Smudge tool leaving color

[littlebirdpaints]

Hi all, sorry for the question but after a long time searching I can't seem to find any help.

I'm trying to use the smudge tool on an image that doesn't have transparency around it, but wherever I click, it will leave color (whatever color is in the color box) and THEN it will drag the pizels like it should. But it keeps depositing colors that aren't anywhere near what I'm dragging, and say if my color box has pink in it and I click something to smudge it will leave pink and then as I drag it the pink will disappear and it will start dragging pixels. 

I've never had this problem before and I don't know what suddenly changed. I'm very sorry if this is a rookie question. 

[hatstead · Accepted solution]

Try to reset the tool. On the tool's option bar, look for a box on the right and click to reset to default. 

If that does not fix it, reset preferences. Go Edit>Preferences>General and reset on next launch.

[Greg_S.]

It sounds like you may have the Finger Painting (and/or the Sample All Layers) boxes checked.  If that is the case, uncheck the box(es) and see if it makes a difference.  If not, then definitely try resetting the preferences, as suggested by hatstead.

If none of the suggestions fix the problem, please give us a screenshot of what you are seeing.

[littlebirdpaints]

Resetting the tool fixed it, thank you! I didn't even know you could do that. I still have a lot to learn 🙂

[hatstead]

You're welcome. Glad to help. Thanks for the feed-back.

[Greg_S.]

@littlebirdpaints, did you happen to notice whether either of the options I mentioned were enabled?  Resetting preferences would have probably turned them off.