P: Brush Outline/Circle disappearing when working with masks

Report · Dec 04, 2021

There is already a discussion in the community "Brush Outline/Circle disappearing intermittently (NOT CAPS LOCK) ". But since I have figured out in detail how to reproduce the behavior and when it becomes present, I want to report the issue officialy that Adobe hopefully will fix this in one of the next upcoming patch releases.

OS Environment:

Win 10 Pro 64bit 21H1
Adobe Ps 23.0.2

The issue is only present in combination when using Masks on a layer!

Create a new document (white, black or transparent layer)
Add a Mask to the layer
Select the layer OR the mask (independent on what you want to paint)
Select the brush tool
Try to start moving the mouse quickliy and pressing the left mouse button nearly at the same time and keep the mouse button pressed
Try to repeat until the you get locked in the issue and the brush circle disappears and the mouse arrow becomes visible

When working with a mouse as input device, the chance to facing this issue is probably rare because this kind of operation, moving the mouse and clicking the button nearly at the same time is kindly unnatural.

But it looks different when using a pen tablet as input device, because now it becomes a more natural operation when hover the pen toward the tablet surface and then drop down onto the surface to start painting.

Kind regards

Report · Jan 17, 2023

@J453 I will provide the file link via PN.

Report · Jan 19, 2023

I've been experiencing it today. The shape of the Windows 10 mouse cursor continues to be seen when stroke dragging is repeated with a tablet while cleaning the background with brush and clone stamp.
As someone else said above, I clicked on turning the work details directly back to before and proceeded, but it continued to occur. The bigger the image, the more often it seems to occur. (24.0 does not have this problem)

Report · Jan 19, 2023

If you're experiencing this issue, are you using WinTab or Win Ink. The easiest way to tell is, from Photoshop, go to Help > System Info and look for this close to the top but you'll need to scroll down a bit (if you see this, you're using WinTab):

PSUserConfig entries:
- K uSty UseSystemStylus 0

If this is enabled, then also check your Wacom Tablet Properties - Calibrate tab, to see if you have Use Windows Ink checked in the lower left corner. If you have both of these enabled, that could cause a conflict.
If you are using WinTab, would you mind disabling it and see if the problem persists? (To temporarily disable it, open the PSUserConfig.txt file in your preferences folder and simply add a # in front of the string, save the text file and relaunch Photoshop, you'll want to make sure Use Windows Ink is enabled in Wacom Tablet Properties).

There are so many variables and we really appreciate you helping us track this down.

Report · Jan 19, 2023

@Chad Rolfs I turned off the window ink of Wacom tablet, rebooted after deleting the command line of psuserconfig, checked the sysinfo of Photoshop to confirm that it is in windowink status.
Well, I don't think there's a problem. But it's so random that I'm not sure it's related to this.
Because I returned to the wintab setting I used to record and tried again with the same picture, but there was no bug.
It's so random. I think there's going to be an exact reproduction stage...........................
I can assure you that
1. Tablet Only, when use mouse? no problem.
2. Brush or Clone Stamp, I've seen a lot of these bugs when I'm not tapping and clicking (like a mouse), but when I'm holding a tablet's pen and repeating the stroke at the same point.
3. PS 24.1 only, I've never experienced a bug like this until PS 24.0. (From PS 2015.5 to PS2023 even if hold it wide)

All I can be sure of is this.
And this doesn't seem to have much to do with idle memory and CPU share of the computer. It's because I've experienced at least what happens with all of my Windows systems (desktop, laptop, company's desktop).
What's strange about this is that even if there's a bug (the cursor of the brush is not visible, just the cursor of the window mouse is visible), it's okay if you just ignore it and continue working.

It's very strange.

Report · Jan 19, 2023

@Chad Rolfs

I kept trying to recreate it, but I didn't have time and now I have to go to work.
So I'm going to look up some examples on the Internet and attach a similar one. Please keep that in mind. (The first one is the most like me.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/photoshop/comments/thvjkd/brush_keeps_turning_into_mouse_cursor_when_i/

<<<< This is the most random video I'm going through right now.

https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/fxryv6/brush_or_other_brushlike_tool_changing_to_cursor/

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/cursor-turns-to-white-arrow/td-p/1146...

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/photoshop-brush-turns-into-a-mouse-cu...

And I also found something interesting. Please check the link because I don't have time to change and release the scaling option.
http://forum.wacom.eu/viewtopic.php?t=4410#p10167

And I've seen this. Some people used Windows 10's scaling at 125%, so they thought it was a problem because it didn't match well, and he said that when he changed it to 100%, the problem disappeared. For your information, I also use 125% scaling.

I hope this will help you solve the problem.
The first video is the most similar. The videos down there are a little bit far from what I'm going through (they don't blink like that, once they change to the WINDOW arrow, they stay in the brush until you take the pen off the tablet).

Report · Jan 19, 2023

To concur, my bug looks more like this video, between those that @Jqqerry posted :
https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/fxryv6/brush_or_other_brushlike_tool_changing_to_cursor/
And if scaling is an issue, I use 200% scaling actually.

Report · Jan 19, 2023

@jeromea13244388
Is this related to scaling? I hope Adobe will investigate it well. The icon and UI are small to use by lowering the scaling, so my eyes hurt. I'm up to date with Wacom drivers, too. It seems right that that problem occurs when writing Wacom tablet, but "I don't think Wacom is causing that problem."
There must have been something missing or a bug as we moved from 24.0 to 24.1 and 24.1.1...

Report · Jan 21, 2023

@Jqqerry and @jeromea13244388 can both of you drag machinepref.psp out of the prefs folder, like done here: https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-bugs/p-brush-outline-circle-disappearing-when-wor... if it works now, send it via pm to Jeffrey or Chad, so that they can take a look?

did you also try to set the Ui scaling to 100% for one session, and try to reproduce the issue?

Report · Jan 21, 2023

@PECourtejoie I sent the file to Chad. I didn't try to move the file separately or reproduce the problem. (We're running out of time. I'm sorry) . It also did not attempt 100% scaling. Of course, I can also try that and see if it's really a scaling problem, but I can't try scaling changes that hurt the efficiency of my work because it's a busy season. =(
However, I also think there may be problems with scaling.
If I remember correctly (although it's a different bug), I remember that there was a bug where the layer mask was displayed strangely for people who used a 125% magnification after the PS 21.0.3 version and before it was fixed in the 2021 version.
So I think the scaling option might affect the brush cursor out of the blue.
And since there was never a bug in the previous version where the brush cursor turned into a window mouse arrow like this, I can be sure it's just 24.1 and 24.1.1.

Report · Jan 21, 2023

@PECourtejoie: Now that I downgraded to 24.0 I don't have the bug anymore so I'd have to upgrade again to bring back the bug then move the file and I'm not very good at technology so I'm a bit reluctant to do that, specially at this time where I have quite a lot of work.

Report · Jan 22, 2023

Hi, understood. I'm just trying to help you, the Photoshop team might need to reproduce the issue, or look into faulty settings in order to fix the problem. Here's hoping we'll quickly see a resolution to your issues !

Report · Jan 22, 2023

@jeromea13244388 I also downgraded to 24.0 today. I've been stressed out all day.
I tried to keep 24.1 and 24.1.1 as much as possible because of the newly added brush cursor thickness in 24.1, but I don't think this is right. That's interfering with my work too much.........
https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-bugs/p-make-the-brush-cursor-easier-to-see-too-th...

@PECourtejoie That's right. I know that the more information and accurate reproduction steps and experiences you share, the faster the bug can be fixed. But downgrading to 24.0 was my best because I couldn't hold on to it any longer.............. My staff next to me is still using the 2020 version (21.0.3). The more recent versions are updated, the more advantageous and advantageous features are added, making it new and fun, but it's going to be quite difficult to get a bug-free version back that's stable and fast enough to be used in real workflows. 24.0 is a good version, but when you press Ctrl Z, it's quite a critical bug that randomly returns to infinity. Around 24.2, I hope that the best version I can love will be updated./

Report · Jan 26, 2023

@PECourtejoieOk, so, I had a bit of time on my hands today so I tried the solutions provided here : re-upgraded to 24.1 and deleted Machineprefs.psp. But the bug is still here. And going back to a 100% scale screen doesn't change anything either.
Probably the bug is related to the new update concerning the brush edges in later versions.

Report · Jan 26, 2023

@jeromea13244388 That's right. Seeing that only 24.1 and 24.1.1 have such problems, I think it's another bug that came from the brush thickness adjustment option.
By the way, I just realized that this thread is not marked "under investigation." It's surprising that I don't get the sympathy of more people than I thought.
I think the average person will move on to a number of cases when the brush cursor turns into the default arrow for Windows 10.

1. I didn't recognize the arrow.
2. Maybe it's because the computer is lagging. Is my computer bad?
3. I know there's a problem, but I don't know how to report it.
4. It's similar to 3, but I'm lazy to report this, and it doesn't have a big impact on my work.

Most bugs are found in some users (accurate reproduction steps), and very few of them report to the community.
I hope this is not omitted.

Report · Jan 27, 2023

Rest assured that the issue is tracked by the team.

Report · Jan 30, 2023

While we're at it, is there a logical reason why the brush is more responsive (the line is more fluid, there's less delay between the pose of my pen on the screen and the appearing of the line) with the "airbrush" option on ? Is it the goal of this option or is it some other kind of bug ?

Report · Feb 02, 2023

It is very difficult to use a brush when working with Photoshop 24.1 and 24.1.1. Whenever I have a chance, it changes to a window arrow, and it continues to be an arrow until I release my hand.I saw the update and tried to install it and keep using it, but I go back to 23.3.2. It's so uncomfortable.

Report · Feb 16, 2023

Any news on this bug ? I notice that even in 24.0.0, when i draw small strokes or "fast" strokes (like cross-hatching), the same bug appears (cursor turning to white arrow, buffering distording the stroke).

Report · Feb 17, 2023

@jeromea13244388 Is 24.2 released in your country?
I saw in another thread that 24.2 was released and let's hope it's fixed in 24.2...

Report · Feb 17, 2023

Hi @Jqqerry it seems that the announcement was a bit premature, let's hope it will be soon!

Report · Feb 19, 2023

@PECourtejoie Unfortunately, there are no amendments to this in the 24.2 release. I have no choice but to wait for another month or two. Staying at 24.0...

Report · Feb 24, 2023

@jeromea13244388 @PECourtejoie Hey guys, Did you check this issue by updating 24.2? I couldn't test it because I'm on a business trip now. The other big bugs are on the correction list.

Report · Feb 24, 2023

@Jqqerry: Sorry, I thought your previous message meant you tested it. So I upgraded and the bug is still there. I have to re-downgrade now.

Report · Feb 24, 2023

@Jqqerry @PECourtejoie Also by curiosity, I went back down to 23.5.4 and there are even less brush bugs than in 24.0 (I can finally draw fast brush strokes without the white arrow cursor showing)

Report · Feb 24, 2023

@jeromea13244388 Oh... that's sounds no good at all....... =(

It is regrettable that it was not solved in version 24.2.

Going back to 2022 is a tough choice for me because of the slow speed bug in object selection. (It was resolved in 24.0 (initial version of 2023.. so..)

o I love it the most and I do the main work with the 2020 version (21.0.3), which has a convenience function and is stable and fast...