How can I get my 3D mouse to pan and zoom with Photoshop CS6?

[johnerbes]

Hello everyone,

I purchased a 3DConnexion mouse (the Navigator model) to use with Sketchup (which works fine) and Photoshop CS6 (which I can't get to work).

I would like to use the 3D mouse to pan and zoom, mostly to spot heal and repair old scanned photos.

I don't have the 3D version of PS6 and I don't need to use the 3D mouse to tilt or rotate.

I've looked for "The Plugin" but can't find it.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to get this working?

[JJMack]

Did you try searching?

Re: 3DConnexion Hardware ?

https://forums.adobe.com/search.jspa?place=%2Fplaces%2F1413024&sort=updatedDesc&q=Connexion

[johnerbes]

Yes, I actually did a search before posting.

I found the post you tagged and one other.

I have PS CS6.

I do not have the PS CS6 Extended version which, apparently, does support some functions of the 3DConnexion mouse.

I was hoping that SOMEONE out there has gotten this to work.

[JJMack]

Photoshop CS6 3D support in a CS6 extended feature.  Photoshop  CS6 3D feature is not enabled installed with a  CS6 Standard licence serial.  Creative Cloud CS6 is a Extended CS 6 version. How do you want to use your 3D mouse in your 2D Photoshop application X Y plane? Elements in your image may have a 3D appearance they however, they are not 3D objects. 

[Zeeto]

Some of very helpful uses for 3D mouse in 2D work like retouching, apart from obvious ones like zoom, pan, adjusting brush size and hardness would be rotating things like canvas, objects, or brush angle and something I personally miss the most - rotating the clone source angle.

Generally, rotating things in Photoshop using shortcut-keys is cumbersome and if it was possible to adjust the angle of features mentioned above, where angle corresponds to rotation of the 3D mouse knob would be simply amazing.

I have to admit, it was a little bit disappointing when I saw Adobe introduced support for Microsoft Surface Dial, but 3DConnexion mouse which is far more advanced is still not fully supported.

[JJMack]

You do not need a 3d Mouse for those feature. If an image can be panned with a normal mouse all you to do is hold the space bar and  pan the image by dragging it about with a normal mouse.  Zooming in and out can be done with a normal mouse wheel.  With the rotate tool active you can temporary rotate the canvas with  a normal mouse. You rotate a layer using transform and a normal mouse.  Most likely your the 3D mouse Photoshop plug-in add support for manipulating Photoshop 3D object with the 3D mouse..

[Zeeto]

Hey JJMack,

Thank you for your reply.

Well, that's the point, I believe like most retouchers I don't use mouse to work in Photoshop... I use pen and tablet.

Forgetting convenience features like zoom, pan, rotating objects, which yes you can do with pen, still there are a lot of possibilities for 3D mouse / rotation knobs to enhance Photoshop 2D workflow.

Compare rotating knob vs hitting 3 keys repeatedly back and forth, to adjust the angle of the clone source or angle of the brush...

[rayek.elfin]

Zeeto  wrote

Hey JJMack,

Thank you for your reply.

Well, that's the point, I believe like most retouchers I don't use mouse to work in Photoshop... I use pen and tablet.

Forgetting convenience features like zoom, pan, rotating objects, which yes you can do with pen, still there are a lot of possibilities for 3D mouse / rotation knobs to enhance Photoshop 2D workflow.

Compare rotating knob vs hitting 3 keys repeatedly back and forth, to adjust the angle of the clone source or angle of the brush...

Doesn't your tablet have touch support and physical controls to do exactly that? I rotate the canvas with the ring or use two fingers to rotate and/or zoom the canvas in Photoshop CC. And other features are supported as well.

Not sure about the old CS6 version, though. I do wish Photoshop would FINALLY support the middle mouse button to pan the view, like most other non-Adobe design applications do.

[davescm]

rayek.elfin  wrote

.. I do wish Photoshop would FINALLY support the middle mouse button to pan the view, like most other non-Adobe design applications do.

Hi

Would that be any quicker than the current behaviour i.e.  Scroll wheel to pan up and down ; Ctrl+Scroll to pan left and right;  Alt+Scroll to zoom?

If so is there a feature request for it? - I looked here but the only requests were several years old and not highly voted

Photoshop Family Customer Community

Dave

[rayek.elfin]

Hi Dave,

Yes, it is. I always assign the middle mouse button's scroll wheel to zoom in and out (when not working with a Wacom), and to pan the view the same button can be used to perform both actions quickly and efficiently with one finger. This is far more convenient and quicker to work with compared to any modifier keys that must be pressed down with a second hand.

The fact that Photoshop's developers still haven't added this as a preference is quite baffling to me, actually. Just from the point of view of users who may be physically impaired it is regrettable Adobe products cannot provide this basic option.

[Zeeto]

rayek.elfin​ I'm talking about changing the angle of brush or clone source and mentioned rotating canvas or objects just as additional convenience benefits of physical knob which you can rotate, so you are wrong - neither touch nor physical controls do exactly that. I tried to assign shortcut keys for rotating the angle of clone source to tablets' ring, but it just doesn't work - to rotate the clone source 45 degrees I would have to swirl the ring hundreds of times... It would be worth for me to buy 3D mouse to be able to rotate the clone source with minimal gesture where rotation of the knob corresponds to the angle of the clone source...

Also, a lot of people work with one hand holding the pen and the other hand on the keyboard so the touch feature of a tablet is useless (I think this is a reason why Wacoms have physical button to turn off the touch thing).

[JJMack]

All you can do is suggest to the maker of your 3d mouse to add the support you want to thire Mouse device driver and Photoshop Plug-in.

[Zeeto]

Actually, I did and they told me that they really wanted to enable all capabilities of their device like for example rotating knob movements to be supported by Photoshop, but to do this they needed API from Adobe, but apparently Adobe wouldn't reply to their requests.

[WILLB]

I agree with you on this, I own 3D Connexion Space Mouse and I would love to use it on Adobe Applications, but it seems like for some reason, Adboe is not cooperating with 3D Connexion, perhaps some kind of history behind these two companies? i don't know.. 

Wouldn't a company shoud try to help the custoemrs(users) to try out other Accessories as needed? 

after all, providing API is not a big deal.. either for ADOBE, 

rather than saying "Using Converrntional Mouse You can achieve the same"

would be better "We are here to help which ever method you find useful adding value to your workflow" for adobe customers. 

[defaultigxdj8l0fktv]

Yeah! I want to use the 3Dconexxion device and the mouse to spedd up navigation and seletion. What is so hard for simple doodah carbonbased lifeforms to understand this??

[Trevor.Dennis]

I have a 3DConnexion Space Navigator.  It is a blooming wonder to use with SketchUp, but totally useless with Photoshop.  In fact the 3DConnexion plugin that is _supposed_ to make it work with Photoshop is a huge PITA, and uninstalling it was akin to stopping banging your head on a wall. This article discuses using a Pro version with Photoshop, and some people talk about it here but they all went completely mad.

[JJMack]

SketchUp is a 3D application  where Photoshop is a 2D application with a limited 3D feature addon.  Photoshop's 3D UI controls are only active when some tools are active and a 3D layer is the Active Photoshop target.   The 3D mouse manufacture's Photoshop Plug-in and the 3D mouse device driver seems to have problems with Photoshop. They may be because of Photoshop UI changes with Active tools and layers.  The OP stated that he contacted the manufacture asking for better Photoshop support.  And received a reply that they asked Adobe for some  API.   So when hell freezes over you may see thing get better.  The OP also does not like how Adobe supports the Microsoft surface Dial. Photoshop is a very complex application supporting  new devices I'm sure is not a simple undertaking.

[Zeeto]

JJMack  wrote

The OP stated that he contacted the manufacture asking for better Photoshop support.  And received a reply that they asked Adobe for some  API.   So when hell freezes over you may see thing get better. 

Yes, I believe they (the manufacturers) need some access to be able to translate the angle of the knob to the angle of the clone source (for example). I think Adobe did just that for Microsoft Surface Dial and allowed tablet manufacturers to translate the pen pressure, angle to control 'things' in Photoshop, so who knows maybe there is rink in hell already.

JJMack  wrote

The OP also does not like how Adobe supports the Microsoft surface Dial. Photoshop is a very complex application supporting  new devices I'm sure is not a simple undertaking.

If you mean me (I'm not OP), I didn't say I don't like how Adobe supports Ms Dial, I said

I have to admit, it was a little bit disappointing when I saw Adobe introduced support for Microsoft Surface Dial, but 3DConnexion mouse which is far more advanced (than Ms Dial), is still not fully supported.

[Trevor.Dennis]

JJ, I don't know if you have all of the above attached to your system, but I know you have some of it.  There have been times when I honestly worried that you might have too many pointer devices confusing each other.  That's not a wind up.  I have a ShuttlePro, and Space Navigator along with my Intuos4, and sometimes wonder if I am pushing my luck.  I'd love the functionality of the Surface Dial if it could be incorporated into a non-Surface system.  I saw one demonstrated at MAX in 2016 and it was _very_ cool.  I also like the idea of your G13 as you can never have too many programmable keys, and the nine G-keys on my G910 don't count as 27 because it is too annoying having to switch banks.  I also like my G602 mouse, preferring it over both the Performance MX, and MX Master I have with my laptop and Cintiq Companion. 

What is that center right gizmo?  I think I can read Wacom on its base, but I have not seen anything like it before.

A quick note about SketchUp.  The three axis are colour coded, and you need to hit the relevant cursor key to force a function along a particular axis.  Being able to individually set key colours on the G910 means that you never forget which key is for which axis.  I also love the quick spin volume wheel.

[JJMack]

No not all. O loved my Microsoft Bluetooth explorer mouse but with Windows 10 and the cheap Bluetooth dongle I have I was having problems with it.  So I switched to a wired G502 logictech mouse it close in size to the Microsoft mouse  fit the hand well and can be programmed with the same  gamming software as my G13 gaming keyboard.  I'm not a PC gamer  I use the G13 and G502 with Photoshop and have and Wacom Intuos Pro for Brush type tools. I Only use the Wacom pen when using Photoshop brush type tool.  I mostly use the G502 mouse for interfacing with my machine.  The G13 can change between three set of setting which can be useful for particular Photoshop task.

[stevenanninga]

I had used a 3DConnexion controller in Photoshop since CS4.  It is much smoother and more precise than panning and zooming with the scroll wheel, which is very clunky by comparison.  I upgraded to CC a year ago and the controller still worked until the last update to CC2018.

Yes, PS is a 2D application and the 3DConnexion controllers are 3D controllers, as someone pointed out to you, but anyone who has gotten used to using a 3D controller would very much prefer to use it, 2D or 3D.  Yes, it is still very convenient and intuitive for applications like AutoCAD, 3DSMax, and even Google Earth, but I miss using it about as much in Photoshop as I would in those true 3D apps.

I consider its lost support a serious shortcoming for the new Photoshop, and no one at Adobe seems to give a damn.

[JJMack]

CC 2018 had many bugs Adode has fixed many of them and is still working on fixes for some of the others. Make sure to report the bug to Adobe on their feedback site. Photoshop Family Customer Community