P: Shoelace shaped brush stroke with Wacom and smoothing on macOS

[Stephen220014570tvf]

I'm getting fed up with you Adobe

This is a recurring issue with smoothing creating a "shoelace" effect. I'm on a brand new mac, and a brand new Cintiq. I've tried reinstalling drivers, installing older versions of photoshop, and toying with smoothing settings. As far as I can tell, if I want to use smoothing, it generates these artifacts at the end of my strokes. 

I've used photoshop for a couple of decades professionally, but I'm at a crossroads with whether I will bite the bullet, cancel my Adobe subscribtions and switch to Pro Create or another product. Fix this.

[JJMack]

I use WinTab interface with Wacon Intuos Small and like  Lazy Nezumi smoothing better then Photoshop something. At 80 I'm no longer a smooth operator.

[Trevor.Dennis]

If you use a talet on a Windows system, then you should at least try Lazy Nezumi Pro.  IMO it is the single most useful photoshop plugin.  Have you checked the NMP website to check out it's tools and features?  

I've seen posts where a user has tried both Win Tab and Windows Ink and it made no difference.  All I can suggest is to experiment with the brush smoothing settings. Or go try LNP.

[Eneida5DC4]

The end of the brush stroke keeps coming out as a round blob instead of a sharp point like it should. How do I fix this? I've seen other people have this issue but there was never a solution given.

[Trevor.Dennis]

It's called a 'shoelace' artifacts. It's generally associated with Wacom tablets on Windows systems, but I only have experience with Windows.  Turning off smoothing will probably fix it, although we shouldn't need to lose smoothing to fix a bug.  You can try different, or updating, your Wacom drivers (assuming you are using one.  I expect other tablets can have the same problem though.

The good news, and easily your best fix, is to use Lazy Nezumi Pro which completely eliminates shoelace problems as well as adds incredible functionality to a drawing tablet.  I call it the best value Photoshop add-on bar none.  Unfortunately, it is only available for Windows systems.

Lazy Nezumi Pro - Mouse and Pen Smoothing for PhotoShop and other Apps

[vojtěcht59179365]

Have same problem in PS 2022.
It's really frustrating. I remember, that PS cc 2019 had solved this issue perfectly, but after couple of years with well working brushes, we're where we was years ago...this sucks.

[PECourtejoie]

I've read that some use Lazy Nezumi to fix the "shoelace" issue.

see: https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/photoshop-brush-stroke-not-tapering-r...

[J453]

Thanks. I've asked engineering to take a look at this.

[chad.rolfs]

Unfortunately this is just the pressure fall off Photoshop gets from Wacom.  Some things you can fiddle with to make this better:

In Wacom settings Options, uncheck Tip-Up Assist,
In Wacom Pen Setting set Tip Feel to more Firm,
In Photoshop smoothing options (gear icon): uncheck Stroke Catch-up and Catch-up on Stroke End,

In Photoshop use a brush that doesn't use pressure, or simply paint slower with a brush that does (not a great options I admit).
You can also try lowering the smoothing and adjust how quickly you pull the stylus off the tablet.  If you apply less pressure as you finish the stroke before you lift the stylus off the canvas/tablet surface, you'll not see as many of these shoestrings but rather a gradual thinning of the stroke. 

Hope that is helpful. 

[davescm]

I find a small amount of smoothing and stroke catch up and catch up on stroke end ON work best for me. It might be different on different users though - depending on how they use their pen.

Example below both left and right have similar strokes at 10% smoothing, but those on the left are full of shoestrings but in those on the right the issue is less evident.

Dave

[J453]

Wacom tablet has a control panel.  The pen's pressure profile can be adjusted to reduce (possibly eliminate) the shoelace tail.  The profile can be customized on a per device tool and per application basis.

Here's a rough profile that will reduce the shoelace effect:

[Wanzet5DDE]

That's how my graphic tablet works in Paint Tool SAI

And that's how it works in Phoroshop?

Any thoughts on fixing it?

[RainHNg]

Thanks so much Trevor! That plugin is wonderful! (but what a shame that we have to use it, PS should adress this from the beginning)

I downloaded & played around with it, only used the brush smoothing feature (for now), but it was so worthit that I bought the license.

Thanks again!

[gabdar22]

Whenever I use a pressure size brush, my strokes leave this weird extra nubbin on the end of them. If I install an external program like lazy nezumi it works no problem, but I'd like to not have to rely on that. Any ideas what might be happening?

I'm using photoshop cc 2022 and this is happening consistently using different wacom tablets

[melissapiccone]

How fast are you painting? If you go slow, it will leave the tail. I would try playing with the brush settings and make quick, deliberate strokes. 

[gabdar22]

this example photo was done while making quick deliberate strokes ^

thanks for the help anyway!

[melissapiccone]

I've had this same issue in the past but I don't remember if or how I fixed it, sorry. 

[zenginejulia]

A Mac Alternative to the here-mentioned "Lazy Nezumi" App is Hej Stylus. https://hejstylus.com/

FEATURES:

• Position Pull
• Exchangeable presets
• Shortcuts
• Pressure smoothing and buffering
• Two position smoothing methods
• Instant pressure mapping
• Tilt and rotation smoothing
• Works with any graphics software running on the Mac
• Works with a mouse, trackpad, stylus, or graphics tablet

[MatoH]

I think I just figured it out - turning off the "smoothing" option in brush settings totally eliminated this effect for me. Seems it does just the oposite of what it says. 

[yunbo32528899tyci]

you are really the god of  photoshop!!

[bronwynw43839570]

I have fixed this problem in the past, but I can't remember how. Now, after not saving my preferences last night, I am encountering the same problem again! I have tried everything on this thread and even re-installed my wacom driver (I don't have the option to edit the pressure curve), but nothing gets me back to the beautifully tapered, natural looking lines I had yesterday. This is especially frustrating in the middle of a book project since not only have I lost time, but my lines wil now not look consistent. I really hope someone fixes this or remembers how they fixed it.