Select & Mask broken in the latest PS-CC 2017? - Fixed!!

Hi folks

I haven't used Photoshop in a while and today while trying to do something that I routinely do, I was flummoxed.

One of the steps in pp for me is to isolate the subject (generally a bird) and then do selective sharpening / noise reduction if required. To do this, I generally select the bird carefully and then use "new layer with mask" for output. This creates a copy of the current layer along with a layer mask of the selection. This used to work a year or so ago, but has now stopped working once PS-CC was updated (I had to do this because of new camera support). The following photos illustrate the issue.

Any clues would greatly benefit my work. I appreciate the help, so thank you in advance!

This is the test image with selection: Here are the settings for "Select and Mask" dialog: And here is the final result: Note that the "Layer Mask" is all white (apply everywhere and the selection is ignored). Lastly, here is the photoshop version I am using:

I just tried a selection and it worked as expected and my version is up to date.

It could be that your selection was not active when your layered it. How did you make the selection?

Hi Kim, the selection *was* active when I layered it. The selection was made with several tools (mostly the quick select tool and then refined using alt key). I am going to uninstall and re-install the app to see if it makes any difference.

Issue resolved by remove and re-install! Something to do with my "preferences" file I think. Not sure what it was, but it is now gone.

That is good.

I had a similar issue with the crop tool after the update and figured it was the preferences file. The quick fix is to delete the preference file and then open Photoshop and it builds a new one.

You almost never have to reinstall.  Whenever Photoshop suddenly starts doing weird things, Save your Workspace and then delete the preferences file.  restart Photoshop, load your workspace and the problem will be resolved/

E.J. Peiker wrote:You almost never have to reinstall.  Whenever Photoshop suddenly starts doing weird thing, Save your Workspace and then delete the preferences file.  restart Photoshop, load your workspace and the problem will be resolved/

Yes I thought so too EJ. Lesson learnt for me. 

Thanks Kim!