Layer mask, brush, opacity issue

[@craigkeenephotography]

hello. as a photographer i create image stacks in Ps CC 19.1.8. as part of my work flow i use luminosity masks to brush in elements from multiple layers. up until a few days ago, while holding down on the left mouse button to reveal the elements (lights/darks) from masks below, if i continued to brush over a certain spot, eventually that spot would be 100% revealed. now, when utilizing that same technique, the very same spot will only reveal up to a certain %, meaning, while 'painting or revealing' i have to continue  un-clicking and re-clicking the left mouse button to further advance the elements below of a particular spot. my brush settings have always been the same:

•soft round

•hardness: 0%

•opacity: 4%-6%

•flow: 100%

•smoothing: off

the other thing i've noticed is the amount of lagging has seriously increased. plus, after brushing an image, i'm now seeing very faint circular brush marks left behind.

i first thought it might be related to my recent download of Lumenzia v 1.7. however, after i did a complete wipe of that, the problems did not change. other than downloading Lumenzia, i have not made any other changes to my machine.

could it be my mouse? i thought of this. my wireless Apple Magic Mouse has quite a few miles on it. to rule out this theory, a new one is on its way.

i've attached a screen shot.

[Trevor.Dennis]

Three things could cause that.

1) The foreground colour is not full white

2) The mask properties has the mask density set lower than 100%

3) There is an active selection that you can't see because Extras have been hidden (Ctrl H)

[@craigkeenephotography]

thanks for the insight.

1.) yes, i always check the foreground color as it sometimes gets off pure white.

2.) by mask density, do you mean 'opacity' & 'fill'? if so, yes i always keep it at 100%.

3.) i'm not sure what you mean by this. do you mean there has been a selection made within the image i'm not aware of?

thanks.

[Bojan Živković]

Double click mask to open Properties panel then look at Density slider, that is what Trevor is referring.

[@craigkeenephotography]

yes, density always set to 100%. thanks.

[davescm · Accepted solution]

Hi

Opacity sets the maximum - flow sets the amount with each pass of the brush.

So to achieve what you are wanting to do - change opacity to 100% and flow to 4-6%. That will build up as you pass the brush over the same area without lifting.

Dave

[@craigkeenephotography]

hey dave.

this is correct! so strange, too. i've been editing images forever using the opposite settings with never a problem. is it possible Ps changed the positioning of where the 'Opacity' and the 'Flow' lives in my toolbar and i just wasn't noticing their names? strange.

either way, Dave, thank you!