Inspiring

P: Eyedropper tool now switches window focus

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
March 22, 2020
23 replies
1533 views

I recently upgraded to PS CC 2020, and I'm frustrated by what appears to be a change in the behavior of the Eyedropper tool.

I'm used to frequently using the Alt- key with the Brush selected to activate the Eyedropper and quickly select a color from a different document window within Photoshop. But now, in 2020, a click from the Eyedropper tool will most of the time switch the focus to the window that I clicked in, This happens whether I have the Eyedropper tool selected or am using Alt. Except that the behavior is not consistent... sometimes (rarely) the focus stays the same, and sometimes it quickly flashes back and forth.

The fact that the behavior is inconsistent suggests to me that something may be wrong, and that this is not just another inexplicable deliberate change in the behavior of PS tools. Is this a known issue, and is there any fix or workaround for it?

This topic has been closed for replies.

O

OldTribute

Participating Frequently

An update:
I Tested a few more things with Photoshop 2021, and I noticed that if I uncheck "Show Sampling Ring" the Eyedropper tool now behaves as expected and doesn't switch window focus.

Another thing I've found: If I select the Eyedropper tool and then use "alt" to color pick (like I'd do when using the pencil/brush), that also prevents from switching focus. So, that's another workaround.

@JeffreyTranberry What's the proper way to submit a bug report?

O

OldTribute

Participating Frequently

OK good to know, thanks for confirming!

I reverted to Photoshop CC 2019 and the behavior is definitely different (better). There's no weird temporary window focus shift when using the Eyedropper tool with "alt". The Eyedropper tool also never switches focus when I explicitly select the tool.

So, this behavior clearly changed in newer versions. Not sure if it's a bug or intended, but in my case, this interferes with my workflow. I'll keep using the 2019 version for now.

AriochIVAuthor

Inspiring

@Jonathan Lavigne Yeah, I have the same behavior. That may be as intended. Fortunately I use the Alt shortcut.

O

OldTribute

Participating Frequently

OK, I think I figured out the repro steps. Here's what I got:

If I explicitly select the Eyedropper tool (using the "i" shortcut or clicking it in the toolbar) and I color pick the other window, it gives focus to that other window.

But when using the "Alt" shortcut (with pencil or paintbrush), the focus switches back as intended.

O

OldTribute

Participating Frequently

Ok weird. It's intermittent on my side, like what you described in your original post. Maybe it's a symptom of another setting... But yeah that brief focus shifting behavior (even when it works properly) sure looks weird to me. I never noticed this with previous versions.

I updated Photoshop during the weekend (I was previously using the 2017 version and had no issue). I'll investigate more. Thanks!

AriochIVAuthor

Inspiring

@Jonathan Lavigne It's working correctly for me now. I'm on version 22.4.2 20210602.r.242 a4f6042 x64

Photoshop briefly switches to the window I Alt-click on, but then switches back to the current window, in less than a second.

O

OldTribute

Participating Frequently

I'm now having this exact same issue in Photoshop 2021, in the latest version 22.4.2. Is there a workaround for this or should I revert back to a previous version?

Thanks!

Jonathan

AriochIVAuthor

Inspiring

It does appear to be working properly on version 22.1.0.

There is some new strange behavior with the shape tools in this version, but I suppose that's for a different ticket. 😄

J

J453

Legend

Let me know if you're still having trouble with this issue in 22.0.1 or later.

F

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