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P: (Win/macOS) PS 27.5 Image Flickering When using Image > Adjustment > Curves

Forum|Forum|5 hours ago
April 3, 2026
2 replies
28 views

Since version 27.4 and continuing in 27.5 I’ve been experiencing image flickering when using the Curves adjustment.

In version 27.4, the issue occurs in all Curves use cases. In 27.5, it appears primarily when applying Curves as a Smart Adjustment on a Smart Object. It is slightly improved, but still noticeable when using Curves as a standard adjustment layer.

I’ve attached a video demonstrating the issue:

The first example shows Curves applied as a Smart Adjustment on a Smart Object (strong flickering).
The second shows a direct adjustment on a non-Smart Object layer (no issue).
The third shows a standard adjustment layer (minor flickering still visible).

The flickering is clearly visible, especially in the first case.

Please look into this issue, as it makes precise adjustments very difficult.

Thank you.

example video:

https://youtu.be/jbe6K-ORr44

Flickering Curves3.mov

Sameer K

Community Manager

Hey, @Charismatic_yogiB82A. Welcome to the Photoshop Community. Thanks for bringing this up, and @Ged_Traynor, for helping validate this.

I see this on my MBP and a secondary Windows 11 machine. I've reported this to the team for review.

Thanks!
Sameer K
(Type '@' and type my name to mention me when you reply)

Charismatic_yogiB82AAuthor

Known Participant

Thank you very much!

I just realized that my nickname has been changed to @Charismatic_yogiB82A, and I did not make this change myself. I’ve been a member here for many years and have posted frequently.

I know this is a bit off topic, but could you please let me know how and why my nickname was changed?

Thanks!

Ged_Traynor

Community Expert

@Charismatic_yogiB82A check your account settings

AxelMatt

Community Expert

I don’t see this on my side. It seems that a issue with the graphical device driver.

Try to disable the option to "Use Graphics Procesor" from Photoshop by going to Preferences, then Performance. Once done, quit & relaunch Photoshop to check if that helps.

Is your system up-to-date? Do you have installed all recent updates and patches for the operating system and the device drivers, especially the graphic driver. Please make also sure that you have installed the Studio version and not the Game Ready version of your NVidia driver.

If the issue persists, you can try to reset the preferences of Photoshop using the steps described here: Reset preferences

If this all doesn’t help provide a copy of your 'System Info'. This can be get from the Photoshop menu item Help > System Info. There's a copy button in the System Info dialog. Press this button and paste the info into a text file and attach it to your next forum post.

My System: Intel i7-8700K - 64GB RAM - NVidia Geforce RTX 3060 - Windows 11 Pro 25H2 -- LR-Classic 15 - Photoshop 27 - Nik Collection 8 - PureRAW 6 - Topaz Photo AI

Charismatic_yogiB82AAuthor

Known Participant

Hi, thanks for the quick reply!

I’m working on a MacBook Pro M4 Max with 128 GB RAM, running macOS Sequoia 15.7.5 (24G624). The machine is brand new (about 3 months old) with a clean system installation.

The issue started immediately after updating to Photoshop 27.4.

Please take a closer look into this, as it does not appear to be related to my system.

Thanks!

Ged_Traynor

Community Expert

@Charismatic_yogiB82A I can reproduce it on a smart object if I use the image > adjustment > curves, but not if I use the curves adjustment panel, Photoshop version 27.5 on Windows 11

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