Is there a way to have repeated group elements edited at once?

Question

I have this group of elements constructing something like this (when duplicated):

And I want to edit the color of all the "name's" or to change the phone number position at once for all those "clones".

Is there a way to do that?

I remember there is such a thing you can do but you have to edit the "original" in separate file (maybe it's called "smart objects", but I would really like to be able to that without the need of working with two files and "save/refresh" every change.

Answer 1

I would have suggested the same thing as Ali: use smart objects. Unfortunately, with Adobe Photoshop, you can't edit multiple instances at once without opening/editing/saving a smart object.

You could use a smart object and split your workspace in two by clicking on:

Window > Arrange > 2-up Vertical.

This way you could access your two documents at the same time, the switch would be less annoying. But if you don't need to regularly edit the content of the smart object, that's overkill.

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I don't know your experience with Photoshop so I'm adding those just in case.

If you just want to change the color of multiple text items, or move multiple items you can do so without smart objects.

• To change the color of multiple text layers: select them in your Layer panel with Ctrl+Click [or with the Move Tool (V) by clicking different elements on your canvas holding CTRL* AND SHIFT], then hit the T key for Text Tool, then click on the color picker on the top bar and select a color.
• To move multiple layers: select them with one of the methods explained above, then hit the V key for Move Tool, then click and drag on your canvas in order to move the elements.

*CTRL enables you to Auto-Select a layer when clicking it. It does the same as when the "Auto-Select" checkbox is checked in the Move Tool settings in the top bar.

Answer 2

Use Smart Objects.

Delete all other groups instead of first one. In layer pallet right click on your group and click convert to Smart Object. make duplicates from your smart Object by pressing (Ctrl + J).

By double clicking on right bottom of smart object thumbnail, a new canvas will appear. make your changes (ex: change the colors) and press Ctrl + S to save it close the canvas of smart object. Booom.... you can see changes are applied to all other smart objects.