PSE 2022 Help

[joelsgirl]

I upgraded recently, and I have two issues I could use help resolving.

The first problem I've encountered is that when I adjust the direction of a shadow to -20 from the 120 default, I have to do it for every.single.element. And if I've already changed it and then I add a new shadow, it changes EVERYTHING back to 120. I know that I could just wait until the end to adjust it, but that's dumb and I don't want to. My page doesn't look right to me if the shadows aren't set to "Cindy shadows," as I like to think of them; I honestly can't even see the shadows if they aren't at -20. In PSE 15, which I was using previously, once I changed one shadow, all the shadows adjusted and it stayed that way for the whole page.

The other problem I'm having is with the transform feature. If I click on the corner of an element/paper, it immediately resizes it. And if I click on the element while transform is on, like if I want to move it, It jumps away. I can't click and drag it while it's being transformed. This problem actually makes me want to stab something because it is incredibly inconvenient.

Can anybody help me with these two things?

[Lidia G]

For the shadowing, if you set a shadow for, let's say a flower and you want to use that shadow on all your flowers in your layout, I would click on the element you set the shadow to in the layers panel, right click and choose copy layer style and apply it to all the flowers. I find that it's the easiest way to copy a shadow without having to redo it for each element.
For the transform tool, make sure that Auto Select Layer isn't checked otherwise when you go to move something, it can play tricks on you. I only check that box when I'm lazy and I want to find a certain element quickly without going through the layers panel to find it. I then immediately uncheck it once I've got it highlighted in the layers panel. Also, the Show Bounding Box should be checked so that you can easily move your elements freely around the page. I have PSE 2020 but I imagine it'll be about the same for 2022.
I hope this helps?

[Dalis]

What lidia said! Also, can you just set it as a global lighting angle?

[joelsgirl]

Thanks, that helps so much!

It's been worse because I have a new computer, so it doesn't "feel" right, aside from learning a new program.

Dalis, how would I set my shadows to global lighting angle? I've been looking for that setting, but I can't find it.

[Tree City]

Originally Posted by joelsgirl

Thanks, that helps so much!

Dalis, how would I set my shadows to global lighting angle? I've been looking for that setting, but I can't find it.

Check "Use global light," a little box just to the right of the shadow Angle thing (the circle where you choose the angle). Then set the angle etc how you want it.

ETA: you want to set your angle AFTER clicking "use global light" because checking that box may change the Angle--because global light may have been different than what you'd chosen for your shadow. In this case, you want it to be -20, but global light seems to be 120. (Or maybe I'm wrong: maybe you don't want every shadow to be -20?) Either way, if you want to change global light to -20, the above steps will help you.

Alternatively, you can leave that "use global light" box unchecked and, as others have said, copy/paste your drop shadow layer style.