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Restarting a pen path...


JeffK

JeffK

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I'm still on a learning curve with the pen tool but getting better at it. There is one major frustration I have and that is restarting an open path. This usually happens when I'm working on a complex path for some time, and the possibly clicking off the path, the path suddenly stops.

Here's a visual of that stopped path

1619974620621.png

The red circle is where I've suddenly lost the path connection. I've tried several ways of restaring/continuing the path but I end up with a floating disconnected point:

1619974740616.png

I do use the selection tool to make the path active, ie all anchor points showing, but when I try to continue the path, I can't make the connection.

It's no fun to restart a half hour's work and then possible losing the path again.

Any and all help is most appreciated!

- Jeff
 
With the Pen Tool selected, just click on the last node/anchor point you wish to continue from.

Edit: The path needs to be selected (Hold Cmd/Cntrl key to select)and you can click on the first anchor point or the last, and continue on with the path.
 
IamSam said:
With the Pen Tool selected, just click on the last node/anchor point you wish to continue from.
Edit: The path needs to be selected (Hold Cmd/Cntrl key to select)and you can click on the first anchor point or the last, and continue on with the path.
Click to expand...
And that's where I'm having the problem. When the path has deactivated, I Cntrl click on the path and it reactivates. But when I click on the last point I created and then try to add the next anchor point, the path deactivates again and I'm left with that floating extra point I indicated above. Very frustrating.

For instance, I've cntrl clicked on the path, then using the pen too, click on the last point to activate it:

1619976427416.png

But now when I use my pen tool to create the next anchor point, the path deactivates and the anchor point floats disconnected:

1619976529761.png

It should work - but it doesn't....

- Jeff
 
Hi @JeffK
I am slowly trying to be more efficient with the Pen tool as well and don't understand all the nuances as of yet (and will take a while I am sure)
I have run in to a similar problem as you and no doubt can be caused by a number of factors (so I won't know them all)
- First the Path has to be activated meaning selected in the Path Panel
- Using Cmd (Cntl for PC) plus click on the path
- Key point here - Make sure the Pen tool is selected (that one got me a few times because you can select the Path without the Pen tool being selected)
- click on last point to continue

Hope that helps yet not sure it will
John Wheeler
 
thebestcpu said:
Hi @JeffK
I am slowly trying to be more efficient with the Pen tool as well and don't understand all the nuances as of yet (and will take a while I am sure)
I have run in to a similar problem as you and no doubt can be caused by a number of factors (so I won't know them all)
- First the Path has to be activated meaning selected in the Path Panel
- Using Cmd (Cntl for PC) plus click on the path
- Key point here - Make sure the Pen tool is selected (that one got me a few times because you can select the Path without the Pen tool being selected)
- click on last point to continue
Hope that helps yet not sure it will
John Wheeler
Click to expand...
Thanks as always for your guidance and support, John. I did as bot you and @IamSam detailed - reactivated the path and then clicked on the last anchor point I created. Then placed my new anchor point but instead of connecting, ended up with a eactivated path and a floating point. Frustrating.
What's more frustrating is I tried to recreate the problem by starting a new path and then clicking away from it. I reactivated the path and added new anchor points all connecting to the original path. No problems.
So I'm not sure what was happening - maybe a software glitch in the problem path. In any case, I deleted that original path and started over again.
For now, a mystery that will remain so....
- Jeff
 
Jeff,
I am trying to get to the condition state you are facing where you have a pen tool path and then <something happens> and then when you click with the pen tool, it starts a new path without linking to the previous node.

Can you define <something happens> so I can get to that state of disconnection?

Meanwhile, could you check if your settings are similar while using Pen tool?
1.png

Also, please tell me what do you observe when you hover your mouse pointer over the last node of the path you are working on? Ideally, it should show a Minus sign, indicating the node is to be deleted on clicking.

From memory, when I came across this disconnection of path (I can not remember how that disconnection happened), when I select pen tool and get back to the last node, I see a Link on hovering. If I click it, the path continues from that node.

I would like to share your journey in solving this.
 
Here's one thing that may work, with the Pen Tool selected. Select the path. Click on the last anchor point, right click and select "delete anchor point". Now try to continue with the path.
 
IamSam said:
Here's one thing that may work, with the Pen Tool selected. Select the path. Click on the last anchor point, right click and select "delete anchor point". Now try to continue with the path.
Click to expand...
Hi Sam -

Thanks for the followup. Tried that too but it seems that particular path wasn't following any norms. Tried to replicate the problem but couldn't. Finally abandoned and restarted. With the new path. If I deactivated it, and then reactivated using the the control-click with the pen tool, was able to continue the path with no problem. Even saved the file with the open path last night, reopened it this morning with the deactivated path, then reactivated it and continued working on the path. No problems.

It may have been a glitch with that problem path or some buggy state PS got into. But all is well now and following all the rules.

Thanks again for your help!

- Jeff
 
polarwoc said:
Jeff,
I am trying to get to the condition state you are facing where you have a pen tool path and then <something happens> and then when you click with the pen tool, it starts a new path without linking to the previous node.

Can you define <something happens> so I can get to that state of disconnection?

Meanwhile, could you check if your settings are similar while using Pen tool?
View attachment 120761

Also, please tell me what do you observe when you hover your mouse pointer over the last node of the path you are working on? Ideally, it should show a Minus sign, indicating the node is to be deleted on clicking.

From memory, when I came across this disconnection of path (I can not remember how that disconnection happened), when I select pen tool and get back to the last node, I see a Link on hovering. If I click it, the path continues from that node.

I would like to share your journey in solving this.
Click to expand...
Hi P -
It's till a mystery since I can't replicate it myself.What happened was simple - at risk of belaboring the point - the path would deactivate, I would reactivate it, but when I went to place my new anchor point down, the path would deactivate again and I would end up with an isolated point. If I kept clicking, it wouldn't even start a new path - just keep putting down isolated points.

The settings I have are similar to the visual you have above. All OK.

The cursor itself, when I hovered over the last point on the reactivated path looked like this:

1620058460286.png

This indicates joining anchor points

BUT - when I went to put down the next anchor point, the cursor changed to this:

1620058642284.png

Which indicates ready to draw a new path.

So it was a complete stew of issues and errors. But it was temporary and seem to only be this particular path I was working on that was the problem ( see my note to Sam above).

I'm finding out that PS will occasionally hiccup and you just have to save, restart, or begin anew.

As I said on a different post, Photoshop gives you several ways to different things. Sometimes not the way you want it to.

Thanks for your help and followup!

- Jeff

*BTW - found this great chart on pen tool symbols actually from Illustrator but matches PS;


1620058928963.png
 
Update - I managed to roll back to version 22.2 and so far all ok. The pen tool is acting the way it should and the way I expect. Thanks again, John, for the insight.

BTW - when I went to roll back from 22.3 to 22.2, I saw that there was yet another update to 22.4. Being the optimist, I thought that would solve my problems, so I downloaded that version first. Result - the pen tool still didn't work, now the magnifying glass got buggy and scrubby zoom didn't work, and last but not least, it erased all my previous versions so I couldn't roll back.

Ending up uninstalling and reinstalling PS in order to get all versions back so I could roll back to 22.2.

I should stick with my own philosophy - if something works, leave it alone...and certainly don't update. :cheesygrin:

- Jeff
 
JeffK said:
I should stick with my own philosophy - if something works, leave it alone...and certainly don't update. :cheesygrin:
- Jeff
Click to expand...
Glad you got it figured out. The problems you have come across is also why I am still on Photoshop 2020

A bit surprising at the level of bugs in PS 2021. Seems as with each new major release with Adobe, the level of bugs has increased. Makes me wonder with over the years and change in mangement and engineers along with time driven releases of the subscription model that the culture has changed at Adobe with respect to quality.

Reminds me of a large company's marketing poster whose image was a field of yellow duckings with a single black duckling to signify that "we stand out from all the others"
Internal joke was a different title to the poster being "Paint it yellow and ship it." I am wondering if the more recent releases of PS have wet yellow paint on them :)

John Wheeler
 
I had wanted to upgrade to 2021 primarily to get a shot at using the new neural filters. Besides I was stuck at 2018 with my old Windows 7 machine so maybe I was a bit too eager when I got Win10.

Something I used to say when my son was constantly taking his cars apart - "you're gonna keep fixing it 'til it breaks". Maybe that's what the Adobe engineers are doing.. :cheesygrin:

- Jeff
 
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