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mindy_harris's profile
mindy_harris
100 Points

7 Messages

 • 

120 Points

Thu, Sep 20, 2012 3:44 AM

Photoshop: CS6 Stuck in Hand Mode

Photoshop CS6 gets stuck in "hand mode" after being open for a few hours. Suddenly, I can't use liquefy because Photoshop gets stuck in hand mode. I can't use ACR to the full potential because I can't use the adjustment brush because all I have is the hand tool. I try to open files, but all I get is the hand tool!

I know it's not an issue of pressing the space bar, I have tried that. I have closed all the Adobe programs (Bridge, Lightroom, Photoshop), then re-opened Photoshop and it does not go away.

It only goes away after re-starting the computer, but that is not acceptable.

I am on a 17" Macbook Pro, Mountain Lion 10.8.1, using CS6 products.

Can this please be fixed?

Problems

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Updated 

3 y ago

123

11

Responses

chris_cox_2148894

15.1K Messages

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195.8K Points

9 y ago

If quitting and relaunching Photoshop doesn't cure it - then it's got to be a problem at the OS level. Restarting the computer clears the OS state. The application state gets reset every time you launch the app.

5

0

mindy_harris

7 Messages

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120 Points

Thanks for your reply! Is there anything I can do about this? I spend hours all day in Photoshop, so restarting my computer constantly will not work for me.

Like

9 y ago

0

mindy_harris

7 Messages

 • 

120 Points

Thanks for your reply! Is there anything I can do about this? I spend hours all day in Photoshop, so restarting my computer constantly will not work for me.

Like

9 y ago

0

chris_cox_2148894

15.1K Messages

 • 

195.8K Points

First, see if you are running any utilities that might mess up event processing or keyboard status.
Then check OS settings.
If you can't find anything, then consider reinstalling the OS.

Like

9 y ago

0

mindy_harris

7 Messages

 • 

120 Points

This computer is less than a week old. The only programs I have installed are Photoshop, Illustrator, and Chrome. How could I possibly need to reinstall the OS? I have googled and see that I am not the only person with this issue by the way.

Like

9 y ago

0

chris_cox_2148894

15.1K Messages

 • 

195.8K Points

I don't know - but there are also millions of users NOT seeing this problem.

And Photoshop gets the keyboard state from the OS, so if it's stuck, it's because the OS thinks that it is stuck. And that's confirmed by your having to restart the OS (instead of the app) to clear the state. This really does sound like some kind of OS bug or a conflict with some other app/driver.

Like

9 y ago

0

mindy_harris

7 Messages

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120 Points

9 y ago

Thanks for your reply! Is there anything I can do about this? I spend hours all day in Photoshop, so restarting my computer constantly will not work for me.

0

0

dmohr

Adobe Administrator

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3.5K Messages

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53K Points

9 y ago

Howdy,

I'm going to go out on a limb here and bet that you have either a tablet or some third party pointer/keyboard and/or utility. Unscientific as that guess is, we've been hearing a number of such problems on Mountain Lion.

I would wager that the OS is thinking the H key is being pressed all the time. To validate this, you can go into Edit > Keyboard Preferences and select Tools. Remove all instances of H as a tool shortcut and you should find (if I'm right) the problem goes away (except in Liquify).

I admit this is NOT an ideal situation, but it will a) validate if this is a keyboard-related problem, b) give you a point of reference in case you have bad hardware, c) give you an idea of what other apps/devices you might want to more closely scrutinize, and most importantly d) give you a work around until you get a "real" solution. Like Chris, I think based on what you've described, this is a problem outside of Photoshop, but hopefully these steps can help you work through some of it.

If I've gotten this wrong, please let me know and I'll be happy to follow up with you. If you do think it's hardware, try running another app that uses single letter shortcuts involving H to demonstrate that to whoever you bought the laptop from.

Good luck!
David

3

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mindy_harris

7 Messages

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120 Points

David,

Thank you for your reply!

I followed your instructions, then re-started Photoshop, opened a raw file, and right there in ACR was the hand tool, even though the Zoom tool was selected. I could not get out of the hand tool, yet again.

Now you are correct in that I do use a tablet. However, I have kept the tablet unplugged for the last day or so, suspecting that it could be the issue. So, I have been using Photoshop without a tablet even plugged in and I am still experiencing this issue.

The tablet I have is the intuos4, and have the most up-to-date drivers for it. Could it possibly be the tablet driver? Should I downgrade the driver? I did not have this problem with my previous setup of CS6 + Snow Leopard + old tablet driver.

Any more help would be extremely appreciated!!

Thank you!

Like

9 y ago

0

dmohr

Adobe Administrator

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3.5K Messages

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53K Points

Howdy Mindy,

Okay, let me follow up with you via email. Maybe a connect session will help. Are you okay sharing your screen over the Internet with me?

Also, within PS have you had the problem since changing your tool shortcut? I ask because that would be good data to have. That info would help rule some stuff out. Even with a tablet disconnected, the app/driver that comes with it can still be doing naughty things -- mostly commonly intercept keyboard commands that it shouldn't. There have been a number of complaints among tablet users on Mountain Lion.

I'm happy to help,
David

Like

9 y ago

0

malou_van_breevoort

1 Message

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60 Points

4 years later and your advice still works! Thanks!!

Like

5 y ago

0

Victoria_Bampton_Lightroom_Queen

Champion

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6.6K Messages

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110.3K Points

9 y ago

I can reproduce this issue intermittently on my old MacBook Pro late 2008, on Mountain Lion. Wacom Intuos 3, driver 6.3.3-3

And it usually magically fixes itself when I open this thread!

I don't usually use this machine for PS, but if I can find reproducible steps, I'll let you know.

Victoria Bampton a.k.a. The Lightroom Queen

www.lightroomqueen.com

Author of Adobe Lightroom Classic - The Missing FAQ and Adobe Lightroom - Edit Like a Pro books.

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JeffreyTranberry

Adobe Administrator

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15.9K Messages

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295.3K Points

9 y ago

It may help if we can could see your Photoshop System Info. Directions for sharing your system info from Photoshop:

http://feedback.photoshop.com/photosh...

Are you running any system extensions? They usually show up here in System Preferences:



If you're using a tablet, making sure you have the latest driver of the vendor website (Wacom) is desired.

Sr. Product Manager, Adobe Digital Imaging

1

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chris_crumley

4 Messages

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102 Points

This worked for me.

Was having the same problem where Photoshop CS6 was stuck on the hand tool and would only be fixed when I re-started the system. Installed the latest Wacom Driver and closed Photoshop CS6 without re-starting system and when I opened Photoshop again the hand tool was no longer stuck.

Like

6 y ago

0

Victoria_Bampton_Lightroom_Queen

Champion

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6.6K Messages

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110.3K Points

9 y ago

Well spotted, there's a newly released 6.3.4-3 and I haven't seen it again since.

Victoria Bampton a.k.a. The Lightroom Queen

www.lightroomqueen.com

Author of Adobe Lightroom Classic - The Missing FAQ and Adobe Lightroom - Edit Like a Pro books.

0

mindy_harris

7 Messages

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120 Points

8 y ago

I am still dealing with this issue. I have to restart my computer every 40 minutes or so. Is there a fix for this?

1

0

chris_cox_2148894

15.1K Messages

 • 

195.8K Points

Please see previous replies. We can't fix an OS or a third party software issue.

Like

8 y ago

0

ivanute

1 Message

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100 Points

8 y ago

I've found that pressing cmd+space+click (zoom in) and then cmd+space+alt+click (zoom out) get back to normal

5

avi_gerver

3 Messages

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82 Points

You rock! Excellent solution to a bug that Adobe should have fixed by now.

Like

8 y ago

0

chris_cox_2148894

15.1K Messages

 • 

195.8K Points

The above is a workaround to a third party driver issue. We can't do anything about this from inside Photoshop.

Like

8 y ago

0

avi_gerver

3 Messages

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82 Points

Any idea which driver? It randomly happened today even though I haven't installed any new drivers. Also, it never happened to me in CS5.

Like

8 y ago

0

chris_cox_2148894

15.1K Messages

 • 

195.8K Points

In some cases this is caused by wacom drivers. In other cases it has been caused by video card drivers. We've even seen similar problems caused by other applications making incorrect patches into the OS (specifically one browser and a chat app). It could be caused by anything that alters the cursor update APIs, or some keyboard handling APIs.

Like

8 y ago

0

avi_gerver

3 Messages

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82 Points

Oh well. Must have been some sort of patch I installed over the past few days. It's strange though because it was working fine for hours and then happened once randomly. FYI, I'm on a 2012 Mac Mini running OS 10.8.2 and no Wacom drivers. I do have Logitech Control Center installed for my mouse, but it hasn't been updated recently.

Like

8 y ago

0

davidamiel

1 Message

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60 Points

8 y ago

no way i try everything
I'm using CS5 on mac 10.7.5, bamboo tablet
all applications have the same problem
not a single trick work for me

2

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chris_cox_2148894

15.1K Messages

 • 

195.8K Points

"all" applications means a system problem.

Again, please see previous messages for ideas and what sort of troubleshooting you need to do on your system.

Like

8 y ago

0

JeffreyTranberry

Adobe Administrator

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15.9K Messages

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295.3K Points

Update your Wacom driver from the Wacom site. See Victoria's comment above, updating the Wacom driver fixes this problem.

Sr. Product Manager, Adobe Digital Imaging

Like

8 y ago

0

jamies_2844778

4 Messages

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90 Points

3 y ago

fyi, I am having the same problem now. I updated from cc2017 to 2018 yesterday and this is when it started happening.  I don't use any tablets or special drivers. nothing has changed other than I updated.  (I only updated to get the "select subject" tool)

7

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JeffreyTranberry

Adobe Administrator

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15.9K Messages

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295.3K Points

Are you on Windows 10? Are you seeing the Hand icon? or is the image just panning when you try to brush when you paint while zoomed in? 

Sr. Product Manager, Adobe Digital Imaging

Like

3 y ago

0

dmohr

Adobe Administrator

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3.5K Messages

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53K Points

Howdy Jamie,

Do you, by chance, use custom Tool shortcuts?  You would set them either in the Keyboard Shortcut dialog or in the Toolbars dialog, both under the Edit menu.

Thanks,
David

Like

3 y ago

0

jamies_2844778

4 Messages

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90 Points

no, I don't do anything special. (I use only my mouse and the same hp laptop for the last 1.5 yrs.) I even have all updates turned off of everything because stuff like this always happens. (I watched a video of someone using the new select subject tool, so I decided to update.)  I've been using elements for years and since I've been paying for the monthly fee for a year or two now to get illustrator, for the last month or so I've been trying to wean myself off using elements and only use photoshop.  (Camera raw in photoshop is so much better.)  Anyway, I never had this problem until I updated on Saturday.

Like

3 y ago

0

jamies_2844778

4 Messages

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90 Points

also I am on windows 8.1 I think and what happens no matter what tool I select, the "zoom" will not go away.  (the magnifying glass symbol)

Like

3 y ago

0

jamies_2844778

4 Messages

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90 Points

It's not doing it now, because I rebooted a little while ago.  It is the 2nd time I have had to reboot to fix this issue since updating.

Like

3 y ago

0

JeffreyTranberry

Adobe Administrator

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15.9K Messages

 • 

295.3K Points

Weird. Is it possible your z key is sticky on your keyboard?

Sr. Product Manager, Adobe Digital Imaging

Like

3 y ago

dmohr

Adobe Administrator

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3.5K Messages

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53K Points

Howdy Jamie,

Are you using a tablet?  How about side-car apps which grab screen input, particularly any which use Z as part of a shortcut?

Assuming no to both, have you tried going to Edit > Toolbars and resetting them?

Thanks,
David

Like

3 y ago

0

david_tristram_7eclu56xf1us9

2 Messages

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82 Points

3 y ago

hey, just one other idea.  I got stuck hard in this situation, restart Ps, operate keyboard spacebar did not help.  I rebooted my machine and I'm back.  My theory is because I screen share into this machine often I got in some state where a space-key-down event was processed with no matching key up.  thereafter the window manager was reporting the state of that keyboard key as 'down'.  Anyway, try rebooting.  

0

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