Photoshop messes up Wacom tablet

[Ankaa]

Hi,

I have a Wacom Intuos PT small on macOS Mojave and the latest Wacom driver. Everything works fine, except when going into Photoshop. Not immediately, but after a while the pen/touch act up, providing wrong responses etc., which isn't restricted to Photoshop but is throughout the system (i.e. my normal click on the pen becomes a "save" prompt in safari). I've had this for a while and thought it was caused by my old tablet being faulty (either the touch part or the pen), so I could a completely new one - but the problem persists.

Does anyone know what could cause this and how to fix it? I surely can't be the only one.

 

[campyguy]

Close PS, then open System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Accessibility.

Photoshop will be on the right hand side of the box, under heading 'Allow the apps below to control your computer.' If the checkbox is unchecked, "tick" the unchecked box - like the one you can see in the attached screenshot - and reopen PS. Do the same for the Wacom Tablet (and Touch Driver if you have a touch tablet - if this beastie is unchecked with a Touch tablet that has touch enabled, your tablet can be a bit of a PITA - trust me on this bit...). This is my setup...

If that selection checkbox is selected already, make sure PS is closed/quit, remove that app option from the Accessibility Pref Pane, restart your Mac, open PS (and wait.....), then quit PS, open the Accessibility Pref Pane and check that driver control option as I'd indicated in the para above.

I'm not going to take full credit for this, MacWorld UK figured this out a few months ago during the beta process before the GM came out. I had similar issues during the Mojave Beta process and dove into the interwebs to figure this one out - no problems since. These aren't the only forums I dance with...

 

[Ankaa]

Thank you,

I did have the same problems in Sierra (I skipped High Sierra), but only since upgrading to PS CC 2018 - I've been working with CS4 until recently without problems.

I don't even have Photoshop under Accessibility - should I add it?

 

[campyguy]

I don't even have Photoshop under Accessibility - should I add it?

Absolutely, add it. Regarding OS versions, I also had issues with PS CC in Sierra and HS when using my Intuos Pro. I used the modal dialog in Sierra and HS to add PS to my Pref Pane (using the "+" option) in those OSes - PS 2019 appeared in my iMP's Pref Pane upon launching PS (as it was pretty much a clean install on my Mac).

 

[Ankaa]

Ok, I added PS and since then did not experience problems again, but haven't been using PS too much, to be honest.

However, Excel is another program that causes the tablet to act up. I did add Excel in the Privacy setting, too, but it's still happening. Also, while I have set the scrolling direction to natural, in Excel, the horizontal (and only the horizontal) scrolling is reversed.

You'd think with Wacom being around for so long, they'd get their drivers in check. I wonder if the newer BT tablets also have those issues.

 

[campyguy]

One bit about Excel, you didn't offer which version of Excel that you're using. I use the Win version in a VM, so much better than the Mac version and I'm a keyboard command junkie (mousing in Office apps just slows me down…). In macOS, I have the O365 suite installed and it's set to the Fast Ring update option (Insider's option). About two years ago, MS added an option in Excel regarding pens/styli but I don't know if it made it out of the Fast/Slow Ring installations to the general application as I've been on the Mac suite's Fast Ring since O365 came out (I don't rely on the Mac suite at all but I do read the updates just in case someone in my company insists - it's my company, so I always say "no" regarding O365 on macOS…).

With Win Excel, that issue is resolved in the Wacom Properties Control Panel by setting up an Excel-specific Mapping Application, then unchecking the "Use Windows Ink" option.

In macOS Excel, in the Excel app "General" Preferences Pane, make sure the "Pen" option is checked. If it is checked, uncheck it, save your work (Excel always updates its preferences upon Save/Save As), then quit Excel, then reopen Excel, and check the "Pen" option, then Save/Save As, then quit Excel, then reopen Excel and you should be good to go.



If that option isn't present, you may need to switch to the Fast Ring to get that Pen option in Excel.

If issues with Excel persist, add Excel to the Applications in the Wacom Pref Pane, and in Excel's new options, under "Mapping" change the Pen's Mode to Mouse.

MS and Apple have sandboxed access to the pen/ink part of the OS in Win10/Mojave. I actually feel a bit bad for the Wacom driver coders - being partly locked out of the OS, Adobe and Office apps being rewritten on the fly with major updates.

 

[Ankaa]

Sorry about the lack of info.

I recently updated to MS Office 2016 for Mac - I don't recall whether I had the issue in the MS Office 2011 for Mac I was using before, but don't think so. It acts up when in Excel - and then acts up anywere on MacOS, just like what I experienced with PS.

I have to rely on mouse (tablet) as I constantly have to select large, but specific parts of data within larger datasets; not really nice with just the keyboard

Yes, I tried some googling and came across the "Use Windows Ink" option - I'm actually started using an older touch tablet on my Windows office PC, encountering issues and disabled Windows Ink...problem solved.

I don't have the "Pen" Option in my Office

OS Integration these days seems like a mess. They're all trying to make everything saver, but in the meantime messing it up for everyone else (I recently had to buy a whole set of programs after updating ONE, because all of a sudden they wouldn't talk to each other anymore. Annoying). I'm update-wary and these days they update and change too much too fast other than bug fixes. Hating it.

 

[campyguy]

No worries. You likely won't see the Pen option in 2016, not sure about 2019 which was just offered recently. What's bothered me about MS's stance recently (since O365 started) on the perpetual licenses is the feature lock on the perpetual license while O365 gets feature updates. Office 2019 is pretty much locked in while 0365 is pushing forward with features. The Pref Panes of all of the Mac apps is significantly changed in key areas - this bit that you're having issues was brought to MS's attention just after the Insider Program started but after Office 2016 was issued - so you're pretty much locked out of the new features that MS has included with the Fast and Slow Ring options due to that perpetual license feature lock.

FWIW my PAs love the feature lock - they don't want new tweaks showing up randomly. Two of them lose it when someone mucks around with their workstation's settings... I make sure I'm out of the office when those workstations get updated...

One bit I don't like about O365 is the subscription thing, but I'm getting used to it - I've been paying for AutoCAD subs and MS CALs for almost 30 years now. Yesterday Amazon had sales on all of the Office 2019 and 365 licenses - I bought two years of personal Home licenses to stack on the year I have now, $55 for each year and they're stackable, not a bad deal...

IMO you have two options besides using your workstation the way it is. Get a trial of O365, install it in a new user account - put it in the local user account's Applications folder so it doesn't much up your existing license OR (even better!) a new Mojave Volume (not a Partition), update it to the Insider option, and give it a spin. Second, and there's a dependency - if your employer uses O365 you're likely eligible for the Home User license, and, for $10 a year you can use that HU license.

I signed up for O365 not for the geekiness of it all but for access to the Add-ins Store. There's some powerful stuff in the Add-ins Store...

 

[Ankaa]

I try to stay away from subscriptions as much as any possible. I only recently upgraded to Adobe CC because my old CS5 really wasn't a pleasure working with anymore (not to mention the lack of retina support...the GUI looked pretty awful). I can't get O365 through my work because they're not using it either. I'm with your PAs, I hate having new features and even looks forced on me, potentially having to redefine my entire workflow in the process.

For now, I will try getting the wacom to work with Excel somehow. If it just doesn't work out, I might reconsider updating again (which sucks, because I JUST updated to MS Office 2016 this summer). Not a fan of setting up a new Mojave volume, though.

 

[campyguy]

Bummer on using the older suite, but don't despair just yet. I'm not done yet.

Have you disabled Ink in any application? It's pretty much the same option in Windows, one of the first options I "dis-enable" - it's enabled by default, but I never use it as cool as it sounds. Unchecking that option disables Ink in applications systemwide - I'd offer restarting after unchecking that option just to be on the safe side...

 

[Ankaa]

Unfortunately the problem persists, even with Photoshop. This is absolutely unacceptable that a GRAPHICS tablet is not functional with a GRAPHICS software.