Participant

Answered

Why can't I use the paintbrush tool?

Forum|Forum|17 years ago
October 24, 2008
11 replies
597397 views

I'm trying to paint on an image and when I mouse over where I want to paint I get the "prohibited" symbol and can't paint. I opened other .jpgs and was able to paint with no problem. Is there a type of file that you can't use the paintbrush tool on? Please help!

Correct answer Kurt Gold

Devorah,

the Paintbrush tool is not designed to measure CMYK percentages. It is a drawing tool.

To check your percentages, select or direct select the desired objects and take a look at the Colours Palette or the Information Palette.

gretchen77

Participant

Why I can't use the brush tool?? My layer is locked how do I unlock it??? I am using Ps CC (2015)

Monika Gause

Community Expert

WHITEDIAMOND schrieb:
Why I can't use the brush tool?? My layer is locked how do I unlock it??? I am using Ps CC (2015)

This Forum and this Thread is about Illustrator, not Photoshop

Chester The Artist

Known Participant

Hi everyone, I found that the issue is caused by opening a source file directly in Illustrator. In other words, you will not be able to use the brush tool on a file that was opened with illustrator without re-saving it - You would have to save it as an alternate file type (ai, eps, etc) and reopen the file to enable the brush editing function. For example: You have a .png file and you open it with Illustrator, you will not be able to use the brush tool. Now, if you save that file as an .ai file, close, and re-open the file, I will now be able to use the brush tool. Hope this helps.

-Cheers!

Doug A Roberts

Community Expert

this isn't true. it's simply because an opened raster file won't have any brushes in it ('basic' is not a brush). define a brush first and draw away.

Chester The Artist

Known Participant

Awesome. Thanks for your feedback dougofakkad‌ - That worked perfectly. Have a spectacular day!

C

conrad_danger

Participant

Sorry, new to the forums, I looked up this problem to see what was causing it. The only solution Ive found (running CS5) is to open a new document, drag photo into that then paint on new layer. Sorry this is a million years too late.

V

Vero

Participant

Load a brush first. That way you will be able to use the paintbrush tool. I usaly open the Brushes palette first, then click on its menu and select Open Brush Library to be able to select the brush I want.

H

healzdogg

Participant

Thank you Vero! This worked. Awesome.

N

Nicholas_Art Director

Participant

I found this to be a way around this issue:

Open the image that you want to draw on, keep that in its own RGB window.

Open a brand new document, CMYK.

Activate your Brush and draw a few lines on your artboard.

Then, copy and paste your RGB image into this new CMYK color space.

Voila. I think the Brush can only be used in a CMYK color space. And sometimes this does not work when you convert your document to a color space inside the RGB document.

Hope this helps. If anyone else has an alternative, let me know.

I've always had this issue with the Brush.

L

lilsmidge71

Participant

Weird. My problem was that I needed to also choose the brush as the same

size that was also the brush chosen on the tools bar. I believe I got the

answer from someone in your forum some months hack.

Thanks,

Michelle

On Sun, Nov 25, 2012 at 10:06 AM, StevefromFierce

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lilsmidge71

Participant

I had the same problem. It's because you have to go to your "brushes" in the layer palette and select a brush size. Then you can use your brush

unique15

Participant

Yes, you are right ! thanks for replying !

Kurt Gold

Correct answer

Community Expert

Devorah,

the Paintbrush tool is not designed to measure CMYK percentages. It is a drawing tool.

To check your percentages, select or direct select the desired objects and take a look at the Colours Palette or the Information Palette.

_

_Devorah_Wajsbort_

Participant

I opened up a pdf file in Illustrator CS4 and I want to check the percentages of the colours in CMYK. However, when I click on the paintbrush tool, I get the "prohibited" symbol (the circle with a line across it). Why can't I access this tool? Is there any other way to check the CMYK percentages?