I was retouching a photograph of Amy Patterson that had a wardrobe failure. The left side of her corset looked like it just didn’t fit. This is a quick fix in Photoshop using Liquify.

Liquify Problem

I discovered that Liquify is broken in the latest release of Photoshop CC 2015.1. A very bright block appears around the liquified area. The problem is readily apparent and not fixable. Or is it?

The workaround

Actually, there are two workarounds. The problem shows up only in 16-bit files. The first fix is to convert the file to 8-bit then apply Liquify. A lot of pros simply HATE the prospect of ever retouching an 8-bit file for fear of quality loss. So for my fellow 16-bit aficionados here’s the workaround until Adobe issues another dot release to fix the problem. Open the layer to be retouched in Liquify. Make all the changes you wish. Do not hit OK. Instead, click Save Mesh. A dialog will open asking where you want to save it. Click Save. Next, hold down the Option key on the Mac (Alt on Windows) then reenter Liquify. Click Load Last Mesh. The changes you made are applied. That’s what the mesh does. Click OK. The Liquify changes are made with out the bright box.

The result…

Anger Management

Adobe makes fine software. It’s very well tested. I know. Because I’ve been a beta tester. The team hammers really hard on each release of Photoshop to make sure that it works. Sometimes, engineers being human after all, s**t happens. Angry, nasty, condecending remarks might make the commentator feel better, although I truly doubt it. They serve no useful purpose.

Vitriolic posts on forums do no good whatsoever. Do these folks who spew nastiness are not making the fix happen any faster. To those who feel Adobe woke up one morning with the express intention of depriving them of a tool with which they make their living are victims of truly awful thinking. I’ve had the privilege of meeting and chatting with a lot of the engineers who bring up Photoshop. These are dedicated, concerned, inventive geniuses who have contributed much to all of us who count on Photoshop. They deserve better from us. S**t happens. When it does, these folks work really hard to clean it up quickly.

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Kevin is a commercial photographer from Atlanta.  He works for fashion, architectural, manufacturing and corporate clients. When he’s not shooting, he contributes to Photoshop User magazine & writes for Photofocus.com.
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Photographs in this post are by Kevin Ames. ©2015 Kevin Ames ~ All rights reserved.

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Filed under: Adobe, Photography, Software Tagged: Kevin Ames, Liquify, Liquify Broken, Photoshop