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MarcySB
Inspiring
December 1, 2023
Question

Need help with soft round brush

  • December 1, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 4445 views

I am using the newest version of Photoshop on a completely updated Windows 11 PC. I changed something but I don't know what. Now my soft round brush has a diffused looking perimeter edge and only draws about half the size inside. The hard round brush seems to be working fine. I tried a sampling of my other brushes and they all seem fine. It is only the basic soft round brush.

 

I checked brush settings, I reset the brush settings, I reset all the tools settings. Nothing has worked. I can't take a screenshot of the brush because when I try the actual brush disappears. I tried drawing it but I can't get that to look good enough to show the issue.

 

I'm hoping this makes sense to someone out there who can tell me how to reset that brush so it looks like it is supposed to, not like it was created with a diffusion pattern around it.

 

Please ask anything you need to help me figure this out. I appreciate all the help I can get.

 

Thanks,

Marcy

    2 replies

    S
    Shelly37317828ofqf
    Participant
    May 10, 2024

    Have you found a solution to this? I just had to update my Photoshop to the latest version and am DEVASTATED the soft brush is gone. I've been using that for close to 20 years as a designer and the other brushes don't come anywhere close to doing what the old brush did. Would love to know if you discovered a solution!

      Trevor.Dennis
      Community Expert
      Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      May 11, 2024

      Hi Shelly.  Could you explain exactly what you are seeing, or not seeing as the case may be?

      I don't think anyone is missing fully hard to fully soft control.  It was more a case of confusing about what various cursor are showing.

       

      Are you using a tablet, or mouse.

      What are your brush settings, as well as what is happening in the Options bar?

       

      If you can show us a screen shot showing your full workspace, layers panel and brush settings panel as we as some brush strokes, that should help.

      J E L
      Community Expert
      J E LCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      December 1, 2023

      Hi @MarcySB, is it possible to take screenshots of just your brush settings like this? Have you tried the brush on different types of images and layers?

        M
        MarcySBAuthor
        Inspiring
        December 2, 2023

        @J E L I have tried the brush on different layers, different documents, different colors. It even has the weird edge when I use it as an eraser. With that brush selected, I've reset the tool and then I reset all tools. That did not work either. I tried clicking the little icons to the right of both flow and opacity. The cog wheel to the right of smoothing options is grayed out.

        Here are the screen shots you asked for.

         

        Top options bar:

         

        Brush Tip Shape:

         

         

        Shape Dynamics:

         

         

        The only other thing checked is smoothing and that just clicks on and off.

         

        I'd rather not uninstall and reinstall Photoshop if I can avoid it but that is all I can think of to do next.

         

        I really appreciate your taking the time to help with this.

         

        Marcy

        J E L
        Community Expert
        J E LCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        December 3, 2023

        Thanks for adding this info, @MarcySB. I note you have the brush size set to 500 px. Do you still see the same weird (diffused-looking) perimeter edge if you adjust the brush down to 24 px? What about a size somewhere in the middle, around 260 px or so? I don't know if that has anything to do with the problem or not but we have to go through a process of elimination. Did you try a full Preferences reset? You also mention this happened when you started using a completely updated Windows 11 PC. What exactly was updated? Only the OS from Windows 10 to 11? Or is this a new computer altogether? If the former, you might try uninstalling and reinstalling Photoshop (current version is 25.2.0 Release) or using the Creative Cloud Cleaning Tool to start fresh. Also, make sure you have updated your GPU driver to the latest version. With NVIDIA cards, be sure to install the Studio, not the Gaming, driver. Let us know how it goes!

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