I really need help with Photoshop, the thing is, it's kind of...not working for whatever reason, why do I say "kind of" not working? Well I can do gradiants and filters just fine...however the brush tool, the eraser tool, the smudge tool, and anything in those categories will not work. For example, I could try to use the brush tool, I click on the part I want to use it on, and nothing comes out...in other words the brush tool won't make anything, the eraser tool won't erase anything, and you can bet your stars that the smudge tool won't smudge anything, the same goes for any other tool in the same category as those. For whatever reason, they just don't work.

I have no clue when this started to happen but it's been bothering me for awhile, and I've actually held off asking people for help on it, but here it goes...does anyone know what's wrong with my photoshop? Could anyone give me some tips on how to fix this problem? Even the slightest bit of help is appreciated, and I thank you for your time.

Does this go for one specific document or everything? If it's just one, you may have a small area accidentally selected. Which version of Photoshop are you running?

I'm guessing that because you use the gradient and filter tools, you also happen to use the selection tool a lot.

Do you usually have a part selected?

Usually (actually always) when that happens, you can't do anything outside the selected area.

@BlkKnight: I use Adobe Photoshop CS2, and this goes for all documents I create.

@JoeL_CQB: The thing is, this problem persists even if I don't have a certain area selected, and even when I do, it still won't work inside that selected area.

Hmm.... I'm assuming you've tried restarting Photoshop and your computer, and it's fully up to date. You may want to consider a repair install if possible, or the uninstall/reinstall method (just screenshot/save your settings, swatches, etc. first). Photoshop can get a bit finicky with resources, but I've never had it get to a state where tools won't work and I didn't have a pixel selected (I've used 7, and am now using CS3).

The universal solution is generally to uninstall and then install Photoshop again. It may be a pain, but it is often quicker than trying to find the problem.

You don't have the brushes set on "transparent" do you?

I've been know to do this =p

A mystery... Photoshop does crazy stuff sometimes. I'd go with complete uninstall/reinstall.

If you have custom brushes, gradients, shapes, pallets etc, that's fine because you can save all those somewhere else and just load them again when you reinstall.
-or you could go the tricky route and get them directly from your Windows application data adobe settings folder and then put them back later, but the other way is easier.

Nuking photoshop's preferences is a preferable first step towards avoiding a re-install. There is a LOT of reasons that the brush or other tools might not be working. Try the following before doing a full re & re:

1) Reset your preferences. Immediately after starting the application, hold down Ctrl+Alt+Shift ( or Command+Option+Shift on a mac)

2) Check and make sure your color space is RGB

3) Hit Ctrl+D to make sure there are no selections active anywhere in the page.

4) Verify your layer doesn't have 'lock transparent' turned on.

5) Make sure you have the proper layer selected/highlighted

6) Verify layer is not set to any mode other than 'normal' or create a new layer.

7) Make sure opacity of tool is 100% and brush mode in the options bar is set to 'normal'

8) open a new document and see if it works on a new document. If it does, then there is something wonky with the one you were working in before. Might be a corruption or usually a settings issue.

Resetting the preferences should take care of most of that, but if you are troubleshooting and don't want to reset the preferences (you have custom palettes or brushes you haven't saved for example..) You may want to try the other stuff.

Hope that helps.