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Archerinc
Archerinc
Participant
September 7, 2017
Question

Photshop CC tools stop working

  • September 7, 2017
  • 23 replies
  • 17558 views

My Photoshop CC tools randomly stop working. They seem to cutout and it happens constantly. Its very annoying. This only seems to happen with photoshop. I'm most often using the BRUSH or the LASSO. They just cut out. The only remedy I've found is to add a new layer and use the tool until it becomes responsive again, which. take a bout 15-20 seconds. I don't think it's a hardware issue as I'm running a brand new 27" Imac with 32 GB of RAM.

Any idea whats going on?

      This topic has been closed for replies.

      23 replies

      P
      Peekofwar
      Participant
      October 13, 2023

      I keep having a simillar issue where I'll be using my drawing tablet and all of a sudden Adobe Photoshop starts showing the normal mouse cursor and I cannot use any tools (i.e.: zoom, move, select, brush, et cetera). Even when I use my physical mouse, it just refuses to work. The physical scroll bars on the window that shows the content being worked on also can be moved, but the image doesn't scroll.  I can create new layers, delete layers, go forward and backwards in editing hystory, but the content window seems like it has simply stopped rendering any changes and is stuck on the same image.

      Strangely, if I create a new tab in Photoshop with a new project, that tab works just fine, but even when switching back to the original tab, it's still bugged. I have to reopen the project to restore functionality. 

      I did just notice that I have a pending update for Adobe Photoshop, so I'll probably update the application and report back here if I still have the issue, or if I feel confident the issue is resolved.

      Adobe Photoshop v24.41 (There's an update available, maybe it's fixed?)
      Windows 10 Pro 22H2 (OS Build 19045.3448)
      Ryzen 7 3700x, MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, 64 GBs DDR4 Memory

        E
        Elena23694876agzi
        Participant
        October 25, 2023

        I'm having the same issues. I thought there was something wrong with my laptop, keyboard not working or something. Went to a comapny to fix it - they said nothing was wrong with it, and it must be the photoshop bugs, advising me to google it (once they figured out that this was happening only with photoshop). Here I am finding a few threads about the issue that started in 2017... Adobe hasn’t had a chance to fix it…

        K
        Kevbot87
        Inspiring
        March 30, 2023

        I've been following this thread for years. Still have the issue no matter what solution is presented. It's really unfortunate. Thank goodness PS still allows you to save, but the whole run around is unproductive and unnecessary for paying customers. The icing on the cake is they don't allow you to unsubscribe/uninstall without paying an "early termination" fee - even when their software isn't working correctly. What can ya do?  

          michaela53970934
          michaela53970934
          Participant
          April 5, 2023

          Yup, I've been having this issue for over a year.  I just today found this thread and its very sad.

          franzanth
          franzanth
          Participant
          January 4, 2023

          Been having this exact issue since PS 22 happened, which made me stick to PS 21 the whole time. Today I decided to bite the bullet and give PS 23 a try, and this issue happened 4x within the first 10 minutes.

           

          Can confirm:

          - it happens whenever I pan

          - closing the file (not photoshop) works

          - disabling flick panning fixed it for me (thanks, everyone)

           

          Preferences > Tools > untick Enable Click Panning

          D
          donaldh15847899
          Participating Frequently
          January 4, 2023

          It has not happened for a while for me, but that's only because I am aware of the issue and when zoomed in close I tend to slow-down so it doesn't happen.  I do know it only happens when I am using the WACOM Tablet.  When it happens, I'm not paying attention to my key strokes, its when I inadvertantly press the <Win Key>.  I do not believe it has ever happened on my MAC Book 16/M1.  Going to try your fix - diabling the Click Panning.  Thanks for the info.

          D
          donaldh15847899
          Participating Frequently
          December 9, 2022

          It is irratating as hell.  Mainly it happens when I am zoomed in close, space bar pressed, and swiping fast with the WACOM Tablet Pen.  Sometimes if put the WACOM pen down and click once with the mouse it will start working again, but if that does not work, save and shut down.   I have a habit now of saving, and saving often.

          M
          madelyne52545616
          Participant
          December 9, 2022

          Same here, zoomed in using spaccebar. The autosave feature (edit>preferences>file handling) has come in handy given how often this problem is happening. That, and I have Ctrl+S mapped to a button on my Cintiq remote. When it happens for me, I can still use the UI, I just can't interact with the canvas. Canvases on other files work just fine though, it's just the one I was working on that freezes up. 

          It's incredibly discouraging that this problem has evidently been happening since v22.0. I'm using 24.0.1

          N
          NickDarlow
          Participant
          March 21, 2022

          This happens to me every hour or so when using Photoshop. I have found that closing and then re-opening the image restores functionality.

          D
          donaldh15847899
          Participating Frequently
          March 21, 2022

          Ya, that's that's what I do also, but it is a pain.  For me it seems to happen when I using the clone stamp tool, not paying attention and inadvertantly press the <win> key instead of the <alt> key when sampling, also when not paying attention and pressing the <alt> key instead of the <space> bar when using the WACOM Tablet.  Sometimes it will reset itself if I click on the mouse then go back to the Wacom tablet, but only if I catch it quick.  

            D
            donaldh15847899
            Participating Frequently
            January 30, 2022

            Have had this issue for sometime but never been able to duplicate the error.   Tonight I have been able to duplicate the error.  It seems that when using my brush and sampling the color, I inadvertantly press the <Win> button and everything stops working... not frozen, just not working.  Does anyone know if there is reverse button for this?

              D
              donaldh15847899
              Participating Frequently
              January 30, 2022

              OK, it's not a photoshop issue, it's a WACOM Tablet issue.  I am using an older tablet, but I noticed that when I hit the <win> button, my brush stops working... ok, but if I press the mouse <right> button, then every thing starts working again on the Tablet.  DOn't know if thats the fix, but it works for me..

                A
                Andreas22345005fcwl
                Participant
                December 21, 2021

                I have the same issues, I have tried everything, NOTHING seems to fix it. I was shocked to find that this is an ongoing issue that hasn't been fixed for the last FOUR years. This is ridiculous.

                  И
                  Иван5ECC
                  Participant
                  December 22, 2021

                  I've finally resolved the issue by following the advice above: disabling 'flick panning' in preferences. It doesn't affect my experience in any way and I finally can work smoothly without constant interruptions. Hope it helps!

                    S
                    Stéphane Behr
                    Participating Frequently
                    December 22, 2021

                    Good tip! I'm pretty sure it has definitely something to do with this. From my own experience, I was having this issue mostly (or maybe even exclusively) after panning like crazy and trying to do some action on my image while it hadn't stop moving yet. So this could very much get rid of the cause. Thanks for sharing!

                      R
                      Richard22090297skjc
                      Participant
                      December 5, 2021

                      I had this same problem, and it being 2021 now, it seems Adobe doesnt have much interest in solving it.

                      I noticed it would only happen for me if I was drawing quickly, while also panning with the hand tool (space bar).

                      I figured out that it would only happen when I began to draw again before the pan finished its move.

                       

                      So a simple solution (while not ideal) is to turn off 'Flick Panning'. That way the image stops moving the instant you finish panning, and theres no chance you'll draw (or edit or whatever) while the image is in motion. Edit>Preferences>Tools>[uncheck] Enable Flick Panning.

                       

                      The issue hasnt happened to me again since I turned this off.

                      Not ideal becasue I like flick panning, but I'd much rather lose that than have to turn off  my Graphics Processor entirely.

                        O
                        oncebrewed
                        Participating Frequently
                        December 6, 2021

                        I contacted Adobe again about this problem ( a year after first posting about this nothing has changed ).  The guy at Adobe wanted to take control over my computer to source the issue but I wasnt happy for that happen. He then suggested I gave extra security permissions to Photoshop ( which I did temporarily ) but to no effect. Unchecking 'flick panning' is a new potential workaround, thanks for posting this suggestion. I have done as you suggested and will feed back on how it goes. 

                        O
                        oncebrewed
                        Participating Frequently
                        December 8, 2021

                        Thank you for your post Richard, disabling flick panning has transformed my Photoshop experience. It's so frustrating that such a prolonged problem has such a simple fix! 

                          D
                          defaultn1tivdkmff5m
                          Participant
                          October 1, 2021

                          I'm also having this problem, I'm using the path tool and all is fine until it freezes then I have to save, close and re-open. It is wasting an awful lot of time. It's staggering to look back on how long this has been an issue - it's October 2021 and still no fix! 

                           

                          D
                          defaultic4t24zqzmng
                          Participant
                          October 29, 2021

                          Just ran into this issue for the first time.  By turning off the GPU usage, the rotation tool cannot be used as it depends on GL accelearation- you will get an error.  Without that rotation tool, one of our designers is out of action. 

                          macsmithscurry
                          macsmithscurry
                          Known Participant
                          September 26, 2021

                          so sick of ADobe. Going back to CS6. The last time one of there stupid programs worked.

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