Photoshop: The “Pixelated” Brush Problem
This question has come in through various channels recently, so I thought I’d do a write up on a quick fix. If you’ve ever wondered why your brushes look “pixelated,” there’s a perfectly good explanation. Photoshop isn’t broken, you aren’t missing a setting, and you probably got here because you like keyboard shortcuts.
You probably think you’re crazy because you hit “B,” the keyboard shortcut for the Brush tool, and all your brushes still look like crap. This is probably because your not actually selecting the brush tool. The keyboard shortcut for the Pencil tool is also, you guessed it, “B.” When the pencil tool is selected, all the brushes will appear pixelated. Take a look at your tools and make sure you actually have the Brush tool selected. Hold down on the Pencil tool to select the Brush tool.
That’s it! You were just a victim of your own productivity (Evil Twin Keyboard Shortcuts). You can always change the keyboard shortcut for the Pencil tool to prevent future attacks :)
This entry was posted
on Thursday, March 5th, 2009 at 11:18 am and is filed under Photoshop.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Quick tip: Holding the shift key while pressing any shortcut key will cycle through all options for that shortcut.
I only wish I had found about it long ago.
Hah, just happened to me the other day :)
Déjà vu.
:)
[...] Photoshop: The “Pixelated” Brush Problem [...]
thanks for the tip! did’n know this.
You should also let your readers know that this will also happen if you are index color mode.
If you open a .gif is a more likely scenario.
Is this the real fix for the last time you posted this problem:
http://www.bittbox.com/photoshop/fix-a-broken-photoshop-without-re-installing/
Also, note that while B will select whatever of the three tool is currently highlighted, shift+B will also to go through them in sequence. Just press Shift+B until the right one is selected..
ahha it’s true!
[...] Photoshop: The “Pixelated” Brush Problem | BittBox Nice tip for the Pixelated brush problem in Photoshop (tags: photoshop tip brush) [...]
C’mon Adobe! Really!?
What a wacky problem. At least its an absurdly easy fix.
Illustrator is full of all kinds of time-saving-but-not-really quirks that lead to some pretty interesting ways to destroy an hour’s worth of work by accident.
hops. i think change the short key of pencil tool is the best you can do.
Why same short cut key for different tools??
It is also important to note that yes the pencil tool will make the “brush” look pixelated, but also that if you select a size larger than the brush’s max-size, the brush will look blurry (another form of pixelation).
Thanks for this though – I found it very helpful.
yeah, i faced that sometime ago – thanks for the tip
I do that all the time. I’ve got to find a keyboard shortcut to replace it soon before I go insane. ;-)
What’s the pencil tool?
:P
Thanks for the great info. I hope you?ll follow this with some more great content.
Several of the default brushes that come with photoshop change each time you click, for example the grass and leaf brushes, do you have any idea how to make brushes like these?
I actually don’t use pencil tool at all, so I don’t get this problem, but now I know this one :) Thanks!
My brush tool still pixelates at 100% at the default size of he brush. Could it be that some downloaded brushes are too low res to actually use? I know it sounds absurd
Never happened to me :) But sometimes the brush is low quality and it’s not usable in bigger sizes.
I LOVE YOU!!!!
I noticed this yesterday and thought,”meh, I’ll have to look into it later…” and now here’s the answer without me having to look! You’re amazing! Haha.
[...] Get Guide from BittBox.com here. Share and Enjoy: [...]
haha reinstalled ps like year ago and THEN realized :D
You saved my life..! THANK YOU so much for posting this.!
I’m obsessed with shortcuts.. and didn’t notice this at all..! :)
Thank you so much!
[...] Continue reading at Bittbox.com Share and Enjoy: [...]
D’oh…I almost never use a pencil but that is just what happened…thanx from an oldtimer/newbie.. …
Lol thts new :D thanks :)
You saved my life, literally. :)
ey how can i fix my pix n do photoshop jw…thank you
if it wasnt for this post i wud be in need of a new pc.i almost killed it out of frustration.lol
I think I will not change my keyboard shortcut just for this matter. Because Photoshop has so many commands that makes us run out of keyboard keys… unless you wanted to trouble yourself with the combination of ctrl+alt+shift keyboard shortcuts
Finally I don’t have to reinstall my photoshop everytime I am encountering this problem thanks for the tip.
I thought this would fix my problem. All of a sudden, at the very end of design, my brush began to pixelate everything … the pencil tool was not the problem (tried it). Any idea what else could be wrong?
Anyway, this is great info. thanks!
Deb
[...] Photoshop: The “Pixelated” Brush Problem [...]
and NOW i feel stupid…
thanks!!!! a lot.
thanks, i just started to panic… u saved the newsletter that i was making…:)
hahaha what a laugh I’ve been struggling my head the last 20 min. because of this!! OMG cant beleave I didnt check the toolbox what an idiot :)
my brush tool was selected, and my brushes are still pixelated. Dx
what’s the problems?
thanx goood