Intermittent brush stroke in CS4

[d_c...@adobeforums.com]

In Photoshop CS4 the paint deposited by a brushstroke by a Wacom Intuos3 pen tool intermittently and unpredictably just stops mid-stroke after some while of a continuos stroke. This is a real problem when making simulated watercolor washes because these require a continuos application of paint using a brush with Wet Edges. When the paint just stops and the pen tool is removed from contact and then re-contacted, the paint starts again but now the new brushstroke sits on top of the old stroke and does not merge into it (as you want with a watercolor wash).

No brush controls are set to Fade and in any case the ink-stopping happens well into the continuos stroke - much later than a Fade control would affect it.

I'd be grateful for advice on how to stop this happening, please. Why is the paint flow just stopping? Is this a known problem with CS4?

CS4 is fine in other respects.

System: Intuos 3 with Grip Pen and latest driver; Vista Ultimate 64 bit; Photshop CS4 64 bit; Q9550 cpu; 8 Gb ram; x2 WD velociraptor hdds; ATI Gigabyte 4850 graphics card with 1 Gb ram and 9.3 driver; Asus Xonar D2X sound card.

Thanks.

[Mark_R...@adobeforums.com]

Sounds to me like a driver issue, or a mechanical fault with the tablet. Also do a search for Wacom under this Windows forum, I seem to remember some people had issues with CS4 and wacom drivers.

Is the cable to your Intuos OK? Is the USB plugged in properly and directly to the mac?

[d_c...@adobeforums.com]

Thanks. Yes, the pen not working at all has been reported in the Wacom forum and the suggestion made to use the earlier 4.93 driver instead of the most recent one. I have not tried this myself but some who have say that it does not help, and in any case, CS4 does not like the older driver.

The suggestion I got when I raised this in the Wacom forum - my first port of call - was that it was a Photoshop brush controls issue. But I don't think it is.

It's infuriating because you can get a long way into a wash using a continuous stroke and suddenly the paint just stops. Never happened in CS3.

I suppose it could be a hardware issue but it is odd that it happens in the same circumstances each time.

[Mark_R...@adobeforums.com]

No, its more likely a driver issue than a hardware fault. You may find that you have to go back to CS3 for a while until Wacom update the drivers again

[d_c...@adobeforums.com]

Thanks. yes, maybe that's the answer...or wait for Intuos4!