Effect presets cannot be saved or reused

Symptoms

If one or more of these match what you are seeing, you are on the right page.

• •No save option can be found on an effect or filter panel
• •An effect stack has to be rebuilt by hand on each element
• •Copied keyframes do not carry the effect settings
• •Settings transfer between two shapes but not from a shape to an image

Causes and fixes

Ordered from most to least likely. Work down the list — each cause is paired with what to do about it.

1. 1

   The whole configuration needs to travel, not just one value.

   Duplicate the configured element with Ctrl+D and replace its content. The duplicate carries the complete material stack, filter stack and effect settings.

2. 2

   Keyframes were copied between incompatible element types.

   Keyframes copy between elements of the same type. Pasting image filter keyframes onto a shape is ignored for the incompatible properties — copy between like elements.

3. 3

   Only the colors need to be shared.

   Save them to the Global Palette, which persists across every project on the account. Shift+click the + button in the color picker’s palette section.

4. 4

   The same treatment is needed across many layers at once.

   Group the layers and apply the effect at the group level. A group with a blend mode composites as a single unit, so one effect covers every member.

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