Hi,
I'm having trouble with the cloning tool (Photoshop CS2). Despite the fact that I'm on the correct layer and all my settings are normal, very often, it just won't work or will only if I clone fairly far from the source. I would appreciate any help on this matter.
Thanks,
Sylvia

Do you by any chance have a tablet (like a Wacom) plugged into your computer?
Regards, Murray

Hi Murray,
Yes I do.
Sylvia

Make sure that if you are using your mouse, that the Tablet pen is not resting on the tablet or within transmission distance because if Photoshop will detect that the tablet is active but that the pressure is zero so the tool will appear to not work. There are also some issues with CS2 and some tablets. For more info or specifc assistance on this topic I suggest you visit here
http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx?14@@.ee6b366
Regards, Murray

I've had intermittent problems with various things not working with PS7. I've found that when this happens, if I save the file, then open it again, the problem is corrected. No idea why this happens, just that it does.

Ed

Ed, I have seen the same effects on systems where Photoshop begins to run low on resources such as available RAM and Scratch Disk space. The problem seems to be directly proportion to the size of the image file (on opening) and number of layers,history states, etc during editing. By closing the file you are clearing all of the memory and scratch disk temp .pst file. One thing you may wish to try when the problem occurs is take a snap shot or two for the history log then use the Edit>Purge to clear out memory. That may be enough to keep things going without having to close the file.
Regards, Murray

Hello again,
Ed, same problem as yours. I usually close the picture and reopen it, but it's a pain.
Murray, I use the tablet pen and it is touching the tablet.
I never knew that being low in resources could affect Photoshop tools... Most of the time, I have only ACDSee and Photoshop open at the same time, and I have over 1Ga of RAM, so I didn't think I would run out of memory! I guess you're right, though, I just purged all and it does let me clone very close to the source. Thanks for the tip!
Sylvia

It sure can, the last few times I've been using liquify I go through and make all my changes, and click OK - it comes up that it cannot run because the PC is too low on RAM (grrr). So now I liquify one move at a time, and Ok it, so I haven't just lost a heap of work if it won't go through!

I'm working behind the times though I have an oldish PC (about 2 1/2 years) that is very much outdated now!

I just found a way to increase Photoshop's "power".

Ctrl Alt Del, click on Processes, select Photoshop, right-click on it, Set Priority, High.

It sure makes a big difference!

Sylvia

Hi Sylvia,

am I right if i suppose you were referring to the clone STAMP tool?

If so, you probably checked or unchecked the alignment box. Being checked Photoshop samples from the position relative to the point where you first used it, being unchecked it always samples from the same position.

Is that your problem?

Murray,

Thanks for the post. I have 1 gig of RAM, and 5 gigs for scratch. Next time that happens, I'll remember your post and check to see how large the file is.

Ed

Yes, Patrick, you're right, that was the problem!!! I unchecked that "aligned" thing and it now works just fine!
THANKS!
Sylvia