Wacom Tablet not working in Photoshop

by Nicholas on June 27, 2009

in Computer Problems

After I formatted my computer in May, I couldn’t get my tablet to work in Adobe Photoshop for a while, I tried both Adobe Photoshop CS3 and CS4. I have a Wacom Intuos3 4×6. My Logitech mouse would move around just fine but when I moved my pen across the tablet, the cursor would move move after several seconds. This was obviously unbearable for Photoshop. I tried all the solutions I found online but none of them seemed to work, I tried disabling all the graphic intensive plugins and options but it still lagged across the screen.

If this is happening to you, I might have the solution for you.

The problem was because of an issue with the default preference files. I had not made any specific preferences and this was already happening. Go to your start menu –> Programs –> Wacom Tablet –> Tablet Preference File Utility. Then press Remove All Preferences Files (you have to be admin to do this) and your Photoshop should work fine.

Leave me a comment if this worked for you!

{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }

Ben October 16, 2009 at 11:57 am

A google search for the exact problem I had lead me here. Thank you for the post, I totally forgot that utility even existed.

thomas October 29, 2009 at 2:39 pm

Woow – your hint totally helped me.

I have had this problem for so many months – thought that it must be Photoshop who was the bad guy.. turns out it wasnt..

Thanks again for posting this little trick.

Amanda December 23, 2009 at 5:46 pm

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I looked for an hour for somthing that would fix my problem and i JUST installed my tablet… there was nothing then i found this … IM SO HAPPY! thank you again!!!

Heidi December 24, 2009 at 5:49 pm

Oh wow, it worked for me.
Thanks a ton

Suzu January 31, 2010 at 6:53 am

WOW! Thank you so much! Google suggested your site for my problem. photoshop cs4 only drew lines with my wacom bamboo. I tried it the way you wrote and it worked!! I’M SO HAPPY!!! THANK YOU!!! Finally I’m able to draw again! ^_^

Jon February 8, 2010 at 8:40 pm

Just going to chip in, this may not be in Start, mine was in Program Files\Tablet\Pen.

Worked a charm where the other fixes didn’t though.

Lukaydo March 1, 2010 at 11:21 am

thank you,i have the same problem and its work´s for me to :)

John March 15, 2010 at 1:37 am

Worked for me. I spend quite a while finding how to fix the problem and you solved it in minute

marieke May 5, 2010 at 3:07 am

didn’t work for me. The pen works fine, but when I open Flash cs4 and open a file it stops working. Then after I close flash it works again. Help!

Nicholas May 6, 2010 at 1:11 pm

Hi there Marieke, why don’t you give me a bit more detail about what you’ve done so far. Which OS (and service pack), which tablet are you using and if you have installed any drivers. My first recommendation is to make sure you have the most updated CS4 and also the most updated WACOM drivers. I haven’t had any trouble on my mac nor my PC now that I upgraded to Windows 7.

Ashlea May 10, 2010 at 7:16 pm

This did not work for me. :/ I have a Bamboo Fun, windows 7 and even after doing this, it still will not work. I’ve tried everything, nothing is working. Does anyone know what I can do?

a. litsa June 20, 2010 at 3:14 pm

I read so many forums with no luck, and your fix did the trick. Thanks so much for posting!

Sam July 10, 2010 at 4:11 pm

my drivers arnt there :(

John July 15, 2010 at 8:27 am

It works~!! Thank you very much for the tip!

Gui Grimaldi July 17, 2010 at 12:10 pm

You rock mate. Working again! My tablet is a Wacom wireless…Best Regards.

Adam July 24, 2010 at 8:57 am

thank you so much! This worked wonders and I can finally finish a pic I’ve been working on :)

Linda July 25, 2010 at 8:38 pm

I can’t thank you enough, I had tried every fix on the net and nothing had helped, I was ready to change my tablet, even! Again, thanks.

David August 30, 2010 at 11:38 pm

Chalk up another win under the ‘Remove All Preferences’ column

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