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Dan Bowles
Participant
November 7, 2012
Answered

Brush/pencil not working in Photoshop [2012] [CS5]

  • November 7, 2012
  • 12 replies
  • 231153 views

My brush/pencil tool isn't working in Photoshop CS5...when I try and use it it just makes a dot and doesn't allow me to draw a continuous line...

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Trevor.Dennis

    rossiam wrote:

    I may have stumbled upon a solution.I was just fooling around with photoshop when suddenly my brushed tool stopped working.I just so happened to look down at my keyboard and noticed the caps lock button was on.I turned it off and my brush tool started working again.I hope this helps.

    Just to clarify that, the annoying Caps Lock gotcha that I think every Photoshop® user falls foul of at least once, only affects the brush cursor (turning it into the cross hairs cursor) touching down and using the brush will still be fine.

    12 replies

    P
    Patrick21807157edmv
    Participant
    September 26, 2023

    Set "Mode" to "Normal"

    K
    Kateyyy
    Participant
    June 2, 2023

    I just experienced the exact same problem and after trying svereal of the solutions offered below without success, quitting and re-opening Photoshop fixed it. Super annoying. 

      H
      Houdini_Bob
      Participant
      August 26, 2023

      my pen quit working for changing tools: brush, lasso, marquee. I tired alla the above with no help. but I figured it out and I forgot to change the pen dos when clickijg. top one was set to eraser, changed it to left click and it is working as it should be. 

      MegKatCar
      MegKatCar
      Participant
      October 13, 2021

      Brush presets tip shape, unclick dual brush.

      D
      David W5C1B
      Participant
      January 31, 2021

      I have to select another Layer a copy of the Background. Make sure you click on it. If you change from brush to bucket it has a tendency to light up another Layer in the List. Seems to work for me. I have 2020. This shouldn't be going on. Please fix the Problem... DWM

      B
      BillRhodesPhoto
      Participant
      June 7, 2022

      My Bamboo pen has been working well for me, then just stopped. It works as a mouse, it shows the size and shape of burshes, it just does not make any marks.

       

      B
      BillRhodesPhoto
      Participant
      June 7, 2022

      should also mention that the mouse works fine doing all the things

      M
      minecalfakiva
      Participant
      August 4, 2020

      I had a simular issue and my solution was to merge some layers, cause i guess there were too many or something

      E
      Eric5FD4
      Participant
      November 3, 2020

      Same issue even to this day. Huion 1060 tablet worked fine for 2 months then brush started to only erase with layers and bruhs properties as normal. I cant reverse it. It only happens on one specific document. 

      R
      rszatko
      Participant
      May 4, 2020

      Hi, thanks for posting this. I was having the same issues too and couldn't figure out why the brush wasn't working as a mask tool. I just figured out what my issue was so hopefully its the same for you. I went under brush settings and unchecking the spacing box under the "Brush Tip Shape" selection in the left column. Works like normal now!

        VincentClark
        VincentClark
        Participating Frequently
        May 22, 2020

        I had been struggling with a similar issue. I followed the same path rszatko took. 
        However, for me, the problem only corrected itself when I chose one of the default brushes, "hard round"

        the problem then was solved. 

         

        I would still like to know how I got into that bind to start with, but the problem is absolutely in the brushes. 

          S
          storylayerstudio
          Participant
          November 24, 2015

          I'm still having this problem as well. Sometimes I do the workaround of going to a text edit doc, and back. Othertimes I use the Edit > Purge and it will work again but you lose all your histories, etc...

          I'm on:

          a Wacom Intuos

          iMac 10.10.5

          Photoshop CC

          All up-to-date as of this posting. Please let us know when there is a solution, not a work around! Please!

            Trevor.Dennis
            Community Expert
            Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            November 24, 2015

            storylayerstudio wrote:

            I'm still having this problem as well. Sometimes I do the workaround of going to a text edit doc, and back. Othertimes I use the Edit > Purge and it will work again but you lose all your histories, etc...

            I'm on:

            a Wacom Intuos

            iMac 10.10.5

            Photoshop CC

            All up-to-date as of this posting. Please let us know when there is a solution, not a work around! Please!

            I think it might be better if you started a new thread on your issue.  You are well down page 2 as I type this, and while I am sure people have viewed your post, it is unclear what your issue is because of the long and convoluted nature of this thread.

            clevermill.com
            clevermill.com
            Inspiring
            August 16, 2015

            I've got Photoshop CC 15 and I still have the same problem.  Anybody find a solution on this?

              rossiam
              rossiam
              Participant
              March 12, 2015

              I may have stumbled upon a solution.I was just fooling around with photoshop when suddenly my brushed tool stopped working.I just so happened to look down at my keyboard and noticed the caps lock button was on.I turned it off and my brush tool started working again.I hope this helps.

                Trevor.Dennis
                Community Expert
                Trevor.DennisCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
                Community Expert
                March 13, 2015

                rossiam wrote:

                I may have stumbled upon a solution.I was just fooling around with photoshop when suddenly my brushed tool stopped working.I just so happened to look down at my keyboard and noticed the caps lock button was on.I turned it off and my brush tool started working again.I hope this helps.

                Just to clarify that, the annoying Caps Lock gotcha that I think every Photoshop® user falls foul of at least once, only affects the brush cursor (turning it into the cross hairs cursor) touching down and using the brush will still be fine.

                  rossiam
                  rossiam
                  Participant
                  March 13, 2015

                  Look I'm a beginner here ok...Geesh this is why I hate forums.

                    clevermill.com
                    clevermill.com
                    Inspiring
                    February 2, 2015

                    The solution I have found is that once you find it's not working in Photoshop, simply switch to another program, like TextEdit, or Excel or whatever you might have open and select some things in that program.  Like, I might select some text or even just tap in the text section.  Then come back to Photoshop and it works.

                    I think this is a seriously annoying problem.. and a ridiculous workaround.  I'm using the Intous5 wacom tablet on Yosemite.  It did this to me on the previous OS for mac as well, using the same tablet.    And it's been doing this for the last 3 versions of Photoshop that I can remember.  I keep waiting for an upgrade in the wacom software or in the adobe software to fix the issue.

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