clone stamp, etc disabled

In CS2, for some reason my clone stamp tool just isn't working. I do alt/clk to

sample an area, but when I go to paint, nothing... eraser, dodge, burn tools

similarly seem to be out of action. Also, when I clk and paint, a crosshairs

symbol appears next to the brush, about an inch away, moving in tandem with the

brush. Please help, I can't get anything done here. mode is set to normal,

opacity 100%, flow 100%... Caps lock key is off.

are you on the right layer? Im not trying to be a smart a$$, Im just speaking from my own experiance. Everytime they stop working all at once Im on the wrong layer.

1 -check for active selection somewhere<br /><br />

 

2 - make sure you are not in quickmask mode<br /><br />

 

3 - you can sample across layers just make sure to hit the checkbox in options bar<br /><br

/>

 

the crosshair shows where you sampled from - it's supposed to show<br /><br />

make sure you are in 8bit mode

<I>make sure you are in 8bit mode</I><P>The clone stamp works in 16bit mode.

I'm working on the background layer, so no additional layers open. I'm in 8 bit mode. How do I "check for active selection somewhere" and "make sure you are not in quickmask mode?"

Make sure your alt/clk function hasn't been dedicated to some other function in another program like a game or recently installed desktop tool.

You can check for an active selection by going to Select>Deselect in the menu's at the top of

the window. If Deselect is grey you don't have any active selections.<br />

<br />

To check if you are in quickmask mode look in the channels panel and see if there is a

"channel" called "Quick Mask" in there - if you can see it you are in quickmask mode.<br />

<br />

If this has persisted thru a restart I would toss your preferences