Expert: Kevin Stohlmeyer - 1/24/2008

Question
Hi Kevin,
I've been opening various photos in Photoshop and I don't seem to be able to
use the lighting effects command ... I've tried it with just photographs (jpeg
files) and starting from scratch in Photoshop and copying and pasting graphic
items into the space, including objects from Illustrator.  The error message
that comes up every time (immediately i.e. I don't even get to the menu
where I can choose type of lighting etc.)  is: Could not complete the lighting
effects command because a requested property value could not be found.  

Can you postulate why this might be?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Philippa

Answer
Hi Philippa,

It sounds like you are missing some components from the original install.

Step 1: Reset your preferences, (hold shift+ctrl+option+cmd) when starting up.

Step 2 try this:

Create a new document to these settings - 10" x 10", RGB color, 72dpi with a white background. Then fill the background with a black color. Select all and try running the filter. If the error occurs, its software and you need to uninstall and reinstall Photoshop CS. If it does work ok, read below.

Step 3:  Then double check your documents to make sure they are in RGB, 8-bit mode (16 bit or other color modes will not allow you to use lighting effects).

Good luck, if reloading does not work,  I can dig deeper to try to help more.

Thanks

Kevin