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I am seeing strange screen flashes when I open up Photoshop and when I Save As. Here is an example:
Resetting preferences did not help unfortunately. I see this flashing effect only in Photoshop...not for example, in Corel Painter. I don't think it's a driver effect.
The effect ioccurs when I first open Photoshop and when I do a Save As. It is only visible for just a moment and the effect is too quick for me to easily make a screenshot.
The effect is like a very simplified version of the workspace and some palettes being seen in large blocked areas of black and white. The 'Open' flashed effect is the whole workspace white, with just my Brushes palette being in black on the right of the screen. The black and white pattern seems to have the opposite tone to that on my workspace and palettes. Like a sort of negative.
It's strange. I don't want to have to reinstall Photoshop unless I have to - meaning I want to know that a reinstall will fix the problem.
I have the latest PS with updates and W10 Pro with updates. I am using a Dell XPS 17 with 64gb of ram, an Intel Core i7-10750H, 4700 MHz (47 x 100), integrated Intel gpu and a GTX 1650 Ti/PCIe/SSE2 gpu which is being used by PS. The laptop is working fine in other respects.
Any ideas please?
Yes, one more. First you want to turn off automatic updates in your Creative Cloud Desktop app.
You can uninstall, remembering to keep your settings instead of deleting them and try an earlier version. Think when was the last time all was well, and try an earlier version that did not cause problems. Save your workspaces so you can return to them. If rolling back the 21 version makes you nervous, install v 20 and see if that works. I always keep an extra version when an update proves to be buggy
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It does sound like a Graphics Processor problem.
Start by going into Preferences > Performance and see if checking or unchecking Legacy Compositing helps. Restart Photoshop to see if it works.
You can uncheck "Use Graphics Processor" as a basic trubleshooting method. If you do that, does the problem go away?
If so, look at your Advanced Graphic Processor settings and see if tamping them down puts less stress on the GPU.
Example screenshot:
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Thank you. Sadly, none of your suggestions worked for me. Selecting or deselecting made no difference. Any other ideas , please?
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If you suspect drivers, always use the GPU maker's drivers. Roll back a version or two if the latest driver is hitting bugs. Check this guide for other troubleshooting methods:
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/troubleshoot-gpu-graphics-card.html
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Thank you. I am already using Nvidia's drivers for its dedicated card, but am using Dell's drivers for the Intel gpu, Concerned that messing with the intel gpu may cause problems. I'll certainly go through the troubleshooting list you kindly provided.
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Just taken a clearer example of the opening screen flash:
This problem seems to be confined to Photoshop. What next?
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...and finally, a better example of the Save As flash screen (files blurred out by me) -
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Yes, one more. First you want to turn off automatic updates in your Creative Cloud Desktop app.
You can uninstall, remembering to keep your settings instead of deleting them and try an earlier version. Think when was the last time all was well, and try an earlier version that did not cause problems. Save your workspaces so you can return to them. If rolling back the 21 version makes you nervous, install v 20 and see if that works. I always keep an extra version when an update proves to be buggy in my case.
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Bingo!
Thank you.
Version 20 shows none of these behaviours and screen transitions are smooth again.
I hope Adobe do something about this abnormal behaviour in a future update. There's definitely a problem between my set up and one of the versions in 21.
Perhaps Adobe will read this post.
Thanks again for your insight and advice.
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This proved not to be the answer. The flashing screens returned in version 20 of PS after twenty minutes or so.
Have no ideas.
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Ok, I'll look at a few more ideas. One would be to create a new user account on your Dell and run Photoshop there.That should eliminate anything going on in your account.
Also, systems with dual graphics cards can be set to "automatic switching" and you need to be sure Photoshop is using only the high-performance card. The GPU troubleshooting guide should show you how.
It's kind of early here, but I'll check in later.
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Thank you very much for pursuing this. Here are screengrabs of the relevant Nvidia Control Panel settings. Nvidia is already selected for Photoshop (and sniffer.exe) too, and auto for the general assignment of gpu. I bear in mind that it is only Photoshop - not for eg, Corel Painter - that demonstrates this flashing. Painter behaves well with no strange effects.
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You might try disabling Adobe Camera Raw GPU acceleration before you try this:
In the GPU Troubleshooting guide, have you tried disabling the Intel GPU as instructed?
You can restore it, but since assigning the High Performance card did not help, let's see if this works.
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Also if you have Adobe Camera Raw, turn off GPU acceleration. I remember it causing Photoshop screen problems even when not being used.
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Thank you. Killing camera raw acceleration did not help unforunately.
I am worried about disbling the Intel gpu because some Dell laptop basic functions rely on it. It should not be necvessary. Corel Painter works with the installed graphics units ok.
I am stumped.
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I think it's about time to get a chat session going with Adobe Customer Care. they can at least remotely look at your computer. I'm out of ideas and guessing may do more harm than good. Also might be a good idea to ask Dell. They may have seen this before.
https://helpx.adobe.com/contact/what-contact-options.html Click on Contact Customer Care and the chat session should route you to one of their techs.
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Thank you again for all your advice. I shall go to Adobe support as you suggest.
As a matter of interest, I have already contacted Dell support copying this thread which sets out the problem, examples, and atempte solutions. This is what I got back:
'...We understand you are facing Adobe Photoshop black and White Flickering issue.
Upon researching it seems that it is an common issue with the application itself we would request you to check with the Adobe team about the same since we do not have expertise with the third party application....'
Plus ca change.
Thanks.
David
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Another resource and a good one because the programmers and product managers use this forum is: https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family
You can search for your situation or post a your dilemma there.
Gene
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Hi, I'm having the same problem right now. Did you find any solution for this?