Maybe something fundamental is being overlooked here, so let's run through the basics.
Firstly you must be aware if something is selected or not. Whenever you are in a tool's settings dialog, glance up to the top right corner to see if it says 'Default' (which means you have nothing selected and are adjusting settings for the next placed element) or Seleced: x Editable y (where x is the number of elements whose settings you will be adjusting).
The next is a two step process:
So let's try it with nothing selected. Eye dropping (so to speak) on an element when the icon turns black, and hearing a honk, and feeling that warm satisfying feeling in the pit of your stomach and all those other good things that happen that let you know you have successfully aquired the settings of the element, will place all those settings into the 'Default' tool settings.
[Here is your chance to change any settings you want, if you need to.]
The next step is injecting those settings from the 'Default' tools settings into the same kind of element. So injecting on an element when the icon turns black, and hearing the honk, and feeling a smile appear on your face and all that, will complete the transfer.
Whooshka - the operation is over!
Does that help?
Cheers,
Link.