# Lightroom Adjustment Brush not working



## REBE (Aug 28, 2010)

Hi, I have recently installed Lightroom 3 on my macbook pro. My adjustment brush tool is not working properly.

It shows up the pointers fine, and shows the erase function pointer fine, but after having made the adjustments i want in the side panel, nothing comes up when i start painting. all other features seem to work fine. I have looked at many Lightroom videos and used my friends Lightroom, so I don't think it is a matter of being new to Lightroom- theres something just not quite right.

So far I have tried all of the below, as mentioned on other forums as quick solutions:
Changing the colour of the paintbrush 
Maximising intensity of change to be applied
Pressing O so I can see the paint
Re-starting lightroom/re-starting computer
Re-setting the preferences for adjustment brush in the preferences section
Editing photos in another catalogue- to check its not just something wrong with current one

I don't get it- nothing is working!!! If your suggestion is to re-install-which is long, but i guess if there is nothing else to be done- what do i do with catalogue i am currently working in? Where are those saved- i imported them from my bridge library.....the changes i have made in lightroom have not been applied in the original bridge library.......

Please help!!! So frustrating! Need to finish this job asap!

Thanks
B


----------



## Brad Snyder (Aug 28, 2010)

What effect are you trying to achieve? 'Changing the color of the paint brush' is a bit enigmatic, what does this mean? If you're trying to actually paint a color, that tool is counter-intuitive. It doesn't exactly paint like other programs.

If another effect, such as exposure, brightness, etc :
You say you 'maximize the intensity' ...

In the Brush panel just below the Effect panel in Local Adjustment Brush, have you maximized the settings of Flow and Density, as well as the individual effect settings?


----------



## REBE (Aug 29, 2010)

Hiya- Yes I have maximised flow and intensity- this is not the problem.
What i mean by changing the colour of the brush is that you can change (in the settings)the colour of the brush- so you can see where you are painting- if it is white on a photo with alot of white on it you wont see it.


----------



## b_gossweiler (Aug 29, 2010)

REBE,

What effect are you trying to achieve on the photo? Are you trying to "paint" the photo, or are you trying to see where your brush-strokes are, but finally want to achieve a different correction, like exposure, brightness, contrast, ...)?

If you need to see where your brush-strokes are, but not trying to paint the photo itself, shortcut "O" (or the little checkbox in the toolbar below the photo) toggles the mask overlay on/off and Shift-O cycles the color of the mask overlay thru the colors red/green/white/gray.

If you are trying to paint the image itself as a correction, you must be aware of the fact that the color brush tries to preserve the luminance of the background, which makes it (almost) impossible to paint over a white area.

You might also want to have a look at this related thread.

Beat


----------

