Help! Photoshop CS6 hangs when using brush, clone, healing brush tools etc on Mac

[BarneyHamilton]

I am having a big problem when using the new CS6 on my Mac (os x 10.7.4). When switching to a new tool, like a brush, or clone stamp, or healing brush etc, Photoshop hangs for about 20 seconds before resuming. It's not 3rd party plug-ins, because I get the same behaviour when I run using the shift key and third party plug-ins are disabled. It doesn't happen every time, but it happens frequently. I've heard that others have had similar problems... are there any solutions - is it a known bug?

[Fried Egg Sandwich]

Having the same problem as you. Select brush tool > freeze 20 seconds, select type tool > freeze 20 seconds, select move tool > freeze 20 seconds.

Like you I tried disabling any third party plugs, brushes, fonts etc, which didn't help.

I noticed this bahaviour in the beta and did report it. Extrememly disapointed that it's still happening in the final and ruining what is otherwise a solid update.

My system: OSX 10.6.8, 2x2.26 Quad Core Intel Mac Pro Nehalem model. 16GB Ram, ATI Radeon HD 4870, Wacom Intuos 3, dual 30" Apple Cinema Displays.

[Guest]

The first release of CS6 is mostly like the beta.  The bug fixes will come with dot releases.

[BarneyHamilton]

Fried Egg - yep that's exactly the behaviour - come on Adobe, please investigate and fix!!

My system OX 10.7.4, 3.33 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon Mac Pro, 24GB RAM, ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024 MB, Wacom Intuous 3, 30" Apple Cinema Display

[Chris Cox]

Not a known bug, and we've never seen behavior like that.

Have you tried resetting your preferences?

Is there anything in common with the sessions where you see the problem?  (using a particular operation, certain files, etc.)?

[BarneyHamilton]

Chris - have tried resetting preferences, yes. Nothing in common with the sessions when I see the problem - it happens all the time, every session, every file, and about 70% of the time when I switch tools.

[Fried Egg Sandwich]

Chrish - I uninstalled the beta using the Adobe uninstaller, then did a fresh reinstall of Photoshop from the trial. Still running in trial mode. I tried resetting the prefs today, hasn't stopped the hanging.

Not noticed anything in common that triggers the hang. It just happens when a tool is selcted.

Had a hang just now for about 60 seconds when I hit B for the brush tool.

[BarneyHamilton]

Fried Egg - do you get the problem when you switch to the tool, or when you start to use it? I only get the problem when I use it...ie when I put pen to the tablet and starting "painting" etc....

[Fried Egg Sandwich]

I think it's when the pen touches the tablet - difficult to say as I only realise it's hung as soon as I start brushing/cloning etc. Noticed that it hangs when using the polygonal lassoo too.

I'm updating my Wacom drivers right now, will report back.

[Fried Egg Sandwich]

So far so good after updating the Wacom drivers. Working solidly in PS since my last post and no hangs as yet. Working on an illustration with lots of masking, brushing, paths and selections, all of which would usually hang at some point.

[Fried Egg Sandwich]

Spoke too soon. Just had a hang with the brush tool.

[BarneyHamilton]

I've followed your lead and updated my Wacom drivers - have to say, I am not getting hangs right now...seems much better...how are you getting on? (other than the one hang)?

[Fried Egg Sandwich]

Definitely much better, only had that one hang and I've been in PS since. You?

[Was DYP]

Even after the Wacom driver update I find it almost impossible to use that lasso tool because of the delays. I am going to have to go back to CS5 to get any work done.

[Torokun28]

This problem existed with both Beta version and the purchased version I am using.

Currently, I am not very happy with Adobe's product service due to major issues I had with CS6 this weekend (along with years of dealing with unresolved bugs in previous versions).

But for an employee of Adobe to come out and say out right that you are not familiar with this behaviour is very perplexing to me.

Just try googling this issue and you can see both PC and Mac users are having the same issue. 

Are you saying at Adobe, you don't have enough QA time put into reviewing your product?  Or are you saying your QA testers are incompetent?  Or are you saying your customers are all fools? 

At least admit the issues with your softwares and just fix it.  Dragging on known issues willl make your customers very unhappy. 

I for one, if there is replacement for Adobe products, I would jump on it right away.  Adobe definitely is not the same company that I used to know.  All their latest apps are blotted and doesn't really resolve core issues in time. 

This particular issue is very troublesome for industry professionals.  I run into it daily and it's a huge hassle.

[Naitsirc Anat]

Hi Adam Jerugim, I have an issue too with the Intuos 3 in Illustrator cs6, its like some kind of lagging or delay of a second whike while dragging when using the wacom pen grip tool.

Have otther people experimented the same that you know..????

[BJamieson2215]

Just to rule things out: Make a clean user on your computer and run Photoshop to see if it still hangs. If it doesn't hang anymore it might mean that Photoshop is fighting for resources that your computer is giving out to other processes on your usual user. You can always delete the user you've created later.

[Fried Egg Sandwich]

Worked in PS all day and no hangs, the Wacom update seems to have fixed this for me.

[BarneyHamilton]

Yes, was definitely something to do with the wacom driver - I'm not getting the same problems now; major improvement. I think I may have had one small hang in a day. I am using Intuos 3, so not sure if it applies to more recent Intuos tablets.

[ChipT-III]

Same sort of problem here on my Mac Pro. The Intuos 4 pen hangs when using clone/heal type tools or if I'm using the space bar and pen to move the canvas. It hangs when I make a stroke but not when I select the tool. Typically, I make a stroke on the image and the pen will "not let go" - leaving a trail if the pen moves until it finally releases. The frequency of the problem is mixed. Sometimes I can go for an hour with no problem and other times it starts almost immediately. It usually will start with a random delay on strokes, getting worse until the pen is no longer usable.

I've updated Wacom drivers, uninstalled them completely and loaded the latest versions, and even tried  prior driver versions. Nothing works and its seriously impacting my workflow. I may have to go back to CS5 until a fix is found.

[Griavram]

Make a clean user on your computer and run Photoshop to see if it still hangs. If it doesn't hang anymore it might mean that Photoshop is fighting for resources that your computer is giving out to other processes on your usual user.Thanks for the information and success.  http://www.kabbanet.ro

[Guest]

Is everyone that is having this problem using a wacom tablet?

If so, and tablet disabled does it work as advertised?

[bcmorrison99]

I'm seeing the same issue. Mac OS 10.7.4, Mac Pro 2010 8-core with 32gb ram. NOTE that it seems it is not photoshop itself that becomes unresponsive, it appears to be only the document window (photoshop still lets me open the file menu, for instance). It becomes unresponsive when a tool is selected, after which I can't do anything with a document, or any of the pallets. I am using a Wacom Intuos 4; updated my drivers yesterday, and the freezing still happens.

I'm going to try and watch activity monitor for the rest of the day and see if anything jumps out at me. But honestly, with the specs on this machine, if photoshop is using up all resources it's a software issue. If this machine can't run PS effectively without constant unresponsiveness, then I might as well give up now.

[bcmorrison99]

Photoshop goes to 100% CPU usage when this happens (normally sitting around 1% and < 3gb ram). Memory usage didn't change. Wacom drivers don't show any increase in CPU or memory usage.

[Guest]

Not a computer whiz, but is there anyway to tell what the video card is doing during this time?  Is VRAM maxed out for instance?