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?

[Meta_A]

To clarify,  I installed a trial of CC instead of cs6 since the new update is supposed to fix the lasso tool.

But it doesnt, the lasso selection still closes randomly and the pen inputs still get jailed. I have no idea what adobe is doing but all these issues just make it so hard for me to job my job efficiently.

[BarneyHamilton]

4 months? It's been 18 months since May 2012 when I first posted about this problem. And it exists on both CC and CS6.

Extraordinary that there's been no solution found.

Extraordinary, because it's a frequent problem, and Wacom and Adobe should surely put heads together to solve.

Adobe - please update us as to whether you have an active resource dedicated to solving this?

[Meta_A]

You are right it has been such a long time, but before my upgrade to a new macbook with mavericks pre-installed this bug has been popping up alot more often. Often enough to drastically influence my workflow. The lack of status updates and communication from both wacom and adobe does nothing to ease my mind.

downgrading, sadly, is not an option avaliable to me

[TheAliKA]

Hey, I understand this is very fustrating, and I have been tearing out my hair about this issue.

But at the same time there is a temporary fix that I have been using which made me not notice this glitch any more.

________________________________

Comment #300

On a Macbook Pro: when it starts laging, click on the trackpad.

(this should reset process being sent to the wrong place and quit the lag)

On a iMac / MacPro: You must have iether a trackpad or a mouse pluged in / Bluetooth enabled and click when it lags.

Thanks to #286 and #297

[Joel Seligmann]

Yes, tapping the intuos pad with a finger fixes it for me.

The bug usually appears on recently opened files, but tapping pro-actively doesn't seem to prevent it.

[TheAliKA]

Awesome Stuff Joel!
So if you have a intous Pen & Touch... you can just tap the actual intous pad.
Didn't realise that.

You know we all have this problem, and Wacom/Photoshop are not solving it - but it really is just one extra tap of a problem.

It would be awesome for Adobe to come up with a solution, but for now I'm really happy i found this thread, with so much helpfull insigth - thanks to all who  have helped out! 

[Joel Seligmann]

Just got off the phone with Wacom Intuos tech support. The guy said that Adobe and Wacom always work together in product and software development, and that he had never heard of the problem.  Well, now Wacom has at least heard of it.  So, has anyone else called one or both of these companies who work so diligently with one another?

[Meta_A]

@ joe

See and this is what frustrates me, we the Pro users are recieving pretty poor customer service even though we are the target market. On the wacom forums there is a massive thread about this lag in photoshop, the polygonal lasso tool and general mavericks issues:

http://forum.wacom.eu/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16152&start=80

Wacom is even worse as in the first couple of pages they flat out reject the notion of thier drivers being buggy in mavericks. After complaining a great deal I had a remote session with a wacom engineer (very nice and helpfull guy) but issues still are not getting fixed.

communication with the customer is also complete trash most of the mods on the wacom forum/customer service are not updated and adobe does not seem to reply.  This all is so very frustrating

[Chris Cox]

So far, most of the issues have turned out to be MacOS bugs, not Wacom bugs.

But we are still working with Wacom and Apple to track down the cause of many of these issues (most of which first appeared in MacOS 10.9).

And while we don't reply to every topic, every post - we reply to the forums frequently, and track all the reported issues.

[geigreg]

Sorry, but these issues were reported in 10.8.

I hate to rag on Adobe, I love their tools and they have been a big part of my life for 25 years but a solution to this issue is long past due. I have a hard time believing it can be blamed on the OS or Wacom when the rest of the application works (and worked in previous versions) fine. The issue did not exist in CS5. Only after CS6 was there an issue. That says Adobe changed something in their code and not that it is a change in the OS. Simple process of elimination. CS5 worked in the same OS environment, CS6 (and CC) does not.

That we have to use what is arguably the best image editing software on the planet with a bug like this that has existed for years is inexcusable.

[Chris Cox]

And yet most users never see such a problem - which would tend to indicate that it involves something outside of Photoshop, or a third party addition to Photoshop.

And the problem got much worse in MacOS 10.9, without any changes to the Photoshop code - which would tend to indicate that the problem is outside of the Photoshop code.

Again, we are investigating this with Apple and Wacom.

[geigreg]

Again:

The issue did not exist in CS5. Only after CS6 was there an issue.

The issue did not exist in CS5. Only after CS6 was there an issue.

I did not update my OS. I upgraded to PS CS6.

Investigate harder.

[Joel Seligmann]

And just to reiterate, I have the problem, too, and I'm using OS 10.6.8.

[Fried Egg Sandwich]

10.6.8 here too. Currently running CS5 which operates normally.

Tried a clean install of 10.9 + CC on a fresh SSD and HD, hangs on both installs.

No other graphics apps, even Adobe's own have this issue. I'm an extensive ZBrush, Cinema 4D, Painter and Illustrator user and have not seen anything similar in those apps.

To blame the OS is absurd.

@Chis Cox - exactly how do you know that the "problem got much worse in 10.9" if you haven't been able to replicate it yourselves at Adobe? Serious question. Are you basing this on anecdotal or actual scientific evidence from your attempts to fix the bug?

Also @Chris Cox - "most users never see such a problem" - I personally know 12 professional Photoshop users who all have experience of the bug. The fact is most users won't bother signing up here to complain, they either just live with it or downgrade. Even Deke or another well known PS user highlighted it at Photoshop World.

Again, this has ruined my workflow and enjoyment of my work in PS. I used to keep up to date on all the PS news and new features, but now the app just dperesses me. It's shameful how Adobe have treated this application and its userbase.

This is a Photoshop/Adobe issue, blaming Wacom and Apple is just pathetic at this stage.

[Chris Cox]

We've been working with many customers, as well as tracking the customer reports to tech support, forums, etc.

And so far all indications are that this is an OS or driver bug.

But there are some similar bugs caused by third party software that are difficult to separate out - and confuse some users into thinking they are seeing the same problem.

[Fried Egg Sandwich]

How many more times are you going to tell us the same thing, Chris? We're working with many customers, tracking forums, it's an OS or driver bug, we're working with Apple and Wacom to fix it, yet there's no evidence that you're doing any of these things.

I've spoken with the head of technical support at Apple who advised me that they're completely unaware of this issue, likewise the poster above who contacted Wacom also said they had no knowledge of this bug or that they're supposedly working with Adobe to resolve it.

/golfclap

[Chris Cox]

The "head of technical support at Apple" would have found these issues very quickly in Apple's RADAR bug database (or on the long list of open issues that we are working with Apple on).

Wacom is aware of this issue, even if all of their support personnel are not.

There are some OS bugs we can workaround (and we do have to workaround a lot of them), and some that we cannot and we must wait for the OS vendor to fix.

[Joel Seligmann]

I know it's a complex isssue, Chris.

The three players are Apple, Wacom, and Adobe.

Yes, all that code from each can get messy.

But, when I'm on Apple's 10.6.8 and Wacom's driver 6.3.7-3 and Adobe's Photoshop CS4 or CS5 and everything's fine and then the only thing I change is the Adobe product and things aren't fine, then...

[geigreg]

Precisely. It's too easy to pass the buck. All was good until CS6. Regardless of any 3rd party plugins, or Wacom drivers or Apple OS. It's simply a way to say "we can't figure it out" and pass the blame on to someone else. Saying things like "there's something you aren't telling us" or "some users are confused and thinking they are seeing the same problem" is insulting. Yeah right, it's us. We're making things up. The main reason the issue is being swept under the rug is because those in charge of fixing it are not doing their jobs.

I never would have posted my issue if the problem had been fixed in a reasonable amount of time. I realize bugs are part of software - a fact of life. It's just that generally the authors are competent enough to fix them in a reasonable amount of time. In 25 years of using Photoshop I have never had to wait this long for a fix.

Stop making exuses and blaming users and outside vendors.

[Meta_A]

"Precisely. It's too easy to pass the buck. All was good until CS6. Regardless of any 3rd party plugins, or Wacom drivers or Apple OS. It's simply a way to say "we can't figure it out" and pass the blame on to someone else. Saying things like "there's something you aren't telling us" or "some users are confused and thinking they are seeing the same problem" is insulting. Yeah right, it's us. We're making things up. The main reason the issue is being swept under the rug is because those in charge of fixing it are not doing their jobss"

Thank you! I agree with this completely. Its hard not to feel like Im not being taken serious by adobe at this point. I've been looking into corel painter and autodesks' sketchbook for most of my sketching and painting. I've yet to find a application as flexible as photoshop for post production but I'm looking.

[Was DYP]

I too am forced to use CS5 most of the time.

This issue with CS6 and CC is the biggest reason I have not gone the CC route. I spent money on CS6 and I can't really use PSCS6.

Adobe needs to get their heads out of their a$$es and fix this.

So if it is an OS bug how come CS5 can workaround it and CS6 and CC cant?

[manavfromind]

there is lag in my adobe photoshop cs6 also in the brush tool, when moving the image(when zoomed) and also when  zooming the image . Do any of you guys also has the same problem ?

[joshlac]

I've just updated to OS 10.9.2 with hope that the problem with Photoshop will be resolved.

Unfortunately, nothing changed

Is there anyone in Adobe that can help??

(using Intuos 4 latest drivers)

Please see my video, Photoshop hangs at 0:02s and again at 0:28s.

CPU stays at 100% until I click again:

http://vimeo.com/87627017

[Meta_A]

Hi Josh.

Welcome to Bug Town, where the basic functions dont work, the mayor doesnt care and the elections are never.
We hope you like you stay!

-Meta

[Adam Jerugim]

I have some good news.  We have a plugin that we think mitigates the focus issue in CS6 and CC on OS X (when using brush-based tools with a stylus/tablet device). 

You can grab the plug-in here:  http://bit.ly/NzQly1

Then drop it into your plugins folder (works with CS6 and CC, but you'll need one copy for each app's plug-in folder).  Note the name of the plug-in is the WhiteWindowWorkaround - that's because the patch that prevents that issue from occuring is also included in the same plug-in package.

Please let me know if this helps with the issues you've been seeing as well as any potential side effects.

Thanks for your patience with this,

Adam