Brush Tool Error with Layer Masks

I've identified a layer mask bug in Photoshop 14.2.1 for Mac. When working with non-vector layer masks, the brush tool will not paint a darker value than the white level present in the mask. For instance:
when a layer mask is created from the icon at the bottom of the layers window, the mask itself is white, representing full visibility in the masked layer. If you attempt to use the brush tool with 100% black (to actually mask something in the applicable layer), it does not function. I am able to use the paint bucket tool and the pencil tool to fill black in the mask, but not the brush tool. If the mask is 67% grey, and my brush tool is set to 66% grey, it still will not affect the mask; the white level cannot be decreased, only increased with the brush tool. Bug!

Sure. A mask is just a greyscale image and the blending mode is a property of the brush tool not the mask.
It is actually a very useful feature especially for extracting hair. When painting with black/white in overlay mode you can easily clean up the edges without affecting the pure black/white parts of the mask.

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Why when I use Brush Tool on a layer mask, I must click on somewhere else then I am able to see my effects of my previous brush on my mask

Why when I use Brush Tool on a layer mask, I must click on somewhere else then I am able to see my effects of my previous brush on my mask.
If I don't click click on somewhere else, I cannot even see my current brush effects
This kind of problem really slow down my work flow. So if you guy know the solution of my problem, please let me know.
Thanks

Update your graphics driver/ turn off GPU usage in the performance prefs. You have an issue with hardware-based transparency handling most likely. Otherwise you could have an issue with your input device, but since you have not provided any system info, we can't really know anything.
Mylenium

Associate Brush/Tool Preset with Layer

I know there's a way to do this via scriptinglistener, so I figured I'd post it here. Wondering if there's a way to select a brush or tool preset automatically whenever you select a layer.
For example, there are 2 layers:
'Airbrush' - I only want to use the tool preset 'MyAirbrush' on this layer and never use any other brush or tool preset
'Pastel' - I only want to use the tool preset 'MyPastel' on this layer and never use any other brush or tool preset
So, when I select the layer 'Airbrush', it will automatically select the tool preset 'MyAirbrush' along with it. And whenever I switch to the layer 'Pastel', it will automatically select the tool preset 'MyPastel'. This would eliminate having to select the tool preset after selecting the layer (no big deal but could save time and eliminate a step)
Like I said I can acheive it via scriptinglistener, but then it becomes confusing because instead of simply switching layers in the layer panel, I'd have to run the script instead, and each script would reflect only one individual layer and the tool preset to go with it- I'd have to create a script for every layer doing it this way - not feasible. I was wondering if there was another way to do it somewhere in Photoshop, such as 'link tool preset to layer' or 'associate tool preset with layer'
thanks!

function _selectLayerHandler(desc) {
var layerName = app.activeDocument.activeLayer.name;
switch( layerName ){
      case "Airbrush": selectPreset('Airbrush-Grainy Opaque'); break;
      case "Pastel": selectPreset('Angle - Flat Opaque'); break;
function selectPreset(presetName) {
    var desc = new ActionDescriptor();
        var ref = new ActionReference();
        ref.putName( stringIDToTypeID( "toolPreset" ), presetName);
    desc.putReference( charIDToTypeID( "null" ), ref );
    executeAction( charIDToTypeID( "slct" ), desc, DialogModes.NO );
try {
if (arguments.length >= 2) {
    var desc = arguments[0];
    var event = arguments[1];
    if (event == charIDToTypeID('slct')) {
      var ref = desc.getReference(charIDToTypeID('null'));
      var cls = ref.getDesiredClass();
      if (cls == charIDToTypeID('Lyr ')) {
        _selectLayerHandler(desc);
} catch (e) {
alert( "Error: " + e + ":" + e.line );

Brush Tool is not working with Layer Mask

Working with Windows platform, using Photoshop CS4, Brush Tool is not working with Layer Mask, how can I resolve this challenge?

Also, do you have any Selections active - maybe hidden?
When you have your Layer Mask's Channel active, do your Colors change to black and white?
Good luck,
Hunt

Brush tool not working on mask.....

Can't seem to get brush tool to work on mask.
Duplicated a layer and applied multiply blend mode. Don't want effect of blend mode on entire image but can't get the brush tool to work on mask. I have made sure than I am working on the mask and not the image itself. Exposure is at 100% and have tried it with shadows, midtones and highlights. I'm probably overlooking something that is fairly obvious but can't figure it out. Any one know what I'm doing wrong?

yes, you are, that's not the Brush tool, you are using either the Burn or Dodge tool. The Brush tool is higher up in the Tools panel:
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Photoshop/11.0/WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-74f5a.html

Is there a way to control brush parameters by special layer mask or channel?

Is there a way to control brush parameters by special layer mask or channel? Maybe there is some plug-in for mask controlled brushes? Or channel controlled brushes?

You are not understanding how masks work. If you look closely at the first six brush tip options in the brush panel, either of the first two will give you a fixed size stroke regardless of pen pressure
To control the appearance, or masking of specific colours, you would use a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, and use the RGB drop down to select the colour you want to affect. Without know _exactly_ what you are trying to achieve, no one can do more than guess, but from what you have written so far, I suspect you are going to be out of luck.
What tablet are you using? And you did not answer my question about what version of Photoshop? You need to be a _lot_ more specific about what you want to do if you want keep my fast failing interest in this thread.

Problem using Brush tool with layer mask in Photoshop CC.

Using Photoshop CC, working on a layer mask. Using the Brush tool to paint white to show the effect works like normal. Painting black has no effect. Just started doing this in the last two days.

Check you Brush blending mode setting in the tools option bar.

Problem with layer masks ... help

Ok. I have my original image. I've added a layer to make it black and white. Then added a layer mask to that because I want to make a section of it color. I'm using the brush tool to do so but having no luck. Yes I am on the correct layer and correct mask. I've done this several times before, but for some reason, today its not working. help

Good day!
Could you please post a screenshot with the pertinent Panels visible?
What are Foreground- and Background Color?
What are the Tool’s Blend Mode, Opacity and Flow?
Is a Selection active?
Regards,
Pfaffenbichler

Clone or Healing Brush Tool Creates Ghost Layer or Image - Unusable

I am using the latest version of Photoshop CS5.5 on a fully updated MacBook Pro.
I am having issues with the following tools:
Clone Stamp Tool,
Healing Brush Tool,
More details:
Essentially it "appears" that Photoshop is duplicating the layer and the layers appears to be dragged whenever the cursor is moved. I do not need to be holding down the mouse button for the layer to follow the cursor.
If I click outside of these tools then photoshop functions as normal, and this extra layer-effect disappears. Clicking back to those tools however causes it to reoccur.
From testing, when first selecting these tools (on program startup) nothing occurs. It's only when I select the target area (option+click) to use the tools does this problem begin.
I have checked, and no layer is duplicated. It is also a single image (so not a copy on top of the original).
I have been using Photoshop for a few years now and familiar with it's interface and functioning. Initially it was working fine on this laptop, however in the last few months this problem has begun and persisted. On other computers it is functioning fine. A complete uninstall and reinstall of Adobe on the laptop has made no change either.
Please can someone help? Thanks in advance for any assistance or guidance you can provide.

I am not saying that this will absolutely sort your problem but it is a good place to start.
Try resetting your Photoshop Preferences. Check out this post for instructions.
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/375776
Good luck

Can't use the erase tool inside a Layer Mask

Recently after updating Photoshop CC I noticed that I can no longer use the erase tool inside of a Layer Mask to add or remove areas from/to the mask. The paint brush tool still works inside the mask but the erase tool does not. Any ideas why?

Make sure your foreground/background colors are set to BW. And, make sure your foreground color is set to the same color you want to erase from the Layer Mask: Black if you want to erase (turn white) the black part of the mask, White if you want to erase (turn black) the white part of the mask.

Camera-raw brush-tool error

Camera-raw version 6.3.0.79 in CS5 problem. When using the brush tool to slightly darken or brighten a part of an image I get digital squares or bars. Usually 1 inch by several inch darken or lighter than the original. Files are CR2 from Canon 5D mark II's. If I edit the picture again the problem doesn't occur or occurs in a different spot. I work on a 6 month old 15" macbookpro, OS 10.7.4, 2.2GHz intel i7, 8GB ram. More than 100GB free space on the hard drive. Many thanks for thinking with me on this. Above an example, it happens more or less on 30% of the images I process.

Thank you so much for answering.
I've actually tried to update camera-raw but run into another problem. When trying to open the downloaded dmg file I get an error message:
'ongeldig controlegetal' in Dutch which I believe is "checksum invalid" in English Mac OS
I got the same error when downloading Canon's DPP and the Adobe Application manager yesterday.
I'm trying to download Mac Os 10.7.5 right now. I live in a country with very slow internet (Afghanistan) and during downloading the internet fails from time to time not sure if this is related.
Below I've attached another example, this is about 50% of the original image..
Thanks again

Gradient Tool difficulties with the mask and banner, CS4

Hi everyone,
I know this is quite basic, but I'm experiencing a mind block.
I'm trying to make a banner image fade out to the left into a white background (which has text, this is the rest of the banner) losing as little as the image as possible, it has to be done with a mask as I don't want to edit the original image.
I don't think feathering works
At the moment I try this, I put a mask over the banner image, the mask is longer to the left than the banner image. But then when I try and apply the gradient tool to the mask it just slaps it on the image itself making it go all white.
I've been using photoshop for a while now, just my brain isn't working properly today. Any help appreciated. Thanks

Try this. First make sure your text is on a layer or background and the image that will be transparent is on another layer above the background with the text. If you already have a mask showing in the layer that will be transparent, just right click on it and choose Delete Layer mask. Then create a new one by clicking on the "Add Layer Mask" button at the bottom of the layer's palette (resting mouse on button shows the name). Press the g key on your keyboard to get the Gradient tool, and to make sure it is working as expected right click on its icon in the the tool options' bar that is at the top left under the main menu and choose Reset Tool. Then make sure that the foreground color swatch at the bottom of the Tools palette is black (to ensure that press d key and if necessary x to get that). Next hold Shift and drag from left edge of the image that will be transparent all the way to the right edge. Now you should have the fading transparency, for additional control while at that step press Crtl + L on your keyboard and drag the arrows of the Input levels there to adjust the gradient as you like.
Hope this helps

Paint brush not working on layer mask

This is a totally novice question, but...
When working with a layer mask, my paintbrush isn't showing up on the image. I can see the brush strokes on the layer mark in the layers sidebar, but no brush strokes on the image itself.
I know it's just me doing something wrong...can anyone tell me what it is?

I think you are not understanding how layers and layer masks work.
Look at the following illustration. The layers panel shows that the left of the image (The right is simply to make room for the layers panel and should be ignored) has solid blocks of red, green and blue. The layer mask in the top layer (red) has a black rectangle which conceals that area of the layer, revealing the underlying layer.
The mnomic we use is 'Black conceals and White Reveals' So where the layer mask is white, the corresponding area in the layer can be seen, and where black, it is like a window looking through to the layers below.
The Green layer also has a (smaller) black rectangle, so we can see the blue layer below that.
The blue layer has an even smaller rectangle so we can see the checker board background which indicates transparency.
Understanding Layer Masks In Photoshop

Trouble fading layer with layer mask

I'm trying to blend a photo with a background color. I select the new layer mask (selected), I select the gradient tool (color into transparent), and then draw a line to fade the image layer into the background later and it does nothing. Why isn't this working? Every tutorial I have looked at tells me to do these steps. How do I fix this??

I don't see any black on your mask. It should look something like this: Whatever is painted black on the mask will be masked on the layer, depending on the transparancy of the black.

Brush tool error

suddenly i cant use Erase in brush menu and cant see brush tool pionts in picture ????

Sure. A mask is just a greyscale image and the blending mode is a property of the brush tool not the mask.
It is actually a very useful feature especially for extracting hair. When painting with black/white in overlay mode you can easily clean up the edges without affecting the pure black/white parts of the mask.

Brush Tool Error with Layer Masks

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