P: Brush Outline/Circle disappearing when working with masks

[Belichtungsquartier]

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!

1. Create a new document (white, black or transparent layer)
2. Add a Mask to the layer
3. Select the layer OR the mask (independent on what you want to paint)
4. Select the brush tool
5. Try to start moving the mouse quickliy and pressing the left mouse button nearly at the same time and keep the mouse button pressed
6. 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

[Jqqerry]

@jeromea13244388 It's an interesting approach.

Actually, I'm not even attempting to install a new version at all after Photoshop 2024 schedule. I just check the fixed issue page from time to time. =( .................

But even when we were talking about this (even during Photoshop 2023), I was always working on RGB mode.
I also work on 16 bits, but I mostly used an 8-bit work environment, and I work on psd, but I also reproduced this bug in a small (1024x1024) document that I newly created. (Of course, these are what I reported when I talked to Adobe by mail, just like you.)

So..................... So I really don't know why. =(

[williamt0098]

Hi I'm having this same issue now. 

2024

Version: 25.3.1

Mac OS 2022 M2

[Jqqerry]

Looking at someone else's brush cursor thread, it came to me after a long time, so I got back to this thread.
Is there any progress on this?

I reported this bug last year (some users, of course, have also been experiencing it in Photoshop 2018, 2019).

[Katrina.Y]

I  am having the same problem. Is there any update? 

[Rkama]

I just noticed the same issue. I've tried a few things but nothing has changed. I'm in the middle of working on a project so I haven't restarted Photoshop yet. I can deal with it, but it is lame that this is still going on. 

[silver-moon]

One thing that worked for me (MacOS 14.5) for both Beta and Production versions (latest as of today) is:

1. Photoshop > Settings > Cursors 

2. Change the "Painting Cursor" setting from "Normal Brush Tip" to "Precise"

And the CAP LOCK switch suddenly worked again. On both Beta and Production versions.

[silver-moon]

Edit: 

It turns out that leaving my Mac overnight made the circle disappear and the Caps Lock ineffective again.

However, going back to the above menu and just changing the setting from "Precise" back to "Normal Brush Tip" works. i.e. Caps Lock and circle both work as expected.

[Patryk255809004dz2]

Hi, I'm currently dealing with a similar issue with the brush outline and cursor... and I found a temporary solution.

The problem: The brush outline changes into a Windows cursor during quick brush strokes.

When does the problem occur in my case: While painting on pixel layer masks and smart object masks. The problem doesn't occur when painting on layers, adjustment layer masks or group masks.

My solution: Add the pixel layer or the smart object to a group and then paint on the mask added to that group. In that case, the brush outline remains as the brush outline.

I hope this trick might work for some of you as well until Adobe properly fixes this issue...

Cheers!

[jeromea13244388]

Hi, sounds like the bug is kinda reduced (?) with Photoshop 26.0... I experienced it more rarely in the conditions it appeared before... I might be interested in the experience of others with this latest update.

[Jqqerry]

@jeromea13244388 hi longtime no see. Yes. I think in 26.0, these bugs and issues have improved a lot. (It might just be a mood but I think it's less frequent)
But because of the deceleration and crash of the Remove tool (probably another issue with the Nvidia driver, it seems like a glitch), I deleted it and stayed at 25.12.

I don't exactly remember the version we first reported and talked about before. But back then, if I purposely tried to recreate the bug, I could immediately recreate the problem with the brush cursor.
But now 25.12 to 26.0 seems a bit difficult to forcefully reproduce. (Of course, when I'm busy working, I sometimes turn into a mouse cursor)

[jeromea13244388]

@JqqerryYeah, before I would experience the bug whenever i started drawing on a new layer and now it appears so rarely I can't really determine why it appears... I guess it's an improvement.
I haven't use the Remove tool yet so I'm sticking to this 26.0 for now.

[Jqqerry]

@jeromea13244388 It seems certain that it rarely happens in general situations now.
For example, with a very weak brush of flow 1%, it only seems to be visible from time to time in situations where you draw or retouch a fast repeat with a wacom tablet pen.

But I still don't know the exact cause. =(

But what's clear is that I don't remember experiencing anything like this in the old version (like Photoshop 2020, or 2019-2016 before that).

[AMOS0D4C]

I find that whenever I copy paste something (using the lasso tool and Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V), and then use the brush again, the cursor starts flickering. And the only way I found to fix this is to create a new layer and merge down to the copied layer. STILL ANNOYING ADOBE, pls fix this.