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Known Participant
January 2, 2026
Answered

History & Art History Brush: What happened to them? Useless now.

  • January 2, 2026
  • 7 replies
  • 446 views

The previous version of Photoshop compromised history brush usabilty and the current version (27.2.0) renders them useless.

Correct answer Jeff Arola

Yes that is a known bug, but thankfully a fellow forum user 

7 replies

NokemovAuthor
Known Participant
January 3, 2026

This is how Adobe handled my situation the other day. The agent disconnected.

Screenshot 2026-01-02 at 11.30.57 AM.png

 

Sameer K
Community Manager
Community Manager
January 6, 2026

Hey, @Nokemov. This isn't the experience we would expect to deliver. We've shared the feedback about the interaction with the team. 

Regarding the issue at hand, a fix is in the pipeline. You can try the latest builds available now or over the next week(s) for Photoshop beta via the Creative Cloud. A fix for Photoshop 2026 (non-beta) will follow soon.

 

I hope this helps. Thanks!
Sameer K
(Type '@' and type my name to mention me when you reply)

Jeff Arola
Community Expert
Jeff ArolaCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
January 3, 2026

Yes that is a known bug, but thankfully a fellow forum user 

NokemovAuthor
Known Participant
January 3, 2026

Screenshot 2026-01-03 at 8.48.34 AM.png This snapshot option (full or merged) was no longer available in 2025.

NokemovAuthor
Known Participant
January 3, 2026

I've been using Photoshop professionally since version 2.5. When history brushes were introduced  in 9.0 you had the option of taking a history snapshot, flat or layered, and then using that snapshot to restore areas using plain history or "art history" brushes on a user selected layer. Now it seems like the feature has been disabled. I'd like to hear from people who've used history brushes and compare notes. 

Jeff Arola
Community Expert
Community Expert
January 2, 2026

Can you describe what the issues are with the History & Art History Brushes?

What doesn't work or is different from the version of Photoshop where they were working?

NokemovAuthor
Known Participant
January 2, 2026

Mac OS 15.3.1

But this issue came to my attention in previous Photoshop and Mac OS versions over the last year. Spent time with an Adobe tech trying to find an answer which was ultimately to use an earlier version of Photoshop. Adobe seems to have treated the history brushes like it did the Oil Paint filter some years ago. That is: to abandon them. Maybe they'll fix it like they did the Oil Paint filter, or maybe not.

Jeff Arola
Community Expert
Community Expert
January 2, 2026

What version of macOS are you using?

 

Can you go into more detail about how the  History & Art History Brushes are not working?