P: Changed shift-click behavior in Healing Brush?

[JWL_Images1]

In the cc2015 versions of Photoshop the Healing Brush behaves differently than older versions did when I use "shift-click" to connect points. In PS CS6, for example, when I hold down the shift key, the tool clones in (or heals) continuously from point to point as I click. In the last two versions of Photoshop, this has changed: a click, then shift-click to a new location results in a "line", but this does not continue to the next point clicked, even when holding the shift key down continuously. Instead, the new point is treated as the beginning of a second "line" of healing/painting.

I hope this makes sense - it's surprisingly complicated to describe such a simple thing. But the effect is really disconcerting - if I'm healing along a surface, I can no longer get a continuous "heal" along a curve, for example.

The Brush & Clone Stamp tools don't show this at all - they behave as expected, connecting clicked points continuously until the shift key is released. I can't find any preference setting that might have changed, and I'm using a very simple tool set - no wild brushes or anything. Very frustrating!

How can I get the old behavior back for the Healing Brush Tool? What am I missing?

Thanks,

John


P.S. I posted this earlier in Adobe's User Forums, along with a link to example screenshots - was told by another member they saw this problem on Mac but not Windows versions, and they recommended I post here in hopes of getting someone's attention at Adobe. Let me know if posting the link would be helpful (I hope this forum allows links?)

[J453]

Can you post the link to you prior conversation and screen shots or post the details here? Just to confirm, are you running CC 2015.1.2? Or 2015.5.1? (You can go to Help > System Info... and the version should be listed in the first line of text)

[JWL_Images1]

Sure, here's my earlier conversation:
https://forums.adobe.com/message/8953008
and here are my examples:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/27722512/HealingBrush_NewBehavior.png
and
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/27722512/HealingBrush_OldBehavior.png

I have tested on cc2015 and cc2015.5 on Mac OS X Yosemite (for some strange reason I can't get Creative Cloud to discover cc2015.5.1 on my desktop machine?) as well as cc2015.5.1 on Mac OSX El Cap, 10.11.3

[Olaf Giermann]

I can not reproduce what you describe on my Mac with OS X 10.11.6 with Photoshop CC 2015.5.1 with the healing-brush. Works just as expected: Holding down shift yields a straight healed-line between each click.
Maybe, you use a stylus and have pressure sensitivity enabled? In this case it would be an issue of your settings and preferences.

[JWL_Images1]

Hello Olaf,
Thank you very much for testing this. I'm encouraged to think it's apparently not a bug, but I'd still like to find out why I'm experiencing this. No, I'm not using a stylus, so it's not pressure sensitivity. I see it on Macs running Yosemite & El Cap, in PS cc2015.5.1. Also, if you follow the link to my earlier Adobe User Forums discussion, another user saw the same thing on his Mac, but not Windows. Strange...

[JWL_Images1]

New information:

Testing further, I can get proper shift-click behavior with the Healing Brush, but *only* when both source & destination points are on the same layer. Furthermore, that layer apparently must be a background layer.

IOW, when trying to "heal"/clone from one layer to another, even in the same document, continuous shift-click behavior fails. Also fails when working on one single layer if it's not a background.

This can't be normal behavior - is it? (it was not in earlier versions) It makes for big problems in routine retouching tasks. It seems hard to believe no one else has noticed or is bothered by this.

Olaf, were you perhaps testing on a single (background) layer? If so, can you try "healing" from a source on one layer to destination on different layer?

Thanks,

John


-- Right now I'm using cc2015.5.1 on a MacBook Pro running OSX Yosemite. I will try to replicate at work on a newer iMac OSX El Cap with same Photoshop version.

[J453]

Sampling all layers to a new layer is giving me a different behavior. It looks like every other shift click is registering.

[JWL_Images1]

Thanks for testing. Yes, this sounds like what I'm reporting - the effect is a sequence of lines (with breaks), instead of one continuous line.

This can't be how the HB is supposed to behave, can it?

[J453]

No. I've logged an internal report for engineering to investigate.

[Olaf Giermann]

Works also as expected for me, when I heal on a new, empty layer. 

[JWL_Images1]

Thank you!
(so I'm not crazy after all...  😉

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Not crazy<G> With or without Sample All Layers, on the same layer or a new layer, I'm getting every other shift-click if I hold down the Shift key and keep trying to click.  I normally  let up and start fresh each single stroke, so I hadn't actually noticed this.

[JWL_Images1]

Thank you Cristen. Now we just have to hope it gets fixed soon. The negative effects on my retouching routines are substantial.
John

[J453]

This was fixed in CC 2017. Let us know if you're still having this issue.

[JWL_Images1]

Yes, was fixed sometime back. Thought I had posted about the fix earlier, but anyway thank you!
John

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

It's not woking properly for me now.  Running Sierra 10.12.6 and Photoshop 2017.1.1.

Tony