Problem with the use of a passive stylus or finger on touch screen (Dell XPS)

[Anetino5DD1]

Hi there !

I have a touch screen on my Dell XPS (Win 10).

Drawing with my finger or a passive stylus works without a problem on simple applications like Paint !

On Photoshop, however, it is impossible. 

The movement is well detected as shown by the trace that appears behind the finger or a passive stylus, but the brush does not work.

Any ideas ? Thanks !

[JJMack · Accepted solution]

Adobe Photoshop only support Touch gesture. Adobe Brush Engine dose not have device support for finger painting.  However you can Paint with your fingers touch if you also have a mouse or touch pad.  All you need do is Press and hold you mouse or touch pad left Click. Then you can paint with your Finger via touch. It is like painting with your mouse but using your finger. It makes not difference if you press hard  or softly  you touch screen does not support pressure and I do not know what will happen if you use multiple fingers on you touch display.  Photoshop Brush engine is not designed to handle multiple brushes. However, your mouse is a better choice for it hard to coordinate mouse clicking and hold with finger touch. You need to let the click go to end  a stroke.  Pen support add a left click with pen touch.   Touch screen support does not add a click with finger touch. Touch  finger and Pen  device support differ in this area.   

Note Pen tip click;  Touch stylus support does not do that Photoshop Brushes would work if touch support had that as an option. Its Device support. Hoe can touch tell the difference between a stylus and a finger.  If it can add a click to stylus use. The next problem would be a pen can position the cursor hovering above the surface before the touching strokes.  Hovering a stylus/finger  does not position

Get a pen device.....

[Anetino5DD1]

Hello JJMack !

Thank you for your very complete and detailed answer.

I will study your solution and maybe invest in a tablet or another application.

Best regards,

AC.

[Anetino5DD1]

Addendum : Drawing with a finger or my stylus on my screen works perfectly with Gimp, by the way... I found my solution.

[JJMack]

Good to hear. If you find you also need Photoshop get a pen device.

[Lydia23182479sxzz]

Recently picked up a Dell inspiron 13 5379 (not realizing it doesnt have active stylus compatibility) and opened photoshop for the first time, immediately realized brush tools are nonfunctional. It seems im limited to only zoom and pan features with touch. I'm trying to figure out if i need to add some plug-ins or something, but all the information im getting is at least 7 years out of date. Is there something im missing? Is this computer noncompatible with touch features in photoshop? I dont have a capacitive stylus on hand so ive only tried using the features with my fingers so far, will getting a stylus change anything?Any information is appreciated.

[Sameer K]

Hi Lydia,

Thanks for reaching out. We are sorry about the trouble with Photoshop. We are here to help!

Currently the touch screen input in Photoshop is limited. Please check this thread for more information & recommendations by JJMack(Legend): https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/problem-with-the-use-of-a-passive-sty...

We hope this helps!

Regards,

Sameer K

[marke73287947]

I have been enjoying using the active pen on my Dell Inspiron with Photoshop. I have been able to use touch gestures (rotate, pinch/zoom etc.)  at least up to my recent upgrade. 

Some bugs were fixed and it seems that touch gestures broke on my device MI use it in tablet mode and it works fine with other apps (Rebelle, Concepts ...)

Did I mess up a preference/setting somehow?  The only thing that changes is the version of Photoshop 🤔

[marke73287947]

Hello,

My bluetooth mouse battery was dying and the whole system was acting up. Apparently that is why caused my Photoshop gestures to not function properly. When I pinched to zoom, I just got a a short straight line.

It started happening about the same time I upgraded Photoshop.

You never know ... eh?