Clipping path moves when using the hand tool to move image

You might be running into a very subtle difference in how the space bar works while drawing or editing paths. If I’m right about that, the solution will be to pay closer attention to whether the mouse button is pressed or not pressed when you hold down the space bar.

The more detailed explanation:

When editing with the path editing tools, the space bar has this additional feature: If you’re in the middle of placing or editing points — that is, the mouse button is held down — the space bar lets you reposition the point you are currently drawing. As long as the space bar is pressed, dragging repositions that point for you, and does not pan the image in the window.

If you want to pan the image in the window while editing paths, you can do that, but it will only happen if you make sure you’ve released the mouse button. Then the space bar works as the spring-loaded single key shortcut for the Hand tool, which is what you were expecting. 

The demo below should show how it works. In the screen recording software I’m using, when the empty purple box appears, the space bar is being held down. When you see a purple circle, the mouse button is being held down. When I want to move the point and the mouse button is down because I’m drawing, the space bar moves the point. When I want to pan the document, I release the mouse button and now the space bar pans the document. Once you know that distinction, it should be very predictable.

(Normally that purple box shows which key is being pressed, but of course here it’s a space character which is nothing, so it shows up blank in the box, looking like an empty purple box even though it’s literally showing the space character…)

The Pen tool in Photoshop copied this space bar behavior from the Pen tool in Illustrator, and the Pen tool in InDesign also works the same way. It has nothing to do with the tablet; it works this way regardless of the type of pointing device (it’s the same using a mouse or trackpad too).

[Moderator moved from Using the Community to Photoshop.]

Which operating system?

Does this only happen when the Wacom device is attached?