Picking a color but when I click it goes gray.

[Nerdest]

OK, I have a small box for a webpage. This happens all the time and I have tried to work through it with no success. I used the pen tool to outline a 100 px box with a red background. Never could get the pen tool to meet perfectly so I got frustrated and decided to use the line tool in stead. So I get the area marked out and I now want to pick the red color to fill it with. I have done this is every way I can find but the colors are always some shade of brown or gray. Even when I pick red and red shows in the color box as soon as I click fill that area using the paint bucket it goes to gray. This is where I think Photoshop should make it simple because with anything else...... say ms paint...... I could have done this just fine an hour ago but I want to do it with Photoshop so I stick with it and I am getting no where. Can someone look at my screen shot and see what I am doing wrong.

 

[ibclare]

Be sure you're in RGB color mode. Go to Image>Mode>RGB. PNGs for instance are indexed and you have to convert them.

 

[Nerdest]

No ma'am it was gray scale

 

[ALB68]

Am I understanding that your trying to place a color in a greyscale image? You can't do that. Has to be in a color mode..RGB preferred for this for sure.

No ma'am it was gray scale

 

[Nerdest]

I have been away from the computer the weekend but starting to work now. I am going to get back to this problem. I was working on one image in color. Got done with that image and saved it. Then opened a new blank image, made a layer on top of that one and started on that layer. I had not made any changes in the settings after closing the image before and starting then new image. I am going to look at the settings but in the mean time with those of you saying I may be working in gray scale from what you are seeing in the screen shot can you tell me what you are seeing that is telling you that I am working in gray scale only. I am uploading a new version of that same screen shot so I can show the only change I tinkered with between closing the one color image and starting this one. Thanks.
Used paint to ad the text to the screenshot.

 

[ALB68]

Look up at the top left that shows the title of your document. Does that not say Gray color 8? Meaning it is a Greyscale 8 bit image. Switch the mode to RGB.

I have been away from the computer the weekend but starting to work now. I am going to get back to this problem. I was working on one image in color. Got done with that image and saved it. Then opened a new blank image, made a layer on top of that one and started on that layer. I had not made any changes in the settings after closing the image
before and starting then new image. I am going to look at the settings but in the mean time with those of you saying I may be working in gray scale from what you are seeing in the screen shot can you tell me what you are seeing that is telling you that I am working in gray scale only. I am uploading a new version of that same screen shot so I can show the only change I tinkered with between closing the one color image and starting this one. Thanks.
Used paint to ad the text to the screenshot.

 

[ibclare]

Correctomundo. I think the problem you are having is that when you make a new document, Photoshop uses the settings you created in the last doc, or if you made a new doc from the clipboard. PS saves the settings and applies them to the next file you create. So when you start a new document, check and see that the settings are what you want. Not just size, but resolution and mode. As Larry said earlier, choose RGB for color work, unless you have a specific need like CMYK for printing jobs.

 

[Nerdest]

Correctomundo - I have not seen that used since I was in high school. I love it. Ok, then that's the problem. I will correct that and once again, I thank you all.

 

[ALB68]

Correctamundo? Alrighty then..looks like the problem is solved..correctamundo? Live and learn,,sheesh.