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jchipperfield
Participant
October 20, 2026
Investigating

P: When I am brushin on a mask, the option to switch between black and white stops working and I can only brush in or out.

When I am brushing in or out on a masked layer, after one or two switches between black and white, it stops switching and I can only brush in or out. It makes it impossible to use masking on my layers.  It doesn’t happen every time, but probably about 75% of the time.

      11 replies

      UnkGraphics
      Participant
      October 23, 2026

      I’m also having this issue. Black / White not appearing by default when selecting a layer mask (instead the default swatch colors remain).

      Also, I’m having either black or white be “stuck” so that I can only remove or add to a mask (regardless of which color is currently active).

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      Footeprintz
      Footeprintz
      Participant
      October 23, 2026

      Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

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      hrgodinez
      Participant
      October 22, 2026

      Blend mode normal, Opacity and Flow 100% 

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      hrgodinez
      Participant
      October 22, 2026

      Cannot paint on a mask. Also, when I am in quick mask mode black and white bushes act as a black brush.

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      Deltaweb
      Deltaweb
      Known Participant
      October 21, 2026

      Happens on Windows 10 Pro v22H2 19045.7807 as well (I know I need to switch to 11). Steps to reproduce are rather inconsistent. Usually happens upon multiple switches back and forth between foreground/background color. Color picker window will not usually fix this.

      Edit: See other post here for additional info

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      ullathorne
      Participant
      October 21, 2026

      On the layer mask thumbnail, painting black (set at 100% opacity and flow, and with pure black and white) is not removing the portion of the mask, it paints it in, but does not remove

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        Deltaweb
        Deltaweb
        Known Participant
        October 21, 2026

        I am experiencing the same problem. Photoshop Beta v28.0.1. It seems to have started on this update, so my plan is to revert to a previous version until it can be fixed

        To add to the original complaint, you can sometimes get the problem to correct itself, however as I experience the issue it becomes harder and harder to fix on its own. First, I switched to a different tool (adjustment brush tool) and upon switching back, that fixed it. Then the next time the problem happened, this fix did not work. Switching to the pencil fixed it. Then, then next time this happened, neither the adjustment brush or pencil fixed this. It’s almost as if it’s a virus affecting the tools

        The issue will occasionally persist through saving and reloading the file in the same open instance of Photoshop. It can also persist upon closing and reopening the program. The problem occurs when switching between black and white in the raster mask layer (I use the X keyboard shortcut to swap foreground and background colors). It’s happening very frequently for me and masking is unfortunately an incredibly important part of my job so it’s affecting quite a bit of my workflow

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          Mitya284824662dvh
          Mitya284824662dvh
          Participant
          October 20, 2026

          The same. No matter black or white selected, both draw white on the mask mode. 
          And same solution - is to switch to the brush tool. And If the bug appears on Brush tool - then switch to Eraser. 

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            Ambrosial_Zephyr2110
            Participant
            October 20, 2026

            I constantly use X to switch foreground and background color to quickly paint in masks. Suddenly there are buttons on the taskbar that regulate adding or substracting from mask. This is not workable in daily use. Ther is never a task that is only addding or only substracting. I use the colors, and not just black and white, also grey tints. 

            This is not a helpful change.

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              arzelia
              arzelia
              Known Participant
              October 20, 2026

              same issue as OP

              Photoshop version: Beta 28.0.1
              Operating system: macOS 26.6.2
              Brush settings: Normal mode, 100% opacity, 100% flow

              When painting on a layer mask, the brush applies black regardless of the foreground and background colours. Even with white selected as the foreground colour, it still paints black.

              Steps to reproduce:

              1. Open a document with a layer mask.
              2. Select the mask thumbnail in the Layers panel.
              3. Select the Brush tool, with mode set to Normal, opacity at 100% and flow at 100%.
              4. Set the foreground colour to white and paint on the mask.
              5. Swap the foreground and background colours and try again.

              Expected result: White should reveal the masked content, while black should hide it.

              Actual result: The brush paints black on the mask regardless of the selected foreground colour.

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