clone stamp stopped working

[klg]

I have been using PS elements 3.0 for many years. Clone stamp is one of my favorites. All of a sudden it is inactive. I position my brush and click Alt and go to what I want to stamp and absolutely nothing happens. I tried clearing and resetting Preferences which has helped when I have had glitches before, but to no avail. What is going on? What can I try? All other editor functions seem to work except that when I click SAVE, my presets don't come up and I have to change them back each time (even before I cleared preferences).
Thanks, klg

[Wendy]

Hi ...

... and welcome to the forum :)

Seeing that you are having more than one problem I think that I would try deleting the prefs file ... that usually sorts out the problems :)

To do that close down Elements then click on the Editor start up icon and quickly hold down the Control, Alt and Shift keys (Mac users: Command, Option and Shift). Continue to hold down all three keys until you get a screen asking if you want to delete Settings ... just say Yes. You do have to be quick holding down the keys so if you have problems with it try holding down the keys with one hand before you click on the icon :)

Hope that it sorts out the problems :)

Wendy

[klg]

Thanks Wendy. I actually already tried that. That is what I was trying to explain about clearing the preferences. The only problem I seem to be having now is the clone stamp. The other issue resolved somehow. My ALT key is definitely working (I had entertained the thought that my keyboard was bad). When I click ALT to sample for cloning I get the cursor change to that circle with the cross as usual, but when i go to stamp it doesnt stamp.
Thanks, I am so confused.
Karen

[Wendy]

Hi Karen ...

Have you tried resetting the clone tool ...

or just take a look and see if it is set to a blend mode other than normal :)

Wendy

[klg]

I have tried Reset Tool and resetting preferences to default. I have now discovered also that the Healing Brush Tool also is not working. The Spot Healing Brush works fine (this one does not require ALT/click). So the Clone Stamp and the Healing Brush, both of which require the ALT/click command are not functional. Is something corrupted with the program? Should I reload Photoshop? If so how do I salvage the catalog? It is backed up on discs.
Thanks, Karen

[Wendy]

Hi Karen ...

I would try one last time deleting the prefs file ... and failing that then I would uninstall and do a clean install.

I donlt thing that unistalling affects the catalog but hopefully one of the windows users wiil be able to confirm that before you do it :)

Wendy

[annebury]

I have found that if I have my wacom tablet installed, there are certain functions that no longer work with the mouse. This happens with the clone stamp and with brushes. I have to use the pen for these functions.

[Wendy]

Oh I forgot about that one ...

The tablet can do strange things to Elements if you leave the pen or the mouse on it :)

Wendy

[GaryK]

I'll let Wendy do all the hard work, then jump in.:D

Have you upgraded your tablet drivers to the latest version. I recall a few having problems a while back, and the new drivers fixed them up.:)

[Wendy]

Gary ...

:) :)

Wendy

[klg]

Unplugged the wacom and all is back to normal. Funny thing is, just last night my daughter discovered her ARTRAGE program was not responding and my husband informed us that he had connected the wacom to the desk top (previously connected to the laptop so I never realized it was connected). So last night we tried using the wacom mouse to ALT/Click and nothing happened. After reading your comments, we tried updating the driver (to 5.03-3)to no avail. Have now unplugged the wacom and all tools working. Thank you all so much. So is there any way to have the tablet connected to the same computer I photoshop on or are the two just not compatible?
Very happy to have my favorite tool back!!!!!
Thanks
klg

[Wendy]

Hi ...

You can indeed have it connected and not get these problems ... usually they are caused by the pen tool or the mouse actually being left on the tablet.

Was this not the case with yours ??

Wendy :)