I am cloning out some dark spots on an image and all is going well. Then, suddenly, for some unexpected reason, the clone brush no longer works. I have nothing selected but I just can't modify the image.

Where have I screwed up? This has happened before and I just ignored it but now I am frustrated and feel thatthere has to be a simple and logical answer.

Thanks and a Happy New Year

What version of PS? What operating system? Wacom or mouse. More info, please.

CS,XP, mouse. Gee, maybe it isn't such a common thing.

Swampy thanks for the quick response.

The things to try in photoshop when things are mysteriously not working -

Are you in free transform mode? Try hitting enter.
Have you made a selection and hidden it? Try Cmd-D (the PC version, is it ctrl-D?) to deselect any selection.
Check your blending mode and opacity in the option bar at the top - if you've accidentally changed to another mode, it may be working, you just can't see a change :-) this one happens to me all the time. (Like darken or multiply instead of normal)
Are you cloning on an empty layer? Be sure you have selected the sample all layers choice in the option bar.

Post again if nothing here helps - it can be frustrating !!

it used to happen to me too, but I just made a new 50% gray layer... :D try that...hope it helps :D I do see problems only solutions! :tongue: therefore I never asked, but it would be nice to read on what was going on with the old CS...maybe a bug?

Occasionally I have had a Photoshop tool that just stops working for no reason. I usually try a couple of things:

Sometimes I can get it working again by switching to another tool; try that tool then switch back to the tool that wasn't working.
Try opening a new file and try the tool there. I found that it usually works in the new file. Then when I switch back to my original file the tool tends to work then.
If all else fails I close the file and PhotoShop and then reopen them to try again.

Here is a thread that may help too: Problem with the cloning tool (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/photoshop-help/13119-pb-cloning-tool.html)

Other Suggestions:

Make sure you don't have an adjustment layer or mask layer selected.
Make sure the tool's opacity is not set at 0 (Zero).
Try a Control-D to ensure you don't have a (small) active selection anywhere.


Hope this helps,

~T

Are you working with layers at all ?

because that could be something in fact i have just made my clone tool not work by being on the wrong layer on purpose

I am always doing daft things like that, I get really angry then realise that it is my fault :dizzy: and have to apologize to the computer for all the names i have called it, ( and they are usually ones i cant put into print ! ! ! !)


Palms

sorry! meant new layer, not 50% gray layer! But I found out one thing! if you use a new layer to clone on, then maybe your "sample all layers" isn't ticked of...try that!

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 happened to me too, before I upgraded to a larger RAM.

look in the task manager (ctrl + alt + delete)and look how much Photoshop really steals of your recources! if memory problems I recommend using a "READYBOOST" USB MEMORY STICK with windows vista, "readyboost" is a system that helps the ram to take care of all the temporary memory that your ram is struggling with! Or you could just upgrade your memory to more ram!

sometimes when I look task in manager the ps is stealing nearly 1,5gb of my memory. so...Photoshop is a memory thief...

LINK TO READY BOOST INFO! http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,2017817,00.asp

Thanks for the input. Next time it happens I'll use some of your suggestions. For those of you that this has happened to you know how frustrating it can get.

Thanks again.