Arrow shows instead of tool - fix?

[bwackv]

Every tool I use on affinity desktop it shows the arrow instead of the tool. Is this a setting I can change? It prevents me from seeing how large/small when adjusting size not to mention other things. When I'm moving from the toolbar to the workarea there is a brief flash where I see the proper tool icon but it always switches back to arrow.

If for example I spam "b" for brush, the brush circle will show up, but even if I don't move my mouse, it triggers back to an arrow icon. This has been happening since Affinity V1. I am on the newest macbook pro, completely maxed out.

 

[bwackv]

Just to note I'm using affinity V2.

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, bwackv said:

If for example I spam "b" for brush,

What do you mean by "spam" in this context?

[bwackv]

@walt.farrell if I hit "b" over and over, I can make the tool appear. That's all. It doesn't stay, it goes back to arrow.

 

[MikeTO]

If the tool is really selected - choosing the Rectangle tool draws a rectangle even if the mouse pointer is shaped like an arrow - the issue may be due to a conflicting utility that you've installed. I've seen reports of this problem with other apps over the years and the root cause is usually some utility or some adware. Do you have any utilities installed that might make use of the mouse pointer location? If not, find a tool to scan your computer for adware (which is a good idea anyway).

Good luck.

[walt.farrell]

10 minutes ago, bwackv said:

if I hit "b" over and over,

Depending on your Settings, if you hit the same shortcut over and over the correct behavior is to switch to that Tool, then Switch back to the previous Tool, then switch to the Tool, then switch back.

And it's also complicated by having multiple Tools that use the same shortcut.

For example, in Photo, 3 Tools share B:

• Paint Brush Tool
• Color Replacement Brush Tool
• Pixel Brush Tool

The relevant Setting is:

If that Setting is off, then repeatedly pressing B would invoke the Paint Brush Tool, then the Color Replacement Brush Tool, then the Pixel Brush Tool, then the Paint Brush Tool again.

If that Setting is on, then pressing B would invoke the Paint Brush Tool. Pressing it again would switch to whatever Tool you had before (apparently the Move Tool, for you). Pressing it again would again switch to the Paint Brush Tool. And another time would switch it back to the Move Tool.

So I would suggest not "spamming" the shortcut while you're trying to figure out what's going on.

I am not sure if any of this will help you understand what's happening, though.

 

[bwackv]

@walt.farrell See my original post. I was only spamming to illustrate that I can get the brush to appear. I don't "spam" when I'm actually using the app.  Any ideas?

 

@MikeTO this doesn't happen in other apps (like PS) - so that's not the issue. Any other ideas?

[Lee D]

13 hours ago, bwackv said:

this doesn't happen in other apps (like PS) - so that's not the issue. Any other ideas?

Just because it doesn't happen in another app, doesn't mean there isn't something else that could be causing an issue in our apps.

@bwackv Have you tried resetting the app back to default settings? If not, hold down CTRL and open, when the options appear release the key and click Clear.

If may also help if you can provide a screen recording of this happening on your systems as it's something I haven't been able to replicate on any of ours.

[bwackv]

@Lee D not sure how I can isolate if another program is responsible for this? I don't have many extra things installed, this laptop is new.

since clearing settings I now get an arrow plus the brush tool, while others are still exhibiting the exact same past behavior (arrow instead of the proper tool). Attaching the recording as requested. Appreciate the help.

[v_kyr]

24 minutes ago, bwackv said:

Attaching the recording as requested.

Resolution of your above recording is pretty bad (...pretty small and unsharp when resized/made bigger), your recording actually shows up just in this default 350 x 213 px QuickTime window size on my screen ...

So all I could see is, that you are in Pixel Persona and dealing with pixel tools there on a pixel layer, everything else is shown up pretty unsharp/blurred! - Which macOS version do you use?

[bwackv]

Oh sorry about the recording. This is so strange - I just went to make a new recording and now it isn't doing the arrow flickering?!? I am trying to think what I've done in the last hour on my computer that could've altered it. Ugh!