Skip to main content
R
rutherford
Participant
June 23, 2025
Answered

Layer mask visualization problem

  • June 23, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 209 views

Hi guys, hope all is well. I started having this mask visualization problem: the gradients seem "broken" into steps (as you can see on my screenshot). I've had this problem before on my later Mac running Photoshop 2024. And on the same machine, when I open the file on PS 2023 the problem doesn't show. 

 

I updated to an M4 recently and installed Photoshop 26.8. It ran smoothly up until today, when the problem with the masks appeared. The steps show on 8, 16 and 32 bit files. Do you know of anything I could do to solve the problem? Thanks a lot for the help. Cheers from Rio de Janeiro!

    Correct answer rutherford

    Good morning everyone. I uninstalled PS once more and dowgraded to version 26.0. Apparently the mask visualization problem disappeared, but I discovered something very curious: I opened a test file I built yesterday and the problem persisted inside do file. So after making some tests, I found out that the problem happens when a use Quick Mask as a previz tool for the gradient I plan to draw. If I simply make the gradient inside the mask, it runs smoothly. But if I do a quick mask previz, the mask's gradient brakes as before. Attached is a screenshot with the left mask gradient done after a quick mask previz and on the righ handside a gradient done directly inside the mask without using the quick mask previz.

    1 reply

    R
    rutherfordAuthorCorrect answer
    Participant
    June 24, 2025

    Good morning everyone. I uninstalled PS once more and dowgraded to version 26.0. Apparently the mask visualization problem disappeared, but I discovered something very curious: I opened a test file I built yesterday and the problem persisted inside do file. So after making some tests, I found out that the problem happens when a use Quick Mask as a previz tool for the gradient I plan to draw. If I simply make the gradient inside the mask, it runs smoothly. But if I do a quick mask previz, the mask's gradient brakes as before. Attached is a screenshot with the left mask gradient done after a quick mask previz and on the righ handside a gradient done directly inside the mask without using the quick mask previz.

    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices