Expert: LizaL - 12/30/2004

Question
  How do I get my curser to show the size and type of the brush I've selected.  Somehow I've turned off this option.  Before I was able to select my desired tool, and it would appear as an outline, true to size and form.  This would allow me to duplicate, erase, etc etc etc, in tight situation.  Now all I can do is toggel from the the curser shown on the tool bar to a "+" cross.   
  Thanks for any help to can provide to my Adobe Photoshope fiasco - Steve

Answer
Hi Steve,

Well, this certainly isn't YOUR fiasco! This is an Adobe fiasco, one that I've seen happen with at least the last two versions of Photoshop. It isn't anything you're doing wrong, at all. I've seen this happen for years -- I'll be working along, and all of a sudden my brush tool will turn into a crosshair.

To change back, all you need to do is go to Preferences (under the Photoshop pulldown menu), and select Display and Cursors. From there, go to Painting Cursors and select Standard, and your brush cursor, as an example, will turn from a crosshair back into a brush. You can also do the same thing in the Standard Cursors area, and your other cursors (like the eyedropper, pen tool, patch tool, etc.) will appear in their "natural" forms, too.

If by chance your cursors don't change back right away, save whatever you're working on, and quit Photoshop. When you open Photoshop back up, your cursors should be back to normal again.

Chalk it up to a long-term glitch -- you're not doing anything wrong!

Hope this helps --

Lisa