I don't like the way the zoom tool works in Photoshop CS5. How do I change it back to the way it worked in previous versions?

This behavior can be startling if you're expecting the old behavior. The key is to understand how the new behavior works.

Start the zoom by clicking on the area you want to zoom into and keep the mouse button down. As you drag right, you zoom into the point where you initially clicked. As you drag left, you zoom out from the point where you initially clicked.

If you decide that you still prefer the old behavior, you can disable the new behavior by selecting the Zoom Tool and unchecking "Scrubby Zoom" on the tool options bar:

I've been working in Photoshop for 20+ years. And I just wanted to take the time to post this note.. The new zoom feature SUCKS A_S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled
Lame CS 5.5 Features.

I make sure these prefs are set b/c i hate the new zoom animations too.

Thanks guys. Good to know that I can turn that off. Thumbs down on the "Scrubby Zoom".

Dear Adobe Gripe #19280

"Space-CMD [select area to zoom in] changed to Space-CMD [move mouse to change zoom factor] sucks. At least this didn't change in illustrator or inDesign cs5."

Why would you fix something that is not broken? IT worked perfect for decades and most of all - it's universal in all apps. This new zoom sucks but it sucks even more when you have to change behavior when you go back and forth between indd and photoshop (Or any other application in the world).
I hope Adobe won't apply it to other apps since - it SUCKS big time!!!!

I love this scrubby zoom feature. Its so intuitive and dinamic! Usually when I want to zoom to something, I just want to zoom as close as needed to see certain detail. I dont know how big area its gonna be. So without scrubby zoom I had to clik several times. But when working with large image it just didnt work fast enaugh (when I release alt, it keeps zooming oposite way and so on.. or when I move stilus accidentaly, it zooms to very small area and I have to click like crazy to unzoom again..)

HATE the scrubby zoom. Good to finally know it can be turned off. I was digging through prefs, and overlooked the checkbox within the zoom tool options bar. It's sooo much faster to just drag a marquee box over the area you want than it is to "slide" back and forth until the desired zoom is reached. More often than not with the scrubby zoom, I would overshoot the desired zoom level then have to go back.

Agreed. I went through the Preferences trying to turn off or set the zoom back to a classic zoom. Finally, I noticed the 'Scrubby Zoom' checkbox when I was using the magnifying glass.

Frankly, I don't use Photoshop much anymore. Though I started using it in 1995 with version 2.5. Back then, there wasn't a 'Scrubby Zoom' option on the magnifying glass ... and we liked it that way ;-). Layers were also not available in 2.5, we did everything in channels ... so there have been good improvements over the years.

I also disagree about 'Scrubby Zoom' being intuitive. I found it very frustrating -- obviously, to the point I searched on 'Scrubby Zoom hate'. Not a big deal if you can disable it. But I would HATE to see this feature become the standard zoom in the software with no option to disable.

Hey, at least Adobe allowed it to be an easily-turned-off OPTION... unlike the idi*ts at Microsoft with their new OS versions (e.g., the COMPLETE disappearance of the incredibly useful (and universal!) "up one directory level" (folder-with-up-arrow) icon!

In my opinion the "Scrubby Zoom" is the worst "improvement" ever created by Adobe.

The scrubby zoom is unwieldy. I like the old, universal zoom much better!
Why did Adobe change a feature that was great as it was!?
Worst problem-- Why are my photoshop files now opening very tiny, at 1% of actual size ??!!! This is VERY frustrating and is wasting a lot of my time!

I had a moan about the new zoom implementation on this thread a month or so ago - turned out I had a driver problem. Now that's gone I have to say I really love the new implementation and the level to which it can be customised. I still find those settings a bit opaque, but it's ok.

If I could kiss you full on the lips for telling me how to fix this, I would.

Select the Zoom Tool. In the options that appear at the top of the screen, uncheck "Scrubby Zoom." Ahhhh.