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S_Gillihan
Participating Frequently
November 10, 2013
Answered

Photoshop tablet bug, keyboard shortcuts temporarily won't work

  • November 10, 2013
  • 8 replies
  • 35365 views

Hello

I've noticed a strange bug with photoshop when working with a pen and tablet. I was wondering if anybody else has experienced this issue. I'm using the CC version on the latest Mac OS

While working on an illustration I'll frequently use keyboard shortcuts. command+z, i, r, z, option, etc. Someties after making a stroke with the brush tool, I'll go to undo with command+option+z and nothing will happen. Other keyboard shortcuts do the same thing—no response.

I've found that to fix this, you have to click the canvas again to make photoshop the active program or something to that effect.

This is incredibly annoying and seems to happen at random. Has this happened to anybody else? Any suggestions on how to fix this problem?

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer MartinJagl

    Had the same problem.

    For me, this worked fine:

    1. close Photoshop

    2. go to
    Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop [your version] Settings

    3. delete (or move to another place)

    Adobe Photoshop [your version] Prefs.psp

    4. install this:

    Menus, shortcuts, Lasso tool, or Photoshop stop working when using a Wacom tablet | Mac OS

    5. restart Photoshop

    8 replies

    Joe Creative
    Joe Creative
    Inspiring
    November 3, 2023

    Hi all,

    I’m reaching out to share and seek a solution for an issue I’ve been facing since the latest Adobe Photoshop and Beta updates. Post-update, I’ve found that none of the keyboard shortcuts are functional when using my Wacom 22 HD tablet. This is particularly evident with the lasso tool, which doesn’t respond correctly to shortcut commands for adding to or subtracting from selections. This problem extends to all shape selection tools in Photoshop, as well as the paint brush.

    Usually, with the Wacom pen, I could adjust brush size, hardness, or softness using the ‘scrubby’ shortcut involving a Control and Option click. However, this is no longer the case. The only workaround seems to be using an external mouse, which defeats the purpose of the tablet’s pen-centric design.

    I’ve attempted troubleshooting by reinstalling both the Wacom drivers and Photoshop, but the issue persists. It seems that the update has neglected proper Wacom support, leaving the pen tool non-responsive on Mac systems.

    Is anyone else experiencing similar problems? Any advice or solutions would be greatly appreciated as it’s quite disruptive to the usual workflow.

    Trevor.Dennis
    Community Expert
    Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 3, 2023

    You absolutely need to start a new thread with an issue like that.  This thread was started 10 years ago back when Creative Cloud came into being, and OSX 10.9 Maverics.  Your issue will no relevance to most of the previous posts in this thread, and is just going to be confusing.

    Joe Creative
    Joe Creative
    Inspiring
    November 3, 2023

    Thank you. I just did. I have heard any response yet.

    J
    Jayla Vos
    Participant
    February 1, 2017

    THANK YOU SO MUCH ADOBE FOR THAT PLUG IN!!

    Ianost87
    Ianost87
    Participant
    October 6, 2016

    I'm using a cintiq companion 2 and the cintiq 22hd. the 22 is connected to mac 10.9.5 companion 2 is windows 8.1. On both photoshop will not let me use the shortcut keys. I use this programme a lot. On the other Adobe the shortcut keys work perfect. Is anyone else having this problem.?

    Thank you

    Trevor.Dennis
    Community Expert
    Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 6, 2016

    Ianost87 wrote:

    I'm using a cintiq companion 2 and the cintiq 22hd. the 22 is connected to mac 10.9.5 companion 2 is windows 8.1. On both photoshop will not let me use the shortcut keys. I use this programme a lot. On the other Adobe the shortcut keys work perfect. Is anyone else having this problem.?

    Thank you

    Have you tried the White Window plug-in linked to in post #9 ?  There is an excellent chance it will fix your problem.

    Ianost87
    Ianost87
    Participant
    October 6, 2016

    Plug in's failed to load. thank you very much for getting back very fast

    elbuenrolex
    elbuenrolex
    Participant
    April 20, 2015

    It's so annoying that i'll just put my tablet back into the drawer ...a shame

    HenryB115
    HenryB115
    Participating Frequently
    September 5, 2020

    Hi All,

    I know it's been a while since the previous comments here. But I'm facing the same problem described above. Namely, Photoshop CS6's keyboard shortcuts behaving erratically, sometimes responding, but frequently not (when using Wacom tablet). It makes workflow feel unstustainable. The only "workaround" I've found is clicking the very top bar of Photoshop where it says "Adobe Photoshop CS6" every time a shortcut isn't responding. This seems to "wake up" Photoshop's ability to recognize the shortcut. But at that rate, it's almost like just clicking on the toolbar for every tool.

     

    I'm with macOS Sierra 10.12.6, on 2009 Mac Pro, using Photoshop CS6, similar to Michael J White above. Tablet is Intuos Pro with 6.3.40-2 driver. People have been enthusiastic about the "White Window Workaround" plugin method described above. I followed that method to a "T," but the problem still persists. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling PS before doing the White Window method, and still no improvements with the shortcuts. I even tried installing PS CS6 on OSX El Capitan 10.11, and the same problem exists there, even with the White Window plugin installed.

     

    I know CS6 is old, but it seems it should be able to work fine on my OS. The tablet appears to be the issue, since the shortcuts work flawlessly when using a mouse. Wacom not compatible with PS? It's hard to imagine. I'm hoping maybe there's some little step or detail I'm missing to fix the problem. Could someone please let me know if there's any hope for getting these shortcuts to work consistently with a drawing tablet? And if so, what's to be done?

     

    Thanks much!

    D
    defaulttiibltn24li8
    Participant
    June 7, 2021

    It's 2021 and I'm still having the same issue. The fix above didn't work for me. Approximately 40% of the time the keyboard for shortcuts is not responding while I'm using a Wacom tablet. I have to draw a few extra lines before the keyboard will respond again.

    M
    MartinJaglCorrect answer
    Participant
    October 21, 2014

    Had the same problem.

    For me, this worked fine:

    1. close Photoshop

    2. go to
    Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop [your version] Settings

    3. delete (or move to another place)

    Adobe Photoshop [your version] Prefs.psp

    4. install this:

    Menus, shortcuts, Lasso tool, or Photoshop stop working when using a Wacom tablet | Mac OS

    5. restart Photoshop

      I
      iantm
      Participant
      March 24, 2015

      THANK GOODNESS. I have dealt with this for so long, I put up with it but at times I wanted to throw both the laptop and the tablet out the window it was so random.

      That seems to have done the trick, thankyouthankyouthankyou.

      L
      leedog83
      Participant
      June 3, 2014

      I've got the same issue, I have to press keys multiple times to get the shortcuts to work or they don't work at all and I have to use the menu.It is crippling to my workflow.

      J
      JodyPrody
      Participant
      December 5, 2013

      I'm having exactly the same issue! Any news yet about a fix?

      Very new MacMini with Mavericks, Photoshop CC, Cintiq 13HD. I can't see a pattern in the behaviour...

      H
      HeleenSG
      Participant
      February 7, 2014

      I'm also experiencing the same bug. As far as I know I don't use Maverick (If it's possible ).

      I'm on a MacBookpro With mac os x 10.9.1. Using photoshop CS6.

      The problems only occur when I'm using my tablet (Wacom intuos 4).

      Photoshop does seem to be the active program running because when I try to switch tools (and photoshop doesn't respond) I can still use the active tool. For instance if I have my brush selected and press "e" it still continues to draw instead of erase.

      I'm using my shortcuts a lot while drawing so it's getting a bit frustrating.

      Does anyone have a solution or work around? Will a reinstall of photoshop do the trick?

      For me the problems started after I traveled to a diferent timezone (not sure if it's related though). My photoshop was set to korean instead of European. I switched it back but it didn't solve the problem.  Before this my photoshop worked perfectly on this exact setup for a year.

      Any advice is most welcome.

        donbarrum
        donbarrum
        Inspiring
        February 7, 2014

        10.9.1 is Mavericks

        This bug is common, I think it happens to pretty much or everyone using Mavericks with a wacom tablet....in addition to other problems caused by Mavericks as well...like the polygonal Laasso Tool autocomplete. Both bugs have been around since the release of Mavericks and we are all hoping for some kind of solutions soon.

          PECourtejoie
          Community Expert
          PECourtejoieCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          November 10, 2013

          Hello, are you on Mavericks 10.9?

          Do you have any other software that might interfere? Does it happen when you get a notification? The engineers might need more info to be able to reproduce the issue.

          S
          S_GillihanAuthor
          Participating Frequently
          November 10, 2013

          Yep, I'm running Mavericks 10.9

          I don't have anything that would cause a notification to appear, though the problem definitely does seem like it. It's as if there's another program in the 'foreground' recieving the commands, hence having to click on the canvas to make photoshop the active program again.

          I can't imagine that there's anything else running that might cause this to happen. On this macbook pro I only have the creative suite, cyberduck, chrome and flash installed. 

          I did a bit more testing and the same thing happens on my desktop running Windows 7. I seems to happen at completely random intervals.

          Right now i'm using a wacom Intuos 4 with the latest software updates.

          As for how often this happens, sometimes I'll be able to go 5 minutes without problem while using hotkeys. Other times I'll make 5 brush strokes and attempt to use a hotkey and the problem will happen.

          M
          maryvarn
          Participating Frequently
          December 4, 2013

          I'm having this problem too. You described exactly what I'm experiencing. I even started another user in which I made sure to only install the bare minimum of software, and this is still occuring. I'm on a Macbook Air, running Mavericks 10.9, using Photoshop CC with a Wacom Cintiq 21UX. The cintiq is uing the latest wacom driver for it's type - it's a legacy driver.

          I've also tried using a Huion graphics tablet and get the same problem.

          I've tried uninstalling Photoshop, removing the preferences as I do so, and reinstalling. Still having this very frustrating issue.

          What appears to be the same problem is described here, and an Adobe rep says he was able to replicate it.

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