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Participant
May 15, 2026

Large feathered selections suddenly no longer produce correct soft transitions in Curves and Levels. Very large feather values behave like much smaller ones.

  • May 15, 2026
  • 0 replies
  • 6 views

A serious problem appeared suddenly yesterday in Photoshop.

My long-used workflow with large feathered selections no longer behaves correctly during direct adjustments such as Curves, Levels and Saturation.

Reproducible issue:

  • Large image
  • Large selection area
  • Feather values between 250 px and 700 px
  • Direct adjustment via Curves / Levels

Expected result:
A very broad and soft tonal transition.

Actual result:
The transition remains extremely narrow, visually similar to a much smaller feather radius.

Important observations:

  • The same workflow functioned correctly until yesterday
  • Feather is actually stored in the selection (verified with Ctrl+J transparency test)
  • The problem specifically affects practical adjustment behavior during Curves / Levels operations
  • Reproduced after complete clean reinstall
  • Adobe Cleaner Tool used
  • Preferences reset
  • GPU disabled and tested
  • Multiple Photoshop versions tested
  • Same behavior on a new Windows user profile

This seriously affects fast local correction workflows based on large feathered selections.

Attached screenshots show the problem visually.

Any sugestions?