How to fix freeze, stutter, lags, slowdown and stylus pressure problems in Photoshop (MagicPicker and other panels can be affected)

This only affects Windows/Adobe Photoshop CC Users that have installed Windows Creators Fall Update. The symptoms in Photoshop CC may include (but not limited to):

  • The stylus is lagging when you click and press on the panel
  • You can click and select a color with it, but you can’t drag the sliders
  • The plugin won’t recognize the stylus when pressing and moving across the color picking areas
  • If you click on the panel with Wacom pen then the color updates. But if I press and drag the panel does nothing. You can only tap
  • When you want to pick a color and move it with Pro Pen on Cintiq then you can’t move it. Only double click works. Also it still works with mouse
  • You lost pen pressure sensitivity on Photoshop

All those problems are connected to Photoshop CC’s bug with stylus and tablet, in most cases it’s a Wacom tablet-only problem but it affects other tablets as well.

The good news it’s very easy to fix! Please do the following (the fix bellow applies to all versions of Photoshop you just need to replace Photoshop’s version in the path):

PSUserConfig

1) Go to your Wacom preferences and disable “Windows Ink” or “Windows Freehand” (the name depends on your Wacom drivers version)
This is not all! After this step you will probably lose pen pressure sensitivity, so follow next steps to avoid it:

2) Go to C:\Users\“YOURNAME”\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC2018\Adobe Photoshop CC2018 Settings\ and modify a file called PSUserConfig.txt (create a new file if it doesn’t exist). You need to add the following lines:
# Use WinTab
UseSystemStylus 0

3) Restart

That’s it! Those simple steps will make sure you will keep pressure sensitivity on your tablet while fixing the problem with Adobe Photoshop.

MagicPicker and new Photoshop CC 2015/Illustrator CC 2015

Today Adobe issued an upgrade to their Creative Cloud. Namely Photoshop and Illustrator have been updated to version CC 2015. And I receive questions whether MagicPicker is compatible with the new platform. MagicPicker 4 was tested and totally works as is with the new Adobe’s products – Photoshop CC 2015 and Illustrator CC 2015. In most cases you don’t have to do anything after CC 2015 upgrade.

You don’t need to upgrade or reinstall, just please make sure you have the latest version of Adobe Extension Manager CC (you can always install it from Adobe Creative Cloud app).

MagicPicker in Photoshop CC 2015 and Illustrator CC 2015
MagicPicker in Photoshop CC 2015 and Illustrator CC 2015

There’s even more to it – some reported that Compact Mode didn’t work in the new CC 2014 software on selected system configurations. Seems there was a conflict that Adobe has resolved in the new versions of Photoshop/Illustrator. So if you still see your Compact Mode grayed out

or

If you face any issues with MagicPicker disappearing from the Extensions menu in new CC 2015 software – try to reinstall or update Adobe Extension Manager CC and then reinstalling MagicPicker.

Installing MagicPicker 4 with Adobe Extension Manager CC is easy and works the same on both platforms – Mac and PC (Windows):

1) Make sure your have the Adobe Extension Manager CC installed – go to your Adobe Creative Cloud, locate Adobe Extension Manager and click Install or Upgrade
2) Run  Adobe Extension Manager
3) Choose File -> Install Extension
4) Locate MagicPicker4.zxp and follow the installation steps

P.S. MagicPicker is still compatible with Photoshop & Illustrator CS3, CS4, CS5, CS6, CC, CC2014.

Download MagicPicker color wheel for Photoshop & Illustrator

Upgrade from older MagicPicker to version 4