After endless hours wasted, I found the solution for an issue I've had using the Intous tablet with my Macbook Pro. The brush would get stuck and I couldn't hit Photoshop shortcuts between brush strokes. I went through the hassle of reinstalling all drivers, buying a new tablet and setting all my Photoshop settings back to default before finding the following simple 30-second fix. This issue pertains to people using Apple computers with Photoshop CS6 or CC and a Wacom Intous tablet. The fix is for the following issues:
• Menus, panels, or dialog boxes turn white and become unresponsive
• Keyboard shortcuts stop working
• Lasso tool selections close prematurely and unexpectedly
• Photoshop becomes unresponsive
Like many out there, I use Google and YouTube to fix all my issues. Despite the inordinate amount of time spent searching, this was the first time I couldn't find the answer on either of these platforms. I uninstalled and reinstalled all software related to Adobe and Wacom. Still didn't work. So I bought a new tablet. Still didn't work. My last resort was to call Wacom which fixed my issue quickly. I was told it is a known issue and they sent me a link to fix this. Why they couldn't send out an update to the software is beyond me.
I'm writing this article in hopes that anyone searching this issue in the future stumbles upon this.
Never happened to me, what happens and a lot is some lag, when for example i am using spot removal brushes with frequency separation. ALT + click does not work allways, and there is a delay of like 500ms when painting. Does anyone else experience this aswell?!
Oh, and Dani, yout last picture on 500px (Rachel - Natural Light) looks amazing!!
This sounds like the issue I have been having where I am brushing on a layer mask and press X to switch between black/white and nothing happens. I have to tap the pen off the screen somewhere in the menu or click the pen button to right click to snap photoshop out of it and then I can press the X shortcut or any other short cut. It goes from annoying to dangerous when you realize CMD+S never saved your work! Thanks for the link, I will try it today!
non working keyboard shortcuts happens to me now and then. I alt tab back and forth to make it work again. havent had the white box issue though.
I've had this problem in Yosemite as well.
This is so awesome!! Still can't point-pull the curves properly in Lightroom but this is a start!
Install the old wacom driver version 6.3.8-2 - This solves the problem! :-)
Everything locks up when I use my intuos pad in InDesign. I wonder if this will help that, too. I'll have to give it a try. Thanks.
*** Edit: no it won't. I thought it would be a Wacom driver update at that link. It's an adobe software patch.... weird. I now also wonder why they just didn't update the software. Isn't that the glory of CC?
Seems that they are just saying to keep your MacOS up to date and the problem won't happen. Since I do that automagically anywhere, I have never seen that problem.
Doesn't seem reasonable to ask Wacom to send out an update notice whose only content is "keep your MacOS up to date" ?
There was also a Photoshop workaround patch issued by adobe.... that's what he was referring to when he wondered why there wasn't just a software update.
This issue actually has been fixed in the latest versions of Photoshop. If you are still having an issue, please contact me on Twitter (@strawbo).
Great tip and info. I guess if one person has a problem, we all will have the same problem. Thanks
Shame dude, if only you asked this in the Fstoppers group, I would have been more than glad to help you. I had the exact same problem, and fixed it within an hour of looking. It must have been a month or so ago that I sorted it out...
YES, thank you! this is been driving me CRAZY. I noticed it's only for CC 2013 does it apply to 2014 as well?
This issue was fixed in CC 2014.
yesss! i was mad about PS was not responding to shortcuts randomly, but every single time, i used it! problem disappeared only, if i switched to another picture, opened in PS.
i hope, solution will work, will check later! BIG THANKS, DANI! (i use win7)
Sometimes when I use the brush tool and increase / decrease size and paint, PS seems to freeze, but if I press on one of my layers, it paints a nice streak across the canvas. Hopefully this resolves the problem.
OMG! its finally fixed! All your post help me out a lot Dani but this one saved me from suicide lol! THanks bro!
this link is only for Mac... :-(
My first post. THANKS DANI!
i just did a fresh install of MAC OSX and was about to start searching in google and miraclisly i saw this post!
Worked for me with the following setup:
MAC OSX YOSEMITE 10.10.1
Adobe CS6 Master collection latest edition: 13.0
Intuos 5 touch.
Nice Dani. Hasn't happened to me (yet). But if/when it does, now I know where to find the solution.
I am battling with this problem right now. Accept I am completely up to date on my software and still the key board does not work.
Or more accurately, sometimes it works, most of the time doesn't.
Anyone have input of this?
sorry, except, not accept.
Thanks! Was struggling with these shortcuts issues last couple of days! Hope it does the trick!
Thanks very much Dani, this has been driving me mad for far too long.
Finally a fix!! This has been driving me nuts for months! Why wouldn't Adobe or Wacom put this fix out sooner/announce this fix.
Thank you Dani for writing/posting about this... another reason why FStoppers is my first choice for Photography news!
We actually did fix it in the latest version of Photoshop CC (2014.2), but for old versions, you have to install the patch.
I didin't even know that that was the problem... I thought it was just my computer. Thanks dude
Damnit Dani! For a few days I thought it was my MBP that was slow and causing this! Almost went out to get the iMac 27" retina! I guess there's that excuse to the wife gone out of the window!
p.s. thx for this tip, it works magically! saved me so much time on this photo of my son!
Thank you...... Thank you..... Thank you !!! I was suffering in silence.... I had also done all the research, and found no answers.... Then I read this.... #Happy !!
Oh my god, you are a life saver! I had been going through hell with this issue.
Thank you so much!
It's not just the Intous - happens with the lower level of tablets also. This fixed the problem with my older Touch and Graphire tablets also.
Dani, you are a legend! Thank you. This has been annoying the crap out of me for ages now!
Stephen from the Photoshop team at Adobe here. This is a known issue from CS6 and the first version of CC, but it has been fixed in the latest version of Photoshop CC (2014.2). If anyone is still seeing this issue in the latest version of Photoshop, please contact me on Twitter (@strawbo) or respond to this comment.
Hello Stephen, I am still having issue. I am using the most current version of OS X El Capitan (10.11.5) and the most current version of Photoshop (Adobe Photoshop CC 2015.5). I have tried the patch and the issue still persists. Please advise.
Hello Stephen, I have this issue with the CC 2019 version! I use it with windows 10. What can I do?
Dani Diamond!
I am so thankful for your post - I was just before a crying fit :'(
Now you solved my problems, thank you very much! :)
I had another problem with Lightroom 5+Yosemite and the curves+histogram like Victor:
"Victor Engström - January 22, 2015
This is so awesome!! Still can't point-pull the curves properly in Lightroom but this is a start!"
Found a solution here: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1632003?start=0&tstart=0
Conclusion: Install the old wacom driver version 6.3.8-2 - It works! :-)
I swear i only registered to comment and THANK YOU. i was so frustrated with the lag and non-working shortcuts... right now i have that feeling *omg, god exists*. but it's not god, it's you! THANKS!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! When I was quick masking and hit Q to get out my stupid pen wouldn't respond..now it works like a charm!
Thank you so much Dani! - Muchísimas gracias Dani!
You have no idea how many hours I spent searching for this solution. By the way, congratulations, I am a big fan of your work.
One of most simple fixes to one of the most irritating problems I've dealt with.
Thank you. It was pure luck to have found your site.
Wow! I just spent hours trying to figure this out, re-installing both Photoshop and Wacom several times. Finally found this post with link. THANK YOU SO MUCH! phew!! Hope they fix this with the next update which is soon I hope. Can only imagine that there are several others out there with the same frustrating problem.
Cheers!
You are a very kind person for posting this. Aggravated all week. Just kept unplugging my intuos to get it to work for about 10 minutes. Nice that you just handed it out. Thank you!!!!!
I had the same problem, when I use photoshop, I Installed a plug-in, and it work, here is the link:
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/photoshop-menus-turn-white-mac.html
PS: I use Mac.
Thank you so much!! I've been dealing with those issues for such a long time and couldn't find the solution!!!
Thanks for posting this. I just bought a new iMac with El Cap and was happy to discover that Wacom had updated drivers for my old Intuos 3 tablet. Unfortunately, when I started using Photoshop CS6 I noticed I had problems with keyboard shortcuts like changing opacity on the stamp or eraser tools. When I switched back to the mouse everything was fine. So I thought I might have to buy a new tablet, but the plugin seems to have solved the problem.
I had this problem after updating to latest wacom driver & desktop center. This white window fix did not help in (tried CC2015 or 2015.5). Got an older version of the driver http://cdn.wacom.com/u/productsupport/drivers/mac/professional/WacomTabl... and the problem disappeared.
Dani, thanks you a looot!!!!
If you ever come to Serbia, let me know, i wanna buy you a beer.
Cheers mate!