ", ?, &, and ©. Are you highlighting all the text you want copied before using Ctrl+C (Cmd+C)?
ANSWER 10: What Anna said is correct; if the Move tool is active or you type Ctrl+T (Cmd+T) for transform, you will shrink or enlarge the text along with the size of the box. If the Text tool is active, you will only enlarge the box so there is more room to continue typing the text. It will retain all its original properties.
Another thing I have to do sometimes when I seem to be having problems with PSE not responding is to just close PSE and reopen it.
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