My skin smoothing brushes have just up and quit working. ideas?

Question

i am using the latest edition of the software.  have my brushes set to all.. but there is no effect with i try to smooth skin.  i am at a loss.

Answer 1

Hello Michael,
I would recommend creating a new test user to see if the issue persists:
Isolating an issue by using another user account
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4053
How to troubleshoot OS X user accounts
This process involves creating a new user account, logging in to it, and testing for the issue.
Create a new standard or admin user account in Users & Groups preferences. See this video, or this article for instructions for OS X Lion. See this article for instructions for OS X Mountain Lion.
Optional: If you have any specific files you wish to test with, copy (don't move) those items to the /Users/Shared folder in the Finder.
Log out of your current user account by choosing Log Out from the Apple () menu.
Log in with the new account you created.
Attempt to reproduce the issue you were seeing in your regular user account.
Note: If you were using any specific settings that the issue depends on, such as using a specific email account, iCloud account, and so forth, then you should set up that account in System Preferences. For email and most other settings you should be able to set them up easily in the Mail, Contacts & Calendars System Preference pane. If you copied any files to the /Users/Shared folder that you need for testing, you would want to copy them to the desktop (or other applicable locations) of the test account.
Important: After you have completed testing, log out of the test account by by choosing Log Out from theApple () menu.
Log in as your regular account.
After you have completed all testing with the test user account, you may wish to delete it. You can delete an account in the Users & Groups pane of System Preferences (Accounts preferences in Mac OS X v10.5 and 10.6) by simply selecting it and clicking the minus ("-") button below the account list. Note: Prior to deleting a test account, make sure you are completely done with it. If you have files in the Guest User you wish to keep, you should copy them to the /Users/Shared folder .
Take care,
Sterling