• Global community
    • Language:
      • Deutsch
      • English
      • Español
      • Français
      • Português
  • 日本語コミュニティ
    Dedicated community for Japanese speakers
  • 한국 커뮤니티
    Dedicated community for Korean speakers
Exit
39

P: Pen Tool Not Working as it should

Community Beginner ,
Mar 10, 2021 Mar 10, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I have just updated Photoshop to v22.3 (10 March 2021). When I try to use the Pen Tool it puts the nodes in but doesn't create a linking line. I have closed everything and re-started my PC but the error still there. I've been trying to find a way to report this to Adobe but this is the only feedback area I can find. I have been using Photoshop for over 20 years and using the Pen Tool all that time. I need to complete a job but I'm now stuck as I need this tool.

 

Can I uninstall this update?

 

Anyone else having this problem?

 

Do Adobe monitor this feed?

Bug Fixed
TOPICS
macOS , Windows

Views

14.0K

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines

correct answers 1 Correct answer

Adobe Employee , May 13, 2021 May 13, 2021

Hi,

 

We're happy to announce the release of Photoshop 22.4 which should include the fix for this issue. To update Photoshop to the latest version, you can check: https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/creative-cloud-updates.html

 

For information on other issues fixed with this update, please check: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/fixed-issues.html

 

Regards,

Nikunj

Votes

Translate

Translate
replies 370 Replies 370
370 Comments
LEGEND ,
May 01, 2021 May 01, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

The workaround is to create a work path, and leave that work path in the path list. You can then create new paths with +, and name them what you like and work on them normally.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
LEGEND ,
May 01, 2021 May 01, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

The workaround is to create a work path, and leave that work path in the path list. You can then create new paths with +, and name them what you like and work on them normally.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
LEGEND ,
May 01, 2021 May 01, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I don't think this is an effective forum for providing *additional incentive* as the people monitoring the forum are in no way responsible for making the changes. Venting and complaining just degrades the signal to noise ratio of useful information in the thread, and makes the forum far less useful as a help forum. Some people seem to think this a platform for venting, and I understand the frustration, but when the venting actually obscures the helpful information, it is of no value to anyone but the venter. This thread is now six pages long, with about a 8:2 ratio of venting to problem solving. That just makes it harder for problems to get solved, it does not in any way prompt quicker solutions.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
LEGEND ,
May 01, 2021 May 01, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I am running photoshop 22.3.1 on Windows 10 Pro and this issue is causing me problems. I am only able to edit a new path when it is created without any path selected and I am starting a new work path by drawing with the pen tool. My workaround is to create new work paths and then paste them into existing saved paths. I hope you fix this soon Adobe. If I was still working on automotive retouching, I would have to go back to an old version of Photoshop. 😞

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
LEGEND ,
May 01, 2021 May 01, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

You just need to make a work path by creating a couple of points, and leave that work path in the path list, no need for copying and pasting. As long as there is a work path in the path list, the pen tool behaves normally.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community Beginner ,
May 02, 2021 May 02, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Regarding a previous bug in InDesign, I communicated with someone at Adobe. She urged me to add commentary to a thread on the topic to help bump it up on their priorities. Although somewhat therapeutic for users experiencing the same bug, I agree that venting frustration probably doesn't help solve the problem, but continued reporting of instances, at least according to the individual I communicated with, does help get the problem resolved.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community Expert ,
May 02, 2021 May 02, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

It seems strange that Bug Reports here don’t seem to feature a »vote«-functionality anymore. 

Feature Requests do and I would assume that that might provide a more meaningful metric than the number of posts. 

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community Beginner ,
May 03, 2021 May 03, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Ah, good to know that there's essentially nothing anyone can do in any medium then; we're all just at the mercy of Adobe's monolithic will to add new features and attract more users at the expense of basic functionality...

I can't help but think that sounds like apologist nonsense that only helps to quell/mask outcry over major flaws: "don't openly complain or point out long-term issues here -- that's not good for the community!" Okay, so what is "good for the community" and where is the place I should be airing valid grievances? At least here I know the feedback is being "acknowledged," whatever that means.

And btw, just because more pages get added doesn't mean that what little "helpful" advice there is gets diluted in any meaningful way (or at least not more than it already is). If one Googles this issue, there are multiple forum posts dealing with it that turn up, and the first 1-2 pages people get directed to from search have the info. Likewise, new posts several months on saying "yeah, this still doesn't work -- get it together Adobe!" is in fact helpful as it lets readers know that if they want to avoid this problem, they still need to roll back to a previous version. I honestly wouldn't have posted a new comment (perhaps a reply) if someone had said as much in the past 2 weeks letting everyone know this was still unresolved.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community Beginner ,
May 04, 2021 May 04, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

May 4 2021 and I'm having the same issue...

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
LEGEND ,
May 04, 2021 May 04, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

This same Glitch has been bothering me for a while it is not consistently happening fortunately. when I do NOT have a path selected in the path pallette I get the connecting line. If I create a new path in the path pallette I get no connecting line when I draw. I am not sure how consistent this is, as I just discovered this. I shall keep an eye on this thread moving forward.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community Expert ,
May 04, 2021 May 04, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Just keep a Work Path and you can work on named Paths as expected. 

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
LEGEND ,
May 06, 2021 May 06, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

This pathing issue is now becoming a joke, why can Adobe not fix what is one of the most basic elements within the programme. Update to the latest version and it doesn't work... go back to the old version that does work. Repeat.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community Expert ,
May 06, 2021 May 06, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I see that the missing bug-fix is annoying, but the issue itself is so easily worked around. 

Is it really worth rolling back just so you don’t have to keep a Work Path when working on named Paths? 

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
New Here ,
May 07, 2021 May 07, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I'm having this problem too

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community Expert ,
May 07, 2021 May 07, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

You can either use the work-around (keep a Work Path while working on named Paths) or revert to Photoshop 22. 

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
New Here ,
May 07, 2021 May 07, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Thank you. That seems to work okay.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
New Here ,
May 07, 2021 May 07, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Hey there!

I have the same issue. I am working on the latest edition of Photoshop and on a Windows 10 computer. The issue that we have (just to see if I understood correct) is that when we try to continue any path that we left, photoshop just creates points without actually linking those points together. I contacted Adobe Support and the person the Adobe representative insisted that they all work fine....he connected to my computer and he started creating points insisting that everything works fine and I can not see the linking line because of the document colours!!?? (even though I was seeing the path that I created earlier..😂😂)! What I tried myself is to create a vector mask with that path and then continue the path....that might be a solution until Adobe fixes the problem.

Am I missing something? Let me know if I did not understand correctly.

Thank you

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community Expert ,
May 07, 2021 May 07, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

The work-around for this acknowledged bug is to keep a Work Path while working on named Paths. 

That the Adobe representative might not have known that this bug has been acknowledged for months seems unfortunate. 

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
New Here ,
May 07, 2021 May 07, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Yes, that's the problem. The workaround is to create an unsaved path and leave it unsaved, then go back to your saved path and continue to work on it. That worked for me.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
New Here ,
May 07, 2021 May 07, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Oh, thank you!!

Have a great day!

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Participant ,
May 07, 2021 May 07, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Still a bug.  Let me say that again... STILL a bug.  Here's hoping they don't break every single tool in Photoshop as they improve things.  Adobe... some of us actually feed our families using your software and would be very grateful if you'd beta test your updates appropriately before sending out the door. This would have been caught right away.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Participant ,
May 07, 2021 May 07, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Staying with a problematic pen tool - this is a different problem (but still the pen tool), has anyone else noticed this? I used to be able to make several paths on a single path layer in the path tab. Click off the layer. Then click on the layer again with out having to activate any of the paths on that layer with a path selector - just click the layer - THEN click the marquee outline button and all the paths would be made a selection from that single path layer. When I do that now, I get an error that says: "Warning No pixels selected." I click ok on the dialog window and the path layer deselects. If I activate all the paths I drew on that layer with teh path selection tool, and click the marque button, I get the same warning that no pixels were selected.  If I want all the paths on that single layer to select when I click the selection button, I can't do it, I have to select one path at a time on that layer with the path selection tool and activate that path with the selection button - then do that again with each path on that layer. BUT - if I click on the path layer that has multiple pen paths and then click the line button, all the paths on that layer get outlined (just as I am used to with the marque button). Hope my description is making sense here. Anyone? An example would be I would make a path say a circle, and make a smaller path inside that path. Then click off the path layer. Click it again so the layer was active. Then click the marquee  selection button and what I would get is a selection of the circle with the smaller path inside punched out... so it would be a donut or ring. I did this for years for product packaging that had these  shrink wrapped donut handles... but now this function isn't working in the pen tool. Does something need to be set in preferences? or for the pent tool panel in PS 21? It isn't working in PS 20 anymore either. All with latest updates (and on latest version of Apple Big Sur).  I have tried selecting each of the path rules in the tool behavior dropdown before selecting the layer but always get the same result. Only the inner path gets the marquee selection - however - both paths will get lined if I click the line button in the path panel. Very strange. Yes I can work around it - but this used to be a simple workflow and now there are extra steps. And as all the professionals in this form know, extra steps to our workflow slows us down: little here, little there. So please, if anyone has noticed this change or knows a solution, please write in?

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
New Here ,
May 07, 2021 May 07, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

This sounds like a different description of the same problem. I think if you check your inner circle the nodes will not be joined. The workaround is the same; create a new unsaved path, do not save it, then go back to your saved path to draw the inner circle.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
New Here ,
May 07, 2021 May 07, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I agree. It is a bug. It needs fixing Adobe.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Participant ,
May 07, 2021 May 07, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Hi Keith, thanks for offering some ideas. I checked in and all the nodes for all the paths are connected in PS 20 and in PS 21 -- I am testing this out for the forum on a work path just to be sure. In PS 21, I did what you suggested. Drew a larger shape, then made a new path layer, then went back to the work path and added a smaller inner shape. deflected the layer, reselected the layer and hit the marque selection button --- only now the larger circle is the only one with the marque selection and there is no smaller path punch out. I did this repeatedly changing the path drop down menu for the pen tool intersect option: Always only the larger outer shape now getting ht marquee. It is so very odd.

But I just found a very long way to get what I wanted. With the pen tool selected, and the pen layer also selected, in photoshop on a new layer I clicked the SHAPE button in the top bar for the pen tool characteristics. That gave me a shape. made of the two paths. In the drop down I have selected "Exclude Overlapping Shapes". Now back to the Path palette and there is a shape path. like I want. In my documents layers panel I have a shape that when I command click the thumbnail I get a selection (made from the vector mask.. if I want to make a selection or a regular non vector mask) A bit of a long way around for something photoshop used to just do with a couple clicks.

And now to share with the group that I just may be a numbskull... I decided to reset the pen tool. RESET. Went and made the larger path with a smaller path inside - clicked the marquee tool.... And it worked - I had a selection of the larger path and the smaller path punched out of the inside... a "donut" shape. Sorry folks. 

** USER ERROR**. HOWEVER - the pen tool reset did not correct the non connecting nodes problem. That still exists when making a path  on a layer that is NOT a work path. 

So we learned something here 🙂

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report