[Please note that all of this material was written for Photoshop 6. If you are using version 7, you want to double-click on the right end of the layer, not on the layer's name to open the Layer Styles dialog. There are also some additional options under Advanced Blending that were added in 7 and therefore are not covered here.]
If you would like to get right to the pages about the individual effects, use the Jump menu at left to navigate, or click on an effect’s name in the image (map) below it. All of the effects are covered. There are also separate pages for Styles, Knockout, and Blending.
If you would like to download a zipped pdf file of this entire Effects
section, please click on the link below and save it to your hard drive.
Effects.pdf
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If you don’t know how to expand a zipped file or use Acrobat Reader,
download the file, above, and then go here
to find instructions.
Did you know that you can add styles to masks? When applied to a mask, styles react to the luminosity instead of the transparency, allowing you to create effects that cannot be achieved on layers. For details see Styles On Masks.
Layer effects can be applied to any layer in an image. They cannot be
applied to the image background layer, if there is one. Turn the background
into a regular layer if you want to apply an effect or style to it. To
do this, double-click the background and give it a name. Or, after double-clicking,
you can simply click OK to accept Adobe’s default name of Layer 0.
If a layer already has effects or styles
applied to it, and you want to add the new effects to those rather than
replacing them, press the Shift key as you use any of the ways described
below to add the additional effects or styles.
There are many ways to add effects or styles.
The quickest is select the layer and then click one of the styles thumbnails
in the Styles palette. This will instantly add that style to the selected
layer.
You can also double click the layer’s
name to open the Layer Styles dialog box. All of the individual effects
can be added or removed from here by checking, or unchecking items in
the menu at the left side of that dialog box.
A style thumbnail can be dragged from the
Styles palette onto the layer you wish it applied to in the Layers palette.
A thumbnail can also be dragged onto the image. It will be applied to
whichever layer contains the pixels where you drop the thumbnail.
Other methods of adding layer effects are—select
the layer you want the effect to be applied to and then click the Layer
Style button at the bottom of the Layers palette (shown at the top of
this page) or choose Layer > Layer Style and pick the effect you want
from the menu. Both of these methods will open the Layer Styles dialog
box where you can customize the effect.
You can also copy effects by dragging from one layer to another. Drag either a single effect, or the Effects bar (which is shown at the top of the illustration at left) to copy multiple effects. If you like, you can drag an effect from the Layers palette onto the part of the image to which you want it applied. It will be added to that layer which contains the pixels you drop it onto.
Layer effects move and change with the layer. You don’t need to be worried that they will become out of alignment, or fall apart if you transform the layer. You can add or remove effects at any time. Their settings can be edited at any time. Double-clicking the layer, or one of the effects, will open the Layer Style dialog box where you can make any changes you like at any time.
One peculiarity that you will notice is that effects that you’ve added, and then later removed will still show in the Layers palette, though their visibility (the eyeball icon) will be turned off. You may want to drag those unused effects to the trash can. If you don’t, any custom styles saved will include these remnants.
Styles applied from the Styles palette can be removed by selecting the layer which has the style applied and then clicking the No Style thumbnail. It’s the very first one in the palette in the upper left corner. It’s a white square with a red line drawn diagonally across it.
Remember that most of the layer effects work on the edges of the layer’s content. The Overlays, and Satin are exceptions.
If you wish to add a bevel, or shadow to an object, it must be on a layer by itself. When you look at the way each effect is created on the pages that follow, you will understand why. Please note that effects work just as well on interior edges, as on outside edges.
Below is my example image with a new top layer. This layer contained a filled rectangle which covered about three quarters of the circles layer below it. I cut holes in the filled rectangle and applied a gradient overlay, and a heavy bevel effect to the layer. As you can see, the interior edges take the effects just as well as the outer ones.
PLEASE NOTE
Throughout this section I will show you “deconstructed” effects.
To make these, I applied an effect, and then chose Layer > Layer Style
> Create Layers. This results in a close approximation of the how an
effect is “done.”However, please note that these deconstructed
effects are not truly the same as the real effect. There is more to
an effect than added layers can simulate.
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