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dogmolly
dogmolly
Participant
October 20, 2026
Question

Draw tool not working Correctly, it's not drawing the line Correctly

This post refers to Adobe Elements 26

When trying to use the draw tool I select the Pencil Tool, the line I wish to draw is in black and 2 pixels wide. I click on the star point and the first black dot does not appear, I then go to the finish point, holding the shift key down to get a continuous line and the line does not appear. 

This happens intermittantly, sometimes (occasionally) the line is drawn. The line will not draw at all now.

I have been using this feature regularly for a long time and this is the first time I have had a problem.

Similarly using the Erase tool, it acts like the brush tool!

Anyone got any ideas

    2 replies

    99jon
    99jon
    Legend
    October 20, 2026

     

    It is sometimes difficult to see the first click when using a small pixel size. Try increasing your canvas size to 200% or 300% by holding down Ctrl and clicking the plus (+) key a couple of times. After drawing your line use Ctrl (-) minus to go back to 100%

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    Peru Bob
    Community Expert
    Peru BobCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 20, 2026

    Try this:

    Restore default preferences:

     

    Preference settings control how Photoshop Elements Editor displays images, cursors, and transparencies, saves files, uses plug‑ins and scratch disks, and so on. If the application exhibits unexpected behavior, the preferences file could be damaged. You can restore all preferences to their defaults.

    Note: Deleting the preferences file is an action that cannot be undone.

    Do one of the following:

    • Press and hold Alt+Control+Shift (Mac: Option+Command+Shift) immediately after Photoshop Elements begins launching. Click Yes to delete the Adobe Photoshop Elements settings file.
    • Go to Edit > Preferences (Mac: Photoshop Elements > Preferences > General), click the Reset Preferences on next launch button, and then click OK. When you restart Adobe Photoshop Elements, all preferences are reset to default settings.

    A new preferences file is created the next time you start Photoshop Elements Editor. For information on a specific preference option, search for the preference name in Help.

    from here:

    Preference file locations for Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements

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