Hook Tutorial (pages 201 and 203-204)

[auricfuzz]

I was doing the vector tutorial in Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements 2 (pages 203-204). It referred me back to page 201 in order to create a hook for the picture. I think that I followed the instructions on the side on how to make it, but once I get up to applying threshold to the gaussian blurred object, it does not seem to do anything no matter how I move the threshold slider. The picture of the levels shows only one vertical line at the extreme left. I might have done something wrong in the way I got to this point, so what follows is my steps
1. Make the Torus (page 203).
2. Draw the hook using the pencil tool.
3. Use the polygonal lasso to make a better outline of the hook.
4. Fill the selection with black (no preserve transparency).
5. Deselect.
6. Gaussian Blur (19 px radius).
After this point, I choose Image>Adjustments>Threshold, which has never worked. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

[Susan S.]

I just tried it (it's one of the sections I've never worked through as my interest in vector art up to now has been zero...) I did the hook on its own first- - new document, white background, drew straight on the white background, blurred it - threshold applied - works fine.

But image>Adjustments>Threshold doesn't seem to work on a drawing that has been done on a new transparent layer. So do the hook on a new layer, then insert a white layer underneath it, merge down and apply threshold - as in step 7, p204 for the worm (this is what gave me the clue as to the nature of the problem the original poster was having). If I've got this right, this means I think a small change to step 8 on p204 is required - once the worm is merged with white, control or command clicking on the layer will no longer load just the worm as a selection - you need to use the magic wand to select it.

Susan S.

[auricfuzz]

Thanks, this has really helped me. I was able to complete the tutorial and create a great scalable logo. Thanks so much for your help.