Print a photo on top of a background already on the paper.

This should all be done within Photoshop Elements, prior to sending it to the printer

Try this:

1. Go to File>new>blank file

2, Set your foreground color chip to the color that you wish to use for the background

3. Activate the paintbucket tool and left click on the background

4. Copy/paste your photo, or drag it up from the photobin to the colored background

5. Activate the move tool to position the photo, and resize, if necessary.

Was the photo on a blank area of the paper?  If not, what did you expect to happen? 

What you need to do is perhaps scan your colored paper or find a graphic background in Elements and then create a file with the paper as background and the photo placed in a new layer on top.

In the following screenshots:

• I created a new file in the Elements Editor and double clicked on one of the graphic backgrounds that are available.  This created a background layer.
• Next, I opened the photo to place over the colored paper and dragged the thumbnail up from the photo bin to the colored paper file.
• I then resized the photo to fit (dragging the corner handles)
• Finally, I clicked the green checkmark to confirm the position of the photo over the paper.

The file can then be printed.