I have encountered many problems with Photoshop over the last years, this meant I often had to 'Alt-Tab' my way to a different application so Photoshop could release its grip and free the fields. Over the last few months I often have to 'Alt-Tab' twice and sometimes more often.
I noticed that if I fill something out in a field, a colour value for instance, this field does not lose the focus. But it's even worse than that. I found out today that even using the 'Paint Bucket' tool is now having a problem.
Below are some screenshots.
'01-mix-70percent-grey'
I mix 70% grey so I can fill a layer with that colour using an sRGB document, as usual. By the way: I also tried this with a greyscale file but the result is the same.
I use the 'Paint Bucket' tool for this, it's using 100% opacity and of course the 'Normal' blend mode, no strange settings.
The layer I want to fill is empty and also in 'Normal' blend mode.
'02-fill-paintbucket'
In this step I use the paintbucket to fill the layer with 70% grey.
'03-result-83-grey'
This step demonstrates how the result instead is 83 percent grey.
In an earlier step this number kept climbing, as if Photoshop was adding to the value.
'04-use-pencil-is-70-percent'
To unblock the paintbucket I thought I would try the 'Pencil' tool.
I mixed 70% grey and used it. This worked.
'05-paintbucket-again-wrong'
After that I wanted to use the paint bucket again. But this didn't work, it added the wrong colour again.
'06-becomes-82-percent'
That wrong colour I mentioned in the precious step turned out as 82% grey instead.
'07-no-other-tool'
After that, Photoshop again didn't let me select any other tool. It completely blocked, as happens so, so often, and no shortcut such as 'm', 'n', 'i' and not even hard-selecting tools in the 'Tools' panel helps. Photoshop then keeps focusing on some field and sticks to the wrong colours.
This is all getting out of control. I have been using it since the nineties. I was used to 'Alt-Tabbing' my way out of it and even creating snapshots was more of a pain because Photoshop usually decides to immediately snap back into focus, removing the screen shot app from focus so I have to go back to that to use its content.
But having to 'Alt-Tab' so often and now having to unlock whatever field is stubbornly keeping things inactive, AND Photoshop changing the colour values because apparently, some field is adding to the values I fill out, is getting ridiculous. I am not often so frustrated but how can I teach when Photoshop is not reliably using the colours I specify?
Again: I did this in a greyscale file as well with the same results. If I shut down Photoshop the same happens, freezing, locking, and using wrong values. If I use a saved swatch things are okay. But Photoshop freaks whenever I specify ink values and this simply should not be the case.
I think there is more going on at a deeper level and it's all to do with focus and fields, and keeping things in cache, maybe. Whatever it is; it's not making work easy and takes up too much time. To have to switch to the 'Pencil' tool to use the colour I mix because the 'Paint Bucket' tool refuses to use it is silly.
18
Replies
AdChoices
