the selected area is empty

[yous mies]

hi all have a problem when i select something and try to copy it it give me the error message :
couldnt complete the copy command because the selected area is empty
can anyone explain what m i doing wrong?
thanx

[Colin Walls]

This means there are no pixels in the selected area, so there is nothing to copy.

Most likely this is because the selected area, on the current layer is empty. Assuming you have multiple layers, it's often best to keep the layers pallette open all the time [IMHO].

[Iain McFadzen]

....and remember that if you are using multiple layers and want to copy exactly what you see in the document, you need to use Copy Merged (CTRL+SHIFT+C).

[Ed A. Ortiz]

Also,

If your selection is feathered, at times you may be feathering too much on a small workspace, it'll give you that message as well.

Same goes for feathering small selections.