Can't "flatten" transparent image in Elements 2021 to create a white background

Dear User,

Thank you for reaching out to us regarding your issue.

Can you elaborate the problem a bit more with information about what changes were made in your system when it stopped working? Did any system update or app update take place during this time?

Also, details about your system - Machine details, OS & product details would be helpful too.

Thanks,

Geetanjali 

Your question is not clear.  Glenn thinks you want to have the background of the smiley face layer transparent so that anything behind the smiley face will appear through.  But your question suggests to me that you want the background to the face to be white before you place it over the other items in the image.  Which is it?

If you want there to be a white square with a smiley face placed over (and obscuring) the layer behind it, then that is what you have.  And just to be precise, the white smiley face square is not pure white.  It has varying RGB values throughout.  The rest of the background on your image has values of 255.  But, it does not have a white and grey checkerboard to denote a transparency.

If Glenn's answer does not satisfy you, we need to see a screenshot that includes your layers panel so that we can see the original smiley face before and after it was flattened.  And also a screenshot of the layers panel of the photo collage image.

And my final question is: do you really want to obscure the items behind the smiley face square?

FIRST:  You get 1 "Atta boy" for posting an actual screenshot, and not a blurry image taken with a phone.

The sad face is not a png format-  that has to be in the png format to have a transparent background.

Just hit it, in the white part, a couple of times with the background eraser, and you should be good to go.