Touchscreen won't work with Photoshop

[Alyssarose]

I have a Lenovo Yoga Laptop with Windows 10. When I touch with my fingers anywhere in photoshop it works except the canvas, meaning I can't draw anything. Is there a solution to this?

for clarity I have a wacom tablet but I do not currently have it on me and I need to do a piece of artwork last minute, and it's very frustrating using the touchpad. I don't see why my touchscreen isn't compatible with photoshop, do I need some sort of stylus or something?

[JJMack · Accepted solution]

If  you mean you can not finger paint with your touch screen that is correct. Photoshop supports touch gestures not finger painting. You should be able to paint with a mouse  or touch pad  which have a left click button your finger lacks. Your Wacom will also work.

Multi touch and single finger touch gestures though should work on canvas. Rotate,zoom. pan  scroll etc should work.

Photoshop Touch capabilities and customizable workspaces

[Alyssarose]

yes I used that, seems very ridiculous to me that adobe doesnt support touch screen ”painting” with a stylus or something when paint tool SAI supports it just fine. Thanks for answering

[evanh86781163]

I'm a little disappointed in learning this, but makes sense. touch screen wasn't even on of the features I was looking for in buying mine;Just an added plus.

[brian42]

I'm not sure why this is listed as "Answered" at the moment.  All we are being told (in multiple threads where users have been crowing about this for ages) is that "it doesn't work"

Users are asking why it doesn't work.  I have yet to see an explanation yet for this.

[JJMack]

Photoshop is working as designed.   Touch screen gestures are supported in Photoshop.   Touch screen Finger Painting is not support for Photoshop Brush devices need  to have buttons like left and right click  and Click and hold.  Like Track Pads and Wacom Tablets with touch.   You can finger paint in Photoshop using those touch devices.   Touch Screen support does not provide button support. Stylus and fingers also do not have buttons. You can not position the Paint Brush Cursor with your finger mover it to where you want to paint then click to start painting. Like you can with a digital pen  and touch devices with buttons.

This has been posted many times.....

[SeanBlader]

JJMack  wrote

Photoshop is working as designed.   Touch screen gestures are supported in Photoshop.   Touch screen Finger Painting is not support for Photoshop

Just because it's "as designed" doesn't mean it's how it should actually work. When I pick a brush and drag a cursor across the screen whether it's with a mouse or a pen, it should do the same damn thing. Photoshop is a little expensive to not support touch screens. I guess I'll go back to Windows Paint which can do that.

[JJMack]

SeanBlader  wrote

Just because it's "as designed" doesn't mean it's how it should actually work.

When I pick a brush and drag a cursor across the screen whether it's with a mouse or a pen, it should do the same damn thing. Photoshop is a little expensive to not support touch screens. I guess I'll go back to Windows Paint which can do that.

You mean Photoshop should not work as designed it should have bugs.   Photoshop does have some of them.

Why should one devise be like a different device. Why would we need both devices.    Photoshop's Brush support has more features for pens then it does for mice.   The things is a touch stylus is not a pen device.  And a touch screen is not a mouse.

You can install touch screen device software that you can use your touch screen like a mouse but when that mouse mode is the active mode while you can paint in Photoshop using your touch screen with finger or stylus you can not use Photoshop touch screen gestures.  You can switch between Mouse mode and touch mode to do either just not concurrently..

A Touch stylus does not have buttons like pens devices and touch screens to not have button like mice. You can paint in Photoshop with touch devices the have buttons like touch pads.  If a Touch screens had buttons like a mice and touch pad do you could paint with your  touch screen support with you finger or touch stylus in Photoshop.

Paint application Paint brush support is not like Photoshop brush support. As soon as you touch the screen you are painting which is not like Painting in Photoshop.  Where with a pen device or mouse you can position the cursor where you want to start painting before you start painting.  With a mouse you need to click a button in Photoshop  to start painting and  with a Pen device you can position the cursor by position the pen near the screen or tablet surface before you touch the Screen or Tablet to start painting.  Touch Screen lack the hardware support that Photoshop brush engine requires.  Therefore Photoshop can only supports touch screen gestures.

Microsoft Surface PC have a Touch Screen and a Pen Device you can paint with the pen device on the screen but not you finger on the display however, you can paint with you finger on their touch-pad device. It all a matter of device support. You Finger does not have a pen button its not a pen its like a touch stylus.

Touch Display support does not has the support required by Photoshp's brush engine.

Adobe could create an additional finger paint feature and perhaps support more than one finger at a time,  It would be expensive to develop and maintain and not be a good business case to gain more subscribers. .

[SeanBlader]

Wow you went and said a whole lot of the same thing several times. "A pen is not a finger." That's just not relevant. A finger should work like a mouse drag with the primary button depressed.

JJMack  wrote

You mean Photoshop should not work as designed...

No, I mean the design is wrong. I understand you've likely been in Photoshop for a very long time, you've probably been using it since the '90s and doing it on various platforms... I hope. But that doesn't mean this isn't the 21st century, and for software that's by far the most expensive in the industry, all I'm saying is it should be better. What you're literally advocating for is the old way. I had an image I wanted to handwrite on, I have a Windows touchscreen, and regardless of the way I want to get that done, whether it's a finger, a capacitive stylus, or a resistive pen, it should work. There's really no excuse to explain why it can't tell the difference and just work, except blatant capitalist profiteering and laziness.

Please don't defend that kind of business operation, otherwise some upstart is going to come along and eat your lunch. Don't believe me, go ask Tim at MySpace, or people who used to work at Atari, Sierra, 3DFX. Or go talk to Intel about their attempts at getting into mobile or into graphics cards. Or maybe go talk to Kodak, or what's left of them, when they disputed the usefulness of digital photography and with one decision ended their dynasty. There was a time where you'd go take a Kodak, not a picture. You're old enough, like me, to remember the "Kodak Moment." Ask your grandkids if they've even heard the word "kodak". By so easily dismissing touch, you're potentially throwing away a 28 year legacy of Photoshop with one decision.

[JJMack]

Adobe design is wrong in your opinion and you may believe your opinion is the definitive one.  You should inform Adobe of that and give them your correct design on their Feedback site. Tell Adobe their design is wrong. Their feedback site is Photoshop Family Customer Community

Posting your opinions here is not going to accomplish anything.  This is a user forum site not Adobe support or Feedback site.  Its a user forum site that Adobe funds for their users so they can help each other out using Adobe applications.  You are using the wrong site for design problem, bugs and change request.

[Sandra5C3C]

are you married to photoshop because you vehemently defend its really sucky feature of not allowing a stylus on the touch screen. in 2021, the design is wrong,

[JJMack]

IMO Adobe  is right not to support finger painting. Touch  screen supports is multi-touch do you want different colors for each finger on screen? How do you adjust multiple brush tips sizes? Accidental finger touches will drop paint all over your painting.  I'm also not a painter so I don't care if Adobe Photoshop supports finger painting or not.  If I were a painter I would most likely look for a Printing application not an image processor like Photoshop.

[maxwooks]

IMO Adobe  is right not to support finger painting. Touch  screen supports is multi-touch do you want different colors for each finger on screen? How do you adjust multiple brush tips sizes? Accidental finger touches will drop paint all over your painting.  I'm also not a painter so I don't care if Adobe Photoshop supports finger painting or not.  If I were a painter I would most likely look for a Printing application not an image processor like Photoshop.

By @JJMack

That decision should be made by the person that bought a touch screen device or stylist. 

[JJMack]

Application have to be programmed to use a device.  Buying a device does not mean all programs have support for that device.  The Choice or supporting a device is up the application developer not the application user they can not reprogram the application to support a device.  Device support is not free. Application design need to be changed to support new devices. This require funding man power, design, coding, testing and support.   Adobe did change Photoshop design to support Touch Display gestures.  Old versions of Photoshop do not have any touch support.  Adobe did not think Touch screen support was sufficient for it brush engine. Displays do not have buttons and neither do your fingers.  Touch Pads do have buttons and you can Paint will your fingers on a touch Pad because Touch Pads also work like a Mouse and Photoshop Brush engine has Mouse support.  Adobe Brush engine does not support touch display gestures and most likely never will.  Pen's have pressure,  tilt and buttons. Photoshop bush engine support pens not fingers  or stylus.

If you have a mouse also on your PC or a keyboard that you can program a key to be a left click. You can paint with your finger on your touch  display if you keep the left mouse button or the keyboard button pressed.   Touching  a touch screen does not do a left click like touching a pen on a tablet or display tablet.   Touch screens are missing the left click. They have no buttom to click. Stylus do not have left clik buttons your fingers do not either, You just need a left click button to to click like Pen tip doe, Or you need to change your touch device driver to add a Left click when your finger is touching the display. Your touch device is missing a button that Photoshop Brush support requires.  Display tablets pen have left clicks, Microsoft Surface pens have left clicks.  You Display, Finger and stylus do not have the left click required by Photoshop Brush support.

Here a thought for you.  On Adobe feedback site suggest to Adobe that they add two more buttons  to Photoshop  Modifier Keys Palette for left and right clicks. So you can  use your stylus as a brush. Add the missing buttons to your display.  Would it work I don't know if multi-finger touch would work which finger is button and which is brush.

[maxwooks]

The boomer replying to you over and over again will never answer the question directly. I will. Photoshop purposefully doesn't allow touch screens to function normally because Adobe wants you to buy another one of their products where it does work (i.e. Illustrator). That's the real answer. 

[szagnes27]

Hi, May I ask if a stylus (Lenovo Active Pen) will work or not on a yoga 520?
I am just about to purchase the laptop, but the only reason to buy touch screen is to use the screen with stylus for PS.

Thanks!

[araz5CC1]

i think since its a digital stylus it will work

[avreliyd78945606]

so stupid.

earlier versions of PS was able to work with touchscreen, then they disable it.

Why?

[araz5CC1]

its a real shame!

today i bought a capacitive stylus and now i relized i cant draw in photoshop! 😒

I cant afford a digital stylus or drawing tablet or ..... they are expensive! 

so please fix this issue !

[TavTHF]

Kind of a joke that you can finger paint and use a regular stylus with MS Paint but not Photoshop? Adobe really are running a clown school here.

[Patty5EAD]

I am disappointed to find this out. I thought it was my computer update that I couldn't use my stylus or finger to paint or draw.  I had to do so many updates, install and uninstall and just to find this out! Sorry not sorry.. So now I guess I'll have to go purchase an expensive digital pen. Why Adobe?

[Luigi5CD0]

It's funny how the accepted "correct answer" and the whole verbose conversation originated from it doesn't even try to admit that this limitation is pretty ridiculous.

Also, would anyone be so kind to explain why Adobe Fresco allows you to finger paint without any problem where Photoshop does not? Where do all the explanations about the "lack of a left-click in your finger or stylus" go when the same company offers a "drawing and painting app" – their own words – which is also part of the Adobe Creative Suite? Adobe Fresco doesn't seem to care about your fingers lacking a left-click...

I am a software engineer and developer... so please save me all the stories about the technical difficulties in adding fingerpainting to Photoshop. Those blatant excuses fall apart the moment you open Adobe Fresco!