Need some Photoshop help!

Polkster

I'm finishing up my latest comic but Photoshop is being a bitch for some reason; I'm inserting background color layers behind text but the text layer, as well as the other layers with my characters with spaces that ought to be empty, are not acting transparent. As in, the "o"s have white spots in them, character elbow spaces, where I've deleted that space in the layer, are still white; this is the first time this has happened and I have no idea why it's going on. Can anyone help so I can get this update out on time?

Ego

My photoshop version is pretty old, but for me in the layers toolbar there's a little button (a square with the 'transparent' texture) next to 'Lock:' and toggling it will set the layer to either cut/erase to transparency, or to the current background colour you've selected.

I can take a screenshot if you want, hopefully the new versions just have the same button there .

Polkster

Toggling that button did nothing...

Polkster

Forget it, problem tentatively solved.

Polkster

False, layers still behaving strangely... this is really pissing me off because it's fucking up layer stacking too.

Polkster

So my characters are on one layer, my background beneath it; I made a square in my background, beneath my characters, and tried to select it with the magic wand, but the wand selects the space within that square as if the characters were in that same layer, as in it'll select space between the characters or between them and the boundaries of the square, instead of ignoring the characters dimensions altogether.

ZackSchilling

I occasionally have problems like this. Every single time, it's some stupid mistake I've made. Either I have some small selection made off screen or I'm on the wrong layer or I have "Use All Layers" checked on the top bar where tools put their settings.

Just turn off every layer except the one you are trying to manipulate. That will usually show you where the real problem is. Also, check the top bar and make sure "sample all layers" isn't checked with the wand as the active tool.