Photoshop 2019 scaling and transformation issues - pixel fragments and blur

[Ayurvandil]

Hi guys,

does anyone else experience issues with scaling and otherwise transforming objects in photoshop CC 2019? It seems that no matter which transform option I choose (bicubic, bilinear and so on), I either end up with a blurry image or pixel fragments in places where they do not belong. This even happens after transforming an image into a smart object before scaling, rotating or even just moving it around on the canvas. This issue is a huge deal breaker for me since I rely on crisp lines, and each time I move an object I have to go back into the artwork and clean up all the edges.

Just to be clear, I'm not scaling the image/object up, so blurry edges should not even be an issue and with past versions they never were, and I installed the latest update but nothing has changed.

If anyone else has had this issue before, is there a possible fix?

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Could you please post screenshots taken at View > 100% with the pertinent Panels (Layers, Channels, Options Bar, …) visible?

[Ayurvandil]

I'm not entirely sure if the forum will allow the screenshots to be viewed in a 100% resolution. In the preview they're scaled down. I'll add a link just in case: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/XBba9l

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Please set

Photoshop > Preferences > Performance > Legacy Compositing

and restart Photoshop.

[JJMack]

Are you looking at the transform Preview or at the transform layer after the transform has be done viewing at 100% zoom where you see the actual transform.

[Ayurvandil]

It does not make a difference. I transform and can see the fragments already in the process, press enter and they stay.

[Ayurvandil]

I kinda hoped there would be a different solution than reverting to the old graphic engine, but thank you! Will do that for now.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

And to make sure: have you updated Photoshop to the latest version?

[Ayurvandil]

I'm at version 20.0.4, which is the newest version on my end.

The last update improved the pixel issue a little but I seem to run into "lines" of pixels, horizontal as well as vertical ones, that stretch one pixel into two. If I draw a vertical one pixel line and move it across the canvas, it is stretched into a two pixel line every few steps. I keep moving (tapping the arrow keys), it goes back to one pixel.

However, when I revert to the old engine the issue is gone so I will go with that for now. Thanks for the suggestion!

[JJMack]

What kind of layer did you build your shapes with.  I do not see any problems when I used shape layer for best scaling.

[Ayurvandil]

If I use shape layers or vector masks I don't seem to have that issue either, but building everything from shapes is unfortunately not an option. I would need a combination of shape layers and pixel layers, and even if it's just the pixel layers that were to break I'd have to start over. But after switching to the old engine I'm good for now.