Help please! Simple Pen Tool command has changed in Photoshop on MacOS.

[KHPet_KR]

I've been creating clipping paths and just general paths in Photoshop for many, many years and suddenly I've noticed that Adobe changed the keyboard command that lets me edit a path quickly on the fly. For example, if I'm creating a circle or other shape with my pen tool and want to edit a curve by its handle on one side of a point but not on the other side of the point, all I had to do was hold down the "Option" key and I could pull the curve in only one direction to edit my path and it would not affect the curve on the other side. Now when I hold down "Option" the cursor turns into the Eyedropper tool! Why did Adobe change this? I'm very frustrated as my work has come to a grinding halt to figure this out. I'm now struggling to edit my pen tool paths whereas I could do them in seconds. Anyone experience this and know if there's a new keyboard command for this in Photoshop on MacOS? I'm using the current PS Beta 2024 version (25.4 release). Thanks a ton!

[Jeff Arola]

Yes that's a bug in the photoshop beta.

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-beta-bugs/p-ps-beta-25-4-pen-tool-option-alt-shortcut-key/i...

[KHPet_KR]

Thank you so much! I guess I should've tried Photoshop 2024 (25.3.1). It works properly in there, so glad! One more question though, what is the difference between using the Beta vs. the regular version of Photoshop? Both have the Generative ai abilities so I'm unsure what the difference is between the two and if there's an advantage/disadvantage to using one vs. the other? Any info is helpful. TIA!

[jane-e · Accepted solution]

One more question though, what is the difference between using the Beta vs. the regular version of Photoshop?

By @KHPet_KR

The purpose of the Beta is for testing and reporting bugs to the Photoshop team so (hopefully) they don't make it into the released version. The released version is for production work.

See this help page, especially the part about commercial use.

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/photoshop-beta-desktop-app.html

When should I use Photoshop vs. Photoshop (beta)?

"Use Photoshop for the best feature polish and stability. Use Photoshop (beta) for the earliest access to the latest features, given that these features are still being updated based on user feedback.

"For example, Generative Fill and Generative Expand are now available in the most stable version of Photoshop (version 25.0) and are designed to be safe for commercial use. This helps ensure you can push the bounds of your creativity, confidently, knowing that the current Firefly generative AI model is trained on a dataset of Adobe Stock along with openly licensed work and public domain content where copyright has expired.

"While Generative Fill and Generative Expand will still be available for use in the Photoshop (beta) app, the content generated in the Photoshop (beta) app may not be used for commercial purposes."

Jane

[KHPet_KR]

Perfect! Thanks for the clarification.