P: Heal tool overlay not showing - departure from 13.2

[mark233495990o4g]

The Heal overlay used to work perfectly in previous versions of Lightroom Classic for Windows. You just pushed "H" to hide or unhide. Now, in 13.4 the closest thing is to use "Auto", but it shows you all the heal spots and you can't do a heal that is overlapping a place that has already been healed, unless you change to "Never", but then you can't see the overlay that shows you where you are sampling from. I hope this makes sense.

Is this a bug, or is lightroom going backwards?

It's driving me bonkers! 

[JohanElzenga]

Neither. I don't think anything has changed. You can still hide the overlay using the H key to make overlapping heals possible. If that does not work for you, then perhaps you should reset the preferences (https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-do-i-reset-lightrooms-preferences/). I also don't think you remember this correctly. It was always necessary to hide the overlay completely to do this, so to set it to 'never'. For this reason I have set it to never as my default.

[mark233495990o4g]

I reverted back to v12 just to be sure i was remembering it correctly.  And I was. v13 is different, and not intuitive. Adobe needs to change it back.

[JohanElzenga]

Maybe it is different between 12.x and 13.0, I'm not sure about that. What I do know is that they changed the interface. That interface change was in the 13.2 to 13.3 update. The overlay settings were at the bottom of the image, now they are inside the Remove panel. You suggested it was different in 13.4, so I compared it with 13.3 and found no difference at all. 

[mark233495990o4g]

The difference is between v12 and v13

[JohanElzenga]

V13 was launched in October last year. AFAICT you are the first person here who voiced a problem with these changes. You can file a feature request in "Ideas" to change it back, but I give you very little chance that this will happen.

[mark233495990o4g]

Then maybe it's not between v12 and v13. I have been updating regulary. It was a recent update.

and just to clarify....

In a previous version of Lightroom Classic, you could have all the spot overlays hidden, and then hold down control and click and drag to make a new spot, and while you were dragging it kept a circle around where you were sampling from, so you could know without a doubt you were sampling from where you wanted. And when you were done, you still had all the spot overlays hidden, so you could look at your image without distraction. 

Now you can no longer do that. 

[JohanElzenga]

What you describe is still possible (with Clone and Heal, not with Remove because Remove does not sample from one point), but only when the overlay is not hidden. I hardly ever use it myself, so I can't confirm or deny that it also worked in older versions when the overlay was hidden. However, in older versions you did not have those stupid little band-aid icons that show whether it is a clone spot, or a heal spot. You only saw a circle, nothing inside that circle. I never understood why these icons were added (I have no idea when that was exactly, but I don't think it was very recently) and why you can't hide these icons separately, without hiding the circles too. There may be a thread in "Ideas" about that already, so look for it and add your vote if there is.

[JohanElzenga]

BTW, if you are really sure that this was possible with the overlay hidden until recently, then perhaps it is a bug after all. Adobe monitors this forum, so there is no need to post a new message in 'Bugs" (moderators will merge that post with this thread, because multi-posting is not appreciated). They will notice that you posted this here and move the thread to bugs if they agree that this is a bug. @Rikk Flohr: Photography, @Rick Spaulding

[mark233495990o4g]

It doesn't feel like a bug.  It feels more like an oversight. A step backwards. 

Would love for others to chime in....

[JohanElzenga]

You confuse me. You say this was possible until recently, but now it is no longer possible. If that is the case, then it is most likely a bug. Adobe would have no reason to remove this option on purpose.

BTW, if I try it with the overlay off, then I do not see anything while I drag. No cursor either. But when I stop dragging and turn on the overlay, I see that the brush did do its job...

[GoldingD]

Can you create and post in a reply a video capture of your issue.

[mark233495990o4g]

Maybe Adobe could reply and tell us whether or not this is a bug.

[drtonyb]

@mark233495990o4g 

You are correct. Tried LrC 12.5.1 Heal/Clone with all pins hidden. Press Ctrl, then click and drag shows the circle around the sample area as the mouse is moved with an arrow pointing back to the spot being healed/cloned.

I agree that this is a regressive behaviour (bug) in LrC 13.4 and should be fixed by the Adobe team.

[John R Ellis]

With LR 13.3 and later, when using the Heal or Clone mode with Tool Overlay: Never, Ctrl-clicking a spot doesn't show the heal/clone source with a circle and an arrow pointing to the target spot. With LR 13.2 and earlier, you'd see the source spot as a circle with an arrow to the target spot.

This functionality is described in the Help:

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/healing-tool.html

See the attached screen recordings for correct operation in LR 13.2 and incorrect operation in 13.3 and 13.4.

[John R Ellis]

@Rikk Flohr: Photography, @Rick Spaulding -, please consider moving to Bugs -- see my previous post.

[mark233495990o4g]

Thank you for the videos! Maybe Adobe can respond? or does Adobe not respond to their customers? This is my first time in the Adobe forums.

[John R Ellis]

"Maybe Adobe can respond?"

Adobe has responded by moving the bug report into the Bugs section, which is reserved for confirmed bugs and likely bugs. At this point, unless they request more information, we won't hear back from them until the bug is fixed, at which point they'll update this thread. Adobe rarely indicates when a bug might be fixed.

[mark233495990o4g]

I didn't even notice they moved the thread until your reply in the forum. Maybe they should send a notification email stating a person's thread got moved. but anyways! I hope they can fix the bug/issue asap as it makes Lightroom very unusable.

[drtonyb]

This bug is only when the Tool Overlay is set to Never; the source overlay works correctly in the other three modes. The bug is certainly annoying, but it doesn't make LrC unusable.

[John R Ellis]

A workaround: Just click with the Clone or Heal tool, instead of Ctrl/Cmd clicking. Then press H to switch Tool Overlay to Auto, and the source circle will appear, which you can then drag around.

If you're doing many of these, it's certainly more tedious, for sure.

[mark233495990o4g]

I use the spot removal tool extensively. each photo could have 50 or so spot removes. so without the ability to know in real time without a doubt where you are sampling from, it's like fumbling in a dark room without a flashlight. and it takes twice as long if you have to keep going back to check your work.  

Also, when you drag to adjust the sample area, it is no longer precise. you move the mouse but the sample area doesn't change until you move it further than you'd like. has anyone else noticed this?

[John R Ellis]

@mark233495990o4g: "each photo could have 50 or so spot removes. so without the ability to know in real time without a doubt where you are sampling from, it's like fumbling in a dark room without a flashlight. and it takes twice as long if you have to keep going back to check your work. "

Did you see the workaround:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-bugs/p-heal-tool-overlay-not-showing-departure-from...

It's a couple more clicks per spot, which I know adds up with many removals, but it will give you the control you need while waiting for this to be fixed.

[mark233495990o4g]

has this bug been identified and filed in adobe's system. will a fix should be released shortly?

curious, as adobe has replied to other bug posts stating that the bug stated had been identied.

could adobe also please reply here as well?

[John R Ellis]

"has this bug been identified and filed in adobe's system. will a fix should be released shortly?"

This bug has been formally acknowledged by Adobe, which is why the thread was moved into the Bugs section of the forum. At this point, we likely won't hear back from them until the the bug is fixed, at which point they'll update this thread. Adobe rarely indicates when a bug might be fixed.

[mark233495990o4g]

i would say this bug has been informally recognized by adobe. In other threads, an adobe employee has responded in the thread. for example, from a different thread:

"We've identified this bug as already filed in our system. A fix should be released shortly. 

Rikk Flohr - Customer Advocacy: Adobe Photography Products
STATUS: Acknowledged"

this thread has no such acknowledgement