Crop tool does not contain crop handles on image when running as an action in photoshop 25.12

[marcdwelis]

When running the crop command as a recorded action in the latest versions of Photoshop (25.12) and Photoshop Beta (25.13) on Windows the crop handles are missing and reposisioning is sluggish. The crop tool works as expected when not run as an action.

[Sameer K]

Hey, @marcdwelis. Welcome to the Photoshop Community. I'll move your response to discussions for now. I'll need more info to help you figure this out. Please share the system info from Photoshop Help > System info > Copy and paste into a text document > upload and attach here. Actions are custom workflow, and it'll help if you export and share the action file for us to test this.

Ensure there are no stale preferences in your Photoshop. Go to the location of the preference folder below and rename it to backup.

• Windows 10/11: Users/[user name]/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop [version]/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings
• You can press Press the Windows key > Enter 'Run' > Enter %APPDATA%\Adobe
• Rename the Adobe Photoshop folder by adding a .old at the end. (Adobe Photoshop 2024 > Rename > Adobe Photoshop 2024. old), you can later restore these preferences if needed.(https://adobe.ly/4860qM9)
• Restart the computer.

These changes will give a fresh start to Photoshop as a fresh install. Let me know how it goes.

Thanks!
Sameer K

(Use '@mention' to tag me when you reply)

[marcdwelis]

Hello Sameer,

Thanks for your reply. I am attaching an image of the how recorded crop action runs on both Photoshop version 26.3 (when the crop tool is missing its handles and reponds sluggishly) and Photoshop 25.11 (the last version when the recorded crop command responds correctly). I have reset preferences with no effect. Thank you.

@mention

[Stephen Marsh]

For what it's worth, I'm sure that I have seen this before as well in other versions, I think that I either zoomed in/out or showed extras or something else to "refresh" the screen and the crop handles appeared.

[marcdwelis]

Hello Stephen,

Thanks for your reply. When running the crop command as a recorded action is missing its crop handles in every verson of Photoshop after version 25.11. Zooming, showing extras, or any other movements are not available when running actions. Please consider that the crop command is not the only command running in the recorded script.

[Stephen Marsh]

Hello Stephen,

Thanks for your reply. When running the crop command as a recorded action is missing its crop handles in every verson of Photoshop after version 25.11. Zooming, showing extras, or any other movements are not available when running actions. Please consider that the crop command is not the only command running in the recorded script.

By @marcdwelis

Well, I naturally assumed that you had the modal control active on the action step for an interactive crop.

Anyway, I downloaded Photoshop 2025 and had no problems with cropping with a modal control active, the handles were there.

I played around with the gear/cog icon and turned classic mode on and off and crop shield etc... Then I lost the handles!

Resetting prefs on quit didn't fix things.

Running the modal action step, and going to the gear/cog icon and turning classic mode on and off and crop shield on and off etc. didn't fix anything.

I exited the action.

Next, I manually used the crop tool without using the action, again playing with the various options and my crop handles returned! The next time I ran the modal action, it was reset and the handles were again visible.

Hope this works for you!

[marcdwelis]

Hello again Stephen,

Thanks again for your imput. I have noticed that occasionally the crop as a recorded action will work as expected when using the newest versions of photoshop but, sadly, when they are continually used they will fail again. Please keep in mind that I use the crop command as a recorded action on countless images in my workflow. Failure is simply not an option for many reasons but mostly because of efficiency. My work around as I have mentioned in other responses is to simply install version 25.11. This version runs as expected. What happens, though, is I open photoshop to begin a session and run the command just to find the crop handles missing. What has happened is Creative Cloud has updated without my permission. The fix is to revert to 25.11 and begin the session again. One concern I have is that reverting to 25.11 may become unavailable. So, as I've worked I have considered what my work around might become. I beleive the only solution under that circumstance will be to remove the crop command from the action and crop manually before running the other commands included in my current action. Not my first choice but can be done.

I appologise that I seem to be unmovable regarding this specific problem but missing crop handles and sluggish response is unacceptable when it works in one version and not another.

Thanks again,

Marc

[marcdwelis · Accepted solution]

Hello @Sameer K,

Update...I've honed in on the problem. When using versions of Photoshop newer than 25.11 a recorded action of the crop command does not work as expected. The crop handles are missing and repositioning the crop box is sluggish. What changes this reaction is found in the preferences dialogue under the performance tab. If the 'Use Graphics Processor' is selected, the recorded crop action fails. Once the 'Use Graphics Processor' is deselected the recorded crop action performs as expected. I've toggled on and off the choices found under the 'Advanced' tab with no effect. As mentioned, selecting 'Use Graphics Processor' does not negatively effect the recorded action of the crop command when using versions of Photoshop 25.11 or older.

I have two machines that produce these same results. The first machine is running Windows 10 and equipped with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti and is loaded with the NVIDIA Game Ready Driver 572.83 (Current). The second machine is running Windows  and equipped with an NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti and is loaded with the same driver.

I would appreciate your thoughts.

marcdwelis

[creative explorer]

@marcdwelis have you tried View - Extras 

[marcdwelis]

I have extras selected in the view menu. Unselecting and reselecting has no effect.

[Bojan Živković]

Functions as intended in the latest version 26.3.0 of Photoshop on Windows.

[marcdwelis]

Hello Bojan,

Thanks for your interest in this problem. I'm sorry, though, the crop handles are missing when running a crop command as a recorded action in version 26.3.0. The last version that the crop handles appear correctly is 25.11

[Bojan Živković]

Just tested, you are correct. Would you mind recording the set path or inserting the path step followed by the transform path step, with a modal for the transform path allowed to temporarily solve the problem? In the past, I recorded several commercial actions and never used the Crop tool; I always opted for Insert Path, followed by Transform Path if necessary.

[marcdwelis]

Thanks again Bojan for considering this problem and suggesting a work around. I have been using the crop tool as a recorded action for decades and so seems unneccessary to change a command that is so simple and effective only to chase a problem with current programming. I use these actions to automate the processing of tens of thousands of images and would rather use a version of photoshop that continues to work. Ocassionally I check the newer versions of photoshop and the beta hoping that this problem will be resolved. As of now it hasn't been. In the beginning this problem was presented directly to adobe but they chose to move it to this discussion board rather than address it themselves. As is typical, they pointed their finger at my system or maybe my corrupted preferences. This I have seen before with other users and problems. I currently use multiple machines running varying operating systems and the problem is present in all of them. I don't mean to go on and, once again, I appreciate your time and expertise. For now it seems I will continue to revert my version of photoshop back to 25.11 following each update. Which, by the way, happens regardless of how many times I turn off automatic updates. To finish, photoshop is a critical piece of my workflow and this problem is minor in the long run.

Thanks again,

Marc

[Clinton Lubbe]

Hi Marc

Has this been resolved for you?

I am experiencing the same issue and as simple as it sounds, it's a serious issue when batching actions with a large team. Been woring in PS for decades and am not finding a suitable fix / answer.

Regards,

Clinton.

[marcdwelis]

Hello Clinton,

Sadly, a resolution has not presented itself. My current work around is to run photoshop version 25.11 which functions as expected. Like you, I have series of recorded actions which rely on the crop tool to work as expected. Some are printing package commands when an 8 x 10 needs to be made from a 8 x 11 file while other elements of the package are made directly from the 8 x 11 file. Other issues arise when proofing images where the string of commands includes a crop command along side many other steps. One issue, and I'm typing this while Creative Cloud is reverting photoshop back to 25.11, is that no matter how many times I select to manually update photoshop it continues to reset to auto updates requiring me to reinstall photoshop before beginning my work. Like you, I have been using photoshop for decades. If my memory serves I began using 5 in the late nineties. Unfortunately it may take some time for Adobe to consider this problem worth pursuing. Hopefully, the ability to revert to 25.11 will remain an option. Good luck.

Marc

[Clinton Lubbe]

Hey Marc.

I have moved the conversation to your private messages as it seems that you and I are aligned around the importance of this issue and it's a topic I'm investing time and money into resolving. Would love to understand how much common ground we have in our needs and possible solutions.

Look forward to taking this further.

Regards,

Clinton.

[marcdwelis]

Problem solved...sort of. Opened photoshop on a Windows 11 machine running the latest version of photoshop and the recorded action of the crop command functioned as expected. Also, Creative Cloud is not forcing a Photoshop Update when 'automatic updates' are not selected. Just to check, I tried the recorded action of the crop command and it failed on versions of Photoshop after 25.11 on a Windows 10 machine. Thanks for everyone's input and good luck.

Marc