On 16/04/2011 3:34 AM, donest wrote:
The cursor for the erase tool is usually a circle. We just upgraded to CS5 and when I try to use the erase tool and make the cursor larger (by pressing ] ), it begins to disappear! At size 35 I only have a semi circle. If I make it any bigger, it gets progressively worse. I am running CS5 (latest version) on a Dell Precision 380 with 4 gigs of ram, Quadro FX3450, Windows XP 32 bit serv pack 3. Any ideas?
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This is a well documented issue with early graphics cards. It is not always fixed by just updating the card driver. CS 3 and up versions of Photoshop make use of Open GL technology.
Many pre-CS version users were happy enough to use 2D cards. In fact a $50 graphics card was often over kill if all you wanted to do was edit in Photoshop.
Not so today. As soon as Adobe began offering a version able to edit video, it coincided with the need for some pretty fancy graphics cards. The missing circle thing is a graphics memory issue. Fix it and you’ll find another issue with the type of circle unless you keep PS patched.
Open GL is not essential for use of Photoshop. You can turn it off in preferences dialogue found under the edit menu item. You can also ‘play’ with the setting to see exactly where your PC is happiest working.
Full enabled it shows content during dragging and a few other visual tricks that may or may not be useful to you. I find some of them are very useful so I just bought a Radeon 5800 graphics card and discovered I then needed to up the power supply to use it!
The upgrade path is no longer just a matter of installing software. You need to mindful of other matters or you’ll end up spending more money than you need to.
BTW… Another tip is to install a solid state Drive and put your scratch disk on it. The increased speed once PS starts using virtual memory is well worth the cost if you are in a production environment.
My recommendation for upgrading to PS CS5 enhanced is:
The software
Minimum Radeon 5800 + 1 gig RAM graphics card.
Minimum True 750 watt continuous supply power supply. More if you have several HDDs.
And pay attention to extreme cooling of all components if you live in Australia or a similar environment.
Good luck,
HH