Inspiring

P: Switching channels deselects curves point in Photoshop 27.5 on macOS

Forum|Forum|1 month ago
April 14, 2026
8 replies
130 views

Since updating to 27.5 yesterday I’m encountering a bug where when I switch between channels of a Curves adjustment layer the active point is deselected. This breaks flow and slows down the process of getting the color right, which for me typically involves bouncing back and forth between 2 or all 3 color channels (working in RGB) and making one or two point adjustments with the arrow keys.

To reproduce:

Make a new Curves layer
Add a point somewhere in the middle of each of the R, G, and B channels.
Press Opt + 3, 4, or 5 to switch between the channels.
Prior behavior: you would still have selected and active the same, nth point on the curve. So, if you were on the Red channel and had tweaked a point in the middle, then switched to Blue which you hadn’t touched yet, you’d have the 255,255 point active since it was the second point on the curve. Once all three channels had a point though, switching between them would keep the midpoint selected for tweaking with the arrow keys. Current behavior: the point is deselected, necessitating pressing + twice to re-select it. Quite a speed bump when you’re trying to go back and forth and do this 5–10 times.

I am using Photoshop 27.5.0 on MacOS 14.8.3 on an M1 Max MBP if it helps.

S

Stewart34859288gql9

Participant

I’m very happy to see that this is not an unusual workflow and that Adobe is working on fixing this. Because for me, this is something I do on EVERY image I work on. And making me reselect my black (or whichever) point every time I switch channels is like having to step around broken glass while barefoot when I was used to running.

B

Bruce at TRG

Known Participant

27.7 the problem is not fixed. Continually in my thoughts and workflows.

nik.m

Community Manager

Hi @Bruce at TRG, the product is working on this. I saw you added your vote to the issue, thanks for doing that.

Please stay tuned.

Thanks,

Nikunj

mark_6634

Participant

Can confirm that I’m also dealing with this bug. It started in 27.5 and has carried through to 27.6. It’s also in the Beta versions.

27.4 is the last “good version” when switching channels does not deselect the active curve point.

D

defaultsxrfw07ds7x3

Participant

I am also having this problem and would love to see it addressed

B

Bruce at TRG

Known Participant

I’m also having this problem and I’m looking forward for the matter to be resolved.

Yamonov

Legend

I strongly agree. While I can reluctantly accept the thicker curve and larger control points making the UI feel more childish, this change breaks a fundamental behavior of the Curves tool. Previously, the nearest control point would remain active when switching channels, allowing immediate adjustment with the arrow keys. In the latest version, all points become inactive, forcing users to reselect them with the plus/minus keys. I cannot believe this was implemented and released without preserving such a basic and essential interaction.

--Yamonov

robertw44482386

Inspiring

In previous versions if I had adjusted a point on the red channel and left it selected I could switch to the green or blue channel and a similar point if it existed would remain selected.

Recently this functionality disappeared, now switching channels causes all points to be unselected. This adds extra friction in adjusting tonality.

Specifically it slows down those of us who very quickly manipulate multiple channels using only the keyboard. The workflow used to be:

starting on the red channel
move point with arrow keys

option 4

move point

option 5

move point

option 2

fine adjustment

option 3

fine adjustment

….and so on, all of this taking place in a couple of seconds while never taking our eyes off the image.

Now it’s

option 4

find the right point, is that it? nope, its the next one

make adjustment

option 5

search for the right point, click it, whoops I moved it. nudge it back,
now i’ve taken my eyes off the image.

at this point I have not even adjusted one image where previously by now I’d be on the 3rd or 4th.

Additionally this change seems to add no functionality whatsoever.

Can we please have it back?

nik.m

Community Manager

Hi, thanks for reaching out and sharing the details!

I’m able to reproduce this issue on one of my machines and I’ve shared it with the product team for investigation. I would need some more information from you to ensure we have everything we need.

Please go to the Help menu in Photoshop, then System Info, and copy the text. You can share the info with us by either pasting it as a reply here or in a text file and sharing the file with us.

Also, it would be helpful if you could share a video of the behavior.

Thanks,

Nikunj