Participant

P: Photoshop drawing random lines when using tools (Remove, Brush and other drawing tools)

Forum|Forum|4 months ago
January 28, 2026
50 replies
2659 views

Bonjour,

Quand j'utilise l'Outil Correcteur Localisé en cliquant avec ma souris sur une zone de la photo à l’écran, une multitude de lignes partent dans tous les sens. Donc cet outil ne fonctionne plus depuis plusieurs jours. Est-ce un bug ?

Ged_Traynor

Community Expert

@SimoneHanby try resetting the tools

If that doesn’t help, try manually resetting your Photoshop preferences

SimoneHanby

Participant

Why is my selection brush tool highlighting areas I haven't selected? I go to apply the brush tool to an item I want to remove, and it automatically selects random areas of the entire image. I’ve tried googling to find the answer and no luck. I even tried chatgpt. Help please, it’s driving me crazy! Simone :-)

Claire H.

Community Manager

Hi @SimoneHanby, Thanks for reaching out! Please take a look at @Ged_Traynor’s recommendation. You can also follow these steps to try manually resetting your Photoshop preferences: https://helpx.adobe.com/ie/photoshop/using/preferences.html#Manuall. Remember to back up your settings before doing the preference reset: https://helpx.adobe.com/ie/photoshop/using/preset-migration.html.

If none of these steps work for you, let us know, and we can continue troubleshooting. I hope this helps! ^CH

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AxelMatt

Community Expert

See here: P: Photoshop drawing random lines when using tools (Remove, Brush and other drawing tools) | Adobe DME

My System: Intel i7-8700K - 64GB RAM - NVidia Geforce RTX 3060 - Windows 11 Pro 25H2 -- LR-Classic 15 - Photoshop 27 - Nik Collection 9 - PureRAW 6 - Topaz Photo AI

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Carmel Louise

Participant

Thanks AxelMatt! This worked perfectly! Such a pity so much time is wasted trying to work this issue out, when Adobe could be fixing this issue permanently.

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Carmel Louise

Participant

Every time I try to use the brush for masking, use the spot healing tool, make live selections, I get zigzagging, random strokes and selections. I cannot control the tools at all. I have troubleshooted and tested the GPU- no issues, reset tools, checked the preferences, done all of the multiple suggestions online to fix the issue and nothing works. Ive tried winding back the PS CC update to an earlier one and this didnt work either.

Also, the PS freezes when trying to move the canvas around, it takes about 1 min to unfreeze wasting more time!

I have allocated plenty of RAM, and I have been using PS CC on this desktop (windows 10) for years with no issues. This issue has only occurred in the last week and is completely frustrating! A fast resolution from Adobe would be appreciated!

Bkelley01

Participant

I was having the same issues with multiple tools in Photoshop. Finally after a day of trying all things, we have found a solution on Reddit. I tried it and it fixed it right up. This is for PC only.

Create a text document with Notepad. Name it “PSUserConfig.txt”
Write “UseSystemStylus 0” in the text body (that’s a zero not an “O”)
Save it in “C:\Users\*YOUR USER NAME*\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2026\Adobe Photoshop 2026 Settings

(In step 3, *YOUR USER NAME* is unique to whatever your username is.)

Restart photoshop and the tools should work again.

Credit to u/Professional_Use442 on Reddit for sharing this fix. Note: If you want to use the stylus again you’ll have to follow their instructions on how to re--enable the stylus mode.

Maestros

Participating Frequently

So far this workaround has worked for me.

Claire H.

Community Manager

Hi @Maestros, thanks for letting us know! We are still investigating this issue and will update here if we need any more information or if we release a fix.. ^CH

Exodus World Service

Participant

This is also happening to me with the Remove tool and Content-Aware, crazy lines appearing. I tried updating Photoshop but nothing seems to work.

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Richard3452012619ot

Participating Frequently

I recently used the Remove Tool in PS 25.12 (Mac)to eliminate some scratches, dust and other unwanted artifacts in several images. I did the edits in CMYK mode. When finished, I looked at the indivdual channels and was shocked to find that the tool had created a very visible band or swathe that was directly related to the size of the brush used when editing. The problem was the CYMK mix after the edit created a faint hard edged artifact of its own. In prepping for the printer, the resulting Print PDF showed the artifact. After discovering the problem, I tried the Remove Tool in RGB and it didn't create the problem. I also test it in CMYK in later versions of PS and it was still a problem. Bottom line is when used in RGB it make the edit a seamless blend. In CMYK it creates a hard edged, re-separated area where used.

J E L

Community Expert

Hi @Richard3452012619ot, This is probably because Firefly operates in the 8-bit sRGB color space. So, when you use the Remove Tool, your image data is temporarily converted for processing. But I agree it would be ideal if edits were also seamless when working in CMYK. If you can share some screenshots, that would be helpful to see the limitations.

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Richard3452012619ot

Participating Frequently

Here are some images to show the before and after in the individual channel and also the CMYK view. I used the K channel to show the band it created. However it is identical in the C, M, and Y as well. Also to be clear, I used to tool as shown in screen shot in the pull down menu options with the healing brush. spot healing etc. No Generative AI was involved, no Neural Filters tools. Just the Remove tool in the main tool palette. And this version of PS has the limited options for the tool shown in screenshot, unlike the options for the tool in later versions.

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samt2696025

Participant

oh cool, good too see others are having the same issue & not just me. Same issue for the last few weeks, be good to have an update fix :)

Claire H.

Community Manager

Hi @samt2696025, Thanks for letting us know! Can you send your system info, a screen recording of the issue, and a numbered list of the exact steps needed to replicate it? You can find your system info by going to Help > System Info, copying and pasting it into a text file, and attaching it here. Other users have found reverting to a previous version to help with this issue. I hope this helps! ^CH

dbellanoemi

Participant

Hello,

I am experiencing the same problem when using the Spot Healing Tool, Clone Stamp Tool. It draws lines and smudges them in my photo. I can’t work like this. Clients are waiting. Can you please advise about the status of this? Can we revert back to an older version of Photoshop?

Claire H.

Community Manager

Hi @dbellanoemi, Thanks for reaching out! You can revert to an older version of Photoshop through your Creative Cloud app. You can follow the steps here: https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/apps/work-with-cloud-documents/manage-and-restore-files/revert-to-earlier-version.html

Meanwhile, you can try resetting Photoshop's preferences using the steps here: https://adobe.ly/4jmvs7u. Please back up your settings before resetting the preferences. You can check: https://adobe.ly/3YW1WOu.

I hope this helps! ^CH

dbellanoemi

Participant

Thank you Claire.

I managed to revert back to an older version of Photoshop. It works perfect.

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abstract_dynamism16B8

Participating Frequently

This is happening to me as well. Updated Photoshop and beta. Using a desktop PC, windows 11 and 10 with my other PC. Nvidia graphics card on both desktops. Any fixes?

Claire H.

Community Manager

Hi @abstract_dynamism16B8, Thanks for letting us know! While we wait for the solution that worked for some of our other community members, can you send your system info, a screen recording of the issue, and a numbered list of the exact steps needed to replicate it? You can find your system info by going to Help > System Info, copying and pasting it into a text file, and attaching it here.

Meanwhile, you can try resetting Photoshop's preferences using the steps here: https://adobe.ly/4jmvs7u. Please back up your settings before resetting the preferences. You can check: https://adobe.ly/3YW1WOu.

I hope this helps! ^CH

A

abstract_dynamism16B8

Participating Frequently

There was another Nvidia ‘Studio Driver’ update, and after updating, Photoshop on both my Windows 10 & 11 desktops is no longer having the issues.

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