So the questions I get asked most often are below - here's some solutions for the most common issues:

The first thing to do, before running any of the installers or the Add-O-Matic, is to make sure Elements (including the Organizer and any of its components) are not running. Use Task Manager to make sure they are closed. Elements can't rebuild the internal database if any part of it is accessing the database - so shut it down first!

There's one thing, though, that generally is the easiest and fastest fix for most issues. The mails generally go something like this:

Dear Graffi - I added all my things with your installers, but when I go back into Elements there's nothing new in the drop menu! What happened?

or

I added my actions using the Add-O-Matic and started Elements, but they're not there - What's going on?!

What's happened is that the database hasn't recognized the new items yet, for a number of reasons. Here's a few fast tricks you can use to kick-start the database:

• With Elements open and the Effects palette visible, click away from Photo Effects into another category - Layer Styles, for example, which is the second icon at the top of the palette. Then click back into the Photo Effects section (the third icon) and use the drop menu to locate the new category installed. More often than not, the database hasn't had an opportunity to adjust the display, so this is a way to "refresh" the palette view.



• Another option to get things right is to restart Elements. This will finalize any database rebuilding and get things put away in their places.

Sometimes, though, something has blocked the database from finishing its update (you started working too soon while the database is still rebuilding in the background is the most common reason). Sometimes you simply have to manually force a rebuild of the database. It's fairly simple to do, but it does take a good 15 or 20 minutes to complete. Here's how to do that in Photoshop Elements:

• (By the way, the file paths below are for Windows 7 & Vista - if you're using XP, substitute C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data for everywhere you see C:\Program Data\ )

Turn on hidden folders' visibility first by clicking Start>Control Panel>Folder Options, and choose the View tab. Scroll down to the section concerning viewing hidden files and folders, and toggle it ON. Click OK enough times to exit that dialog.

Then navigate to

• C:\Program Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\#.#

and locate the file "ThumbDatabase.db3" - rename it "ThumbDatabase.db3.OLD".

Next, navigate to

• C:\Program Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\#.#\Locale\en_US

and rename the database file there, too, from "MediaDatabase.db3" to "MediaDatabase.db3.OLD"

*Quit all other programs (email, web browser, etc.) and restart Elements.

Your entire database will be rebuilt, and this will take a bit of time (around 15 ~ 20 minutes or so, maybe a bit more or less depending on your computer's speed, how many other utilities are running, how much stuff you've added to Elements, etc.)

When it finishes, restart Elements again, and all your menus should appear populated.

I hope this solution works for you, but please leave any comments below - I'd love to hear if this helps!

graffi