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Jillem
Jillem
Participant
February 2, 2026
Question

odd brush size problem in PSe 2026

  • February 2, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 0 views

Hi all, I hope this sounds familiar to someone,

About a week ago I upgraded from Photoshop Elements 2021 to 2026 and since then changing the brush size via the keybord doesn't quite work anymore. For instance whenever I enlarge it by pressing alt and moving the mouse to the right ..and here comes the problem, the brush neatly SEEMS to enlarge along, but right after I use it, the size flips back to the setting it has in the tool options panel below. 
In other words: changing the brush size via keyboard isn't really connected to settings anymore. So my question is, have I found a bug in PSe2026 or do I have to adjust something in the software myself? And if so, which setting?

Tnx for thinking (and typing) with me on this.

    1 reply

    99jon
    99jon
    Genius
    February 2, 2026

    It’s normal to use the square bracket keys to increase or decrease brush size - click image. Holding down the Alt key temporarily switches from brush to the eye dropper in order to change color on the fly.

    Alt+Right Click lets you drag left or right to change brush size.

     

     

    Jillem
    JillemAuthor
    Participant
    February 2, 2026

    Hi 99jon, tnx for your reply. Sorry, I was incomplete in my description. Changing brush size with mouse can be done by holding alt, pressing right mousebutton and then sliding it to right or left (up and down changes it from hard to soft). I've been using this ‘combo’ for years cause I find it so much more convenient than looking over at the keyboard. So only now in PSe26 the connection with the slider in tool options is gone...
     

    99jon
    99jon
    Genius
    February 2, 2026

    Yes the brush size slider only moves when using the square bracket keys. When dragging with the mouse you get an on-screen overlay showing size, hardness and opacity. I don't know why this changed (the slider still moves in PSE 2024) but you could report it as a bug. Perhaps someone from the Adobe team will provide a fix to restore the previous expectations.

     

    N.B. There should really be buttons above, next to Announcements and Questions, for ideas and bugs as seen in some other product communities. 

     

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