Skip to main content
larss53600433
larss53600433
Participant
December 7, 2023
Question

PROBLEM: Initial Direction - Brush Shape Dynamics Problem

  • December 7, 2023
  • 1 reply
  • 409 views

Issue: 

In Recent photoshop Updates the setting ”Initial Direction” in "Shape Dynamics" in brush settings is BUGGED and does not consistently work as it should. 

 

  • Photoshop version: 24.0-25.2 
  • OS:  MacOS 12.7.1


Steps to reproduce:

  1. Take or make a flat brush (you can create it by setting a round brush to 90 degree angle and 8% width in the ”brush tip shape” settings)
  2. Go into ”Shape Dynamics” and turn on ”Initial direction” in the second drop down menu options.
  3. Now use a tablet and pen and draw 10-15 strokes as if you are drawing straight lines in the same direction and you will see the problem. 

 

Expected result: 

If you draw with a Wacom pen or an equivalent tool, You SHOULD get a consistently flat wide brush strokes as you pull in the same direction as described above and do not change direction mid stroke etc.

You should NOT get thin strokes with the settings described above. This has been how these settings have worked for 10+ years in photoshop. 


Actual result: 

Every 5-8th stroke or so, the brush direction spazzes out and flips and changes. So you will get 5-8 correct strokes and then suddenly it begins shifting for absolutely zero reason. And you get thin strokes instead of flat wide ones. And yes this matters A LOT if you’re a painter and illustrator using brush settings and specific brush directional settings.

All of my Wacom settings are unchanged from before I noticed the issue, tried a brand new Wacom and current drivers and then finally tried photoshop 2021 where everything works as it should. Tried it with an older Wacom too with older drivers, and that also works as it should. I also tried photoshop 24.0 where it does NOT work as it should. And also tried 25.2 where it is still bugged.
So this apparently has been bugged for several updates.
But it is 100% an issue with Photoshop and nothing else as evident from my testing of using several drivers for the tablets and several versions of photoshop.
I even exported the exact same brush, and made a new brush with the same settings, and none of that makes a difference because it’s the actual setting itself that is bugged and not some irregularity with a specific brush or anything like that. 

The attached image is an example of me painting straight lines downards in the same direction, ALL of the strokes SHOULD be like the FINAL stroke which is broad and flat, but as you can see almost all of the strokes in this case vary WILDLY despite the strokes following the SAME direction. Also I am a professional illustrator and have used Photoshop for 15+ years. This is a new bug from as far back as version 24.0 to my knowledge (last version I used before that would be the 2021 version where everything works as it should and always has). 

    1 reply

    N
    nataliia_1015
    Participant
    October 13, 2025

     

     I do have the same problem, it has been persistent for years now, without any improvement. In the last years I already switched to different applications because of this issue. Since I have reasons to use photoshop again and as I am still paying for the subscription, I'd say it is about high time Adobe adresses this problem and maybe even get's to fixing it. It makes my job almost impossible when I have to deal with this bug. It affects any brush I use with the settings: shape dynamics and input: direction. And it is not fixed by the old wintab/windows ink solution.

     

    Trevor.Dennis
    Community Expert
    Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 14, 2025

    @nataliia_1015  Are you using Windows or Mac?  If Windows, then Lazy Nezumi Pro fixes the shoelace artefact you are showing top left of your first screen shot.

     

    What do you see in the Preview  window with Angle jitter turned on and off?

    Does the issue only show when the Control is set to something, and specifically to Direction?

    What are you using to draw with?  Is there a difference between tablet and mouse, assuming you are using a tablet?

    Have you seen the trouble shooting guide on the Lazy Nezumi site?  It's the best resource I know of for this sort of problem.

    https://lazynezumi.com/tabletSetup

     

    You certainly shouldn't be getting the shoelace artefact, which has me thinking that there might be something going on.

    N
    nataliia_1015
    Participant
    October 18, 2025

    Thank you for your answer.
    I am using windows(10), I also use Lazy Nezumi, although I mainly use it to hide the cursor icon of photoshop. I tried all kinds of settings in LN but since I actually prefer the standard brush behaviour and sensitivity of photoshop, I don't really see the solution by activating pressure processing and smoothing options or whatever, it just makes painting more awkward to me. However, the shoelace artefact disappeared for now by actually disabling the smoothing checkbox in the PS brush panel. So I assume any kind of smoothing worsens the problem in my case. 
    The main problem usually appears specifically when I want to use Direction as the Input. With the Input set to Initial Direction, it seems to work as intended but I can't use that setting for my intentions.
    I use a Wacom Cintiq Pro 24 (whitout touch) to draw with. I started using it with the current Pro Pen 2, interestingly enough by using the Grip Pen model instead, the problem becomes a little bit less noticeable but it is still very much present. I think the Tilt and Pressure Mechanics might be generaly affected, since I also get constant warning triangles while painting next to the Pressure/Opacity and Flow Sliders in PS and the pen pressure regularly bugs out and makes a stroke without pressure sensitivity. I can't find any options for changing the tilt sensitivity in the tablet properties because they have become obsolete apparently (that's a shame, I found those settings very useful).
    The problem appears with the mouse just the same as with the pen, maybe a bit less randomized. I went deep into the trouble shooting guide of the LN site and I am at my wits end.
    I keep updates and drivers from Wacom and Photoshop frequently up to date (regrettably so, they are full of unfunny surprises). Here are the screenshots, the outline of the brush looks fine in the preview, but in practice it becomes unusable.


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