Thank you Lucan. I can get them to open in photoshop no problem, but try as I might, I can not get them to open with the transparent layer, the open with a white background. Were you ever succsessful in getting them to open with the transparency? I will try to check my preferences for my clipboard, and see if my problem might lie there. Thanks for the help, and I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.

I tried to get them from the cd, but the only files I could find were .hpi I have never heard of that kind of file format, and it will not open in Illustrator or Photoshop. I am running OS X, not sure if that is my problem or not. I'm not sure what director is, but when i launch the application (hemara I believe) it shows me a thumbnail of all the images. To open the image, I must insert the cd containing the image then go thru the ridiculous process of taking a perfectly good image with its clipping path and placing it on some background. I know that the files have the transparency locked in them, but I can not figure out how in the world to get to it. I appreciate any help with this that I can get. Susie

where would I change the size of my pages?

ok you are wanting to add color to a black and white image then? you can try >on the layer with your colors, set the blend mode to overlay, or there is another way, I'll have to get back to you on the step by step on that, or maybe someone else can offer some help.

I'm not sure I understood what you are wanting, but if you are after making the black and the gray more black I might suggest....going to image>mode>lab color, then filter>sharpen>unsharp mask, move the sliders around to make the black in your picture more prominent, when you raise the sliders (the top two) it will have more of an effect on the parts of your image that are black or have a black tint. Don't forget to change back to RGB to continue working.

are you using a Mac or PC?

well EXCUSE ME for asking a stupid question, obviously we are not all experts on film slide sizes

what size is the slide?

I do not know what scanner you should purchase, but I would definetly stay away from Microtek. Those scanners seem to give me nothing but problems. When deciding which printer to purchase, make sure you check out the specs online before purchasing. Both HP and Epson, make excellent printers. If you are looking at buying an ink jet printer, however, make sure the printer heads are built in with the ink cartrages. Some of the older Epson printers have their heads seperate from the ink cartages. This becomes a problem when the heads need to be replaced because they are very expensive. I do not know if Epson has changed this for all of their new printers, but I would definetly check it out first.

Thank you retrocity! I really appreciate all the help I have recived on this projects, from the bubble brush to the caustic app. You guys rock! Susie :D

Alas, it has been a very busy day. I havn't had a chance yet to work on my image anymore. Tomorrow is another day, and with any luck I'll be able to post a much better fish picture :P.....Also if anyone has any comments about the composition of my piece, I'd be glad to hear them. The actual image will be on a calender, and it is very large. The actual picture will be 17" by 12" or so.

ugh, I guess it would help if I d/l the right file. (slaps self on head) I am going to give it a whirl and repost my image..I appreciate the help!

I appreciate it, but I can not get the program to open up at all. I don't know what I am doing wrong.

I get what you mean Yoshi, that would be a definite improvement, if I can get this program to work.