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Photoshop CS6 suddenly acting weird


StefanRusu

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Hello community,

As I mentioned in the title Photoshop is acting weird.What I mean by that? Everytime I create a new vector shape, let's say a rectangle it adds this white fading "trail".This trail is present on icons, buttons but not on text layers.It's even more weird because even if I do have a white background ( #fff ) the trail is brighter than the actual canvas? I will attach an image.

Last night I was working on a project and out of the blue I noticed it.I can't find a reason for acting this way.I did not install any additional plugins nor messed with the settings panel.My settings for performance/grids/rulers/units etc were set the first minute I installed Photoshop.I thought a reboot would magically restore my troublesome Photoshop.Oh well, it did not! That's when I decided to uninstall the program and get a fresh copy - again, no luck whatsoever.I will attach an image to get a better idea of what I am experiencing.This came in a bad moment as I need to finish work.

Has anyone ever experienced this kind of behaviour ? Here's the image.
Thank you,
Cheers!

trail.png
 

MrToM

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I tried this in CS6 and yes, I have the same result.
I also tried it in CC 2014 and again it did something similar.

The only difference I had was that in CC 2014 the 'path' and its control handles become visible upon creation of the shape.
In CS6 the control handles are not visible until you move the path....in other words if you don't move it you will still see the path but not the handles.

For the path to be visible it obviously has to occupy some of the pixels on your screen. The 'path' is a constant width, whereas a stroke will differ in size when the zoom level is changed.

At specific zoom levels it therefore possible to have the constant 'path' and the 'stroke' at the same size......but only 1 can occupy the pixels on your screen......but which one?

It appears that in this unique situation Adobe have adopted to give priority to the 'path' on the left, and the stroke on the right.....giving the strange result you see.....its half path, half stroke.

Zooming in or out or turning off the display of the path should remove the effect.

Its more obvious with CC 2014 that this is happening as the control handles give the game away but in CS6 they are not automatically visible.

If you try it with a stroke colour other than black, say yellow, you'll see the path superimposed on top of the stroke.
When you create another path the preceding one will vanish and leave the stroke perfectly intact.

It basically boils down to two different things trying to occupy the same pixels on your screen at the same time.
At a specific zoom level the stroke, (scaleable), will become as thick as the path, (non-scaleable), and cause the effect.

Regards.
MrTom.
 

IamSam

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This is normal............it's the path. Hit Command/Control + H to hide the path and the "trail' will disappear.
 

MrToM

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This is normal............it's the path. Hit Command/Control + H to hide the path and the "trail' will disappear.

Interesting....I knew that Ctrl + H hid the marching ants but didn't know it did paths too....you learn something new every day!

Regards.
MrTom.
 

StefanRusu

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Tom, thank you for your input on this.I got a better idea of what might happened here but unfortunately that is not the solution.It didn't solve the "problem".I played with the zoom also but didn't help either.I previously searched on Google and Adobe forums and tried everything on reseting but still nothing.

Sam, I have been using the CTRL + H command for a few years now while working with vector shapes in Photoshop.It came first into my mind when I saw the effect on layers but again, with no luck.

Thanks guys for your input on this.I am still looking for a solution.Here's a screenshot where the bug applies to the highlighted text.
ht tp://i.imgur. com/WaZJ5Tt.png (remove the white spaces)
 

IamSam

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I'm sorry.............but I guess I don't see what your talking about...........try a tight screenshot with arrows pointing to the perceived issue.
 

StefanRusu

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I added the arrows pointing to the white trail.It's subtle but it's there and it's getting the best of me.I have installed Photoshop several times on different partitions but still I experience the same bug.I really don't want to reinstall my windows.
text-trail.png
 

IamSam

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So very sorry, I don't see anything at all. I can't help you if I can't see the problem.
 

Tom Mann

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Is this occurring on a desktop system? If so, is the monitor connected to the computer using a digital or analog connection?

I ask because, like Sam, I don't see the problem, either, but efx such as u describe can occur if there are electrical reflections occurring in analog data transmission lines. Such efx would not be seen on a screen grab.

Tom M
 

Tom Mann

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Here are some examples of the sort of problems that transmission line reflections cause:

5Vza5.jpg 2014-11-08_142244.jpg 2014-11-08_142800.jpg 2014-11-08_142915.jpg ghosting2.jpg IMG_0464.jpg NFG_2055.jpg




This problem was quite common 5 years ago, in the days of analog connections to one's monitor (eg, VGA), but have been essentially eliminated with the advent of HDMI, DVI and similar interfaces. If you problem looks anything like these, you can read more about it by Googling {vga ghosting cable reflection}. If this is indeed the cause, the best solution is obviously to use a digital connection, but if that isn't possible, then, often something as simple as wiggling the connectors or replacing the cable will fix it.

The fact that neither Sam nor I can see it on your screen shots very strongly suggests that it must be caused by some problem after the video signal has left your computer on the way to your monitor. If it's not the connection, then it has to be the monitor. Have you tried adjusting / resetting the various controls on your monitor, especially those pertaining to synchronization of it with the input signals?

Keep us posted.

Tom M
(...not to be confused with "Mr. Tom", whose first name, I believe, is not "Tom", just to make matters even more confusing )
 

StefanRusu

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Tom, Tom M ( just to clarify things),

Thanks a lot for your thought on this.I went and reinstalled my OS once again because I thought the previous attempts to fix my Photoshop stuffed the computer with dumb files and settings (files that do not delete after the program is uninstalled).After I got everything in place I found the CD for my monitor and installed the driver and then I went on and did a test for calibration.But ALL this happened after I went and downloaded Google Chrome.In the mean time I forgot my password to my Google account so I went and sent an email to recover it and change it.Hopped to Yahoo (that's where I registered my old mail account) and astonishingly the effect of my buttons in Photoshop were present on Yahoo's website.I stepped back, breathe in out and then looked again.For a second I thought I lost my mind to say the least.Right about that time my drivers installed and the additional software and I had to reboot the system.Did that and immediately after I logged on the forum to check for new replies and I read yours.Double checked the cables and fired Adobe Photoshop CC and everything was back to normal.Sheesh, that was intense.

This is my "troublesome" monitor I currently work on : BenQ GL2250 - htt p://www .benq.com/product/monitor/gl2250/

Regarding the screenshots.Yeah, I can agree with you.The effect is not that strong.It's not that visible either but it is there and while designing (actually it doesn't even matter if you design or not) it's something that can not go unnoticed to the human eye.I apologize for my bad English throughout the posts.

On a final note:
I'd like to thank everyone for their time and help.I finally got things back & working due to your guys help.Once again, big thanks!
 

Tom Mann

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Hi Stefan - I'm sorry to hear that you had to go through all that trouble, but really glad to hear that your system is finally free of that annoying ghost. I also think you are being much too courteous in thanking us. You did it all yourself!

Anyway, I do wonder which of the many things that you did was actually the one that fixed the problem. From a quick look at the specs of your monitor, it looks like it requires a digital input, so I now doubt that transmission line reflections were the problem -- unless they are incredibly bad, they're essentially only an issue with an analog input to the monitor. Maybe it was the re-installation of the driver for that monitor, or maybe the monitor horizontal synch re-set itself when the driver was installed ... who knows, LOL.

Well, now that all that turmoil is over, why don't you stick around, join some of the conversations, show off some of your own work, etc. We would love to have you.

Best regards,

Tom M

PS - BTW, I was at a different computer when I first looked at the examples you posted, and initially couldn't see the problem. However, when I got back to my production machine and good monitor, I did see what you were talking about. It appeared to be only a few pixels wide, but, as you said, certainly enough to drive one crazy when trying to get work done.
 
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