A newcomers layer ?

OK, I'm new to this imaging and am trying to learn it on the Demo version of Paint Shop Pro 7 before I purchase it.
A friend of mine has been making banners for me for free at her work for me to use on various projects I am involved in. When I told her about what I was running into she sent me a picture of what her layer screen looks like while she is working on something. Her layers are all separated on the screen where you can see individual one there and in the layer pallette.
My ? is what am I doing wrong? My layers are going one on top of the other where I can't see to line up say the text on one layer with the text on the next.
Stupid ? more than likely.

i don't klnow about paint shop pro... i guess that why i'm on team PHOTOSHOP... try posting in the misc software section