Eraser and Brush Tools Only Work with Single Click

[jjrothdesign]

I've had an issue with the brush and eraser tools since last fall. I've always been able to click and drag the eraser or the brush tool to erase/brush a line, but now the tools only work with single click. So every time I want to erase something, I have to keep moving the tool incrementally and clicking to erase. Same with drawing with the brush tool.

I've checked settings and Opacity and Flow are at 100%. The brush shape spacing is set to the default 25% (I even tried it at 1% to see if that would change anything).

I've tried closing and restarting Photoshop and downloading the latest version of Photoshop and none of that helps. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[PECourtejoie]

Hi, are you using a graphic tablet?

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/tablet-support-faq-photoshop.html 

Did you try to restore your preferences to the default using this manual method:
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html#Manually it lets you keep a copy on the desktop that you can use to revert the process.

[jjrothdesign]

I'm working on a PC running Windows 10.

Restoring preferences worked, but from past experience, this issue will likely arise again. Do you have any insight on why this is happening when I never change the Brush/Eraser preferences other than to change size, hardness, flow or opacity?

[PECourtejoie]

Hi, @jjrothdesign 

Fortunately for them, most users do not experience that...

Out of the top of my head, here are some paths to explore:

Do you use a third party tool that can influence the brush, such as Lazy Nezumi?

Are you using a fancy gaming mouse, or a mouse that might have extended drivers and possibilities?

Does Photoshop close normally or does for instance sometimes the computer run out of power? 

I wonder if there is a configuration, such as a permission issue on your machine?

You did not answer if you are using a graphic tablet.

As for the prefs, if you followed the manual method, you can easily restore them (unless you never change exensively the settings, in that case, a preferences reset from the preference menu might be faster.

I think that @Stephen_A_Marsh has an action to save prefs, or even a script, maybe can he share it...

[jjrothdesign]

Thanks for following up.

• I am not using a graphic tablet. I use a laptop with significant graphic design capabilities, with a logitech trackball that is just plug and play.
• Photoshop opens and closes in a normal fashion. I don't run out of power and I don't have any third party tools in use. I use a pretty standard/basic configuration.
• The only special preference settings are just display settings, such as which toolbars are open, docked, etc., and settings regarding opening in separate windows vs. tabs.

These are the PC specs:

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8550U CPU @ 1.80GHz 1.99 GHz
Installed RAM 32.0 GB (31.8 GB usable)
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor