Beth Cataldo, February 8, 2007
Beth Cataldo, February 8, 2007 |
Layer Effects and Styles
Photoshop and ImageReady provide a variety of effects—such as shadows, glows, bevels, overlays, and strokes—that let you quickly change the appearance of a layer’s contents. Layer effects are linked to the layer contents. When you move or edit the contents of the layer, the effects are modified correspondingly. For example, if you apply a drop shadow effect to a text layer, the shadow changes automatically as you edit the text.
The effects that you apply to a layer become part of the layer’s custom style. When a layer has a style, an “f” icon appears to the right of the layer’s name in the Layers palette. You can expand the style in the Layers palette to view all the effects that compose the style and edit the effects to change the style.
When you save a custom style, it becomes a preset style. Preset styles appear in the Styles palette and can be applied with a single click.
To apply a preset style to a layer
Do one of the following:
* Click a style in the Styles palette to apply it to the currently selected layers.
* Drag a style from the Styles palette onto a layer in the Layers palette.
* Drag a style from the Styles palette to the document window, and release the mouse button when the pointer is over the layer content to which you want to apply the style.
Note: Hold down Shift as you click or drag to add (rather than replace) the style to any existing effects on the destination layer.
To edit a layer style do one of the following:
* In the Layers palette, double-click an effect displayed below the layer name. (Click the triangle next to the “f” icon to display the effects contained in the style.)
* Choose Layer > Layer Style and the effect you want to edit.
Layer style options
* Angle Determines the lighting angle at which the effect is applied to the layer. In Photoshop, you can drag in the document window to adjust the angle of a Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, or Satin effect.
* Anti-alias Blends the edge pixels of a contour or gloss contour. This option is most useful on shadows with a small size and complicated contour.
* Blend Mode Determines how the layer style blends with the underlying layers, which may or may not include the active layer. For example, an inner shadow blends with the active layer because the effect is drawn on top of that layer, but a drop shadow blends only with the layers beneath the active layer. In most cases, the default mode for each effect produces the best results. See List of blending modes.
* Choke Shrinks the boundaries of the matte of an Inner Shadow or Inner Glow prior to blurring.
* Color Specifies the color of a shadow, glow, or highlight. You can click the color box and choose a color.
* Contour With solid-color glows, Contour allows you to create rings of transparency. With gradient-filled glows, Contour allows you to create variations in the repetition of the gradient color and opacity. In beveling and embossing, Contour allows you to sculpt the ridges, valleys, and bumps that are shaded in the embossing process. With shadows, Contour allows you to specify the fade. For more information, see Modifying layer effects with contours.
* Distance Specifies the offset distance for a shadow or satin effect. In Photoshop, you can drag in the document window to adjust the offset distance.
* Depth Specifies the depth of a bevel. It also specifies the depth of a pattern.
* Global Angle Turns on global lighting for the effect. Global lighting applies the same angle to all effects for which the Global Angle option is selected, giving the appearance of a single light source shining on the image. Deselect Global Angle to assign a local angle to Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, and Bevel effects.
* Gloss Contour Creates a glossy, metallic appearance. Gloss Contour is applied after shading a bevel or emboss.
* Gradient Specifies the gradient of a layer effect. In Photoshop, click the gradient to display the Gradient Editor or click the inverted arrow and choose a gradient from the pop-up palette. In Photoshop, you can edit a gradient or create a new gradient using the Gradient Editor. In ImageReady, click the inverted arrow next to the gradient sample and select a gradient from the list, or choose a gradient type from the pop-up list. You can edit the color or opacity in the Gradient Overlay panel the same way you edit them in the Gradient Editor. For some effects, you can specify additional gradient options. Reverse flips the orientation of the gradient, Align With Layer uses the bounding box of the layer to calculate the gradient fill, and Scale scales the application of the gradient. You can also move the center of the gradient by clicking and dragging in the image window. Style specifies the shape of the gradient.
* Highlight or Shadow Mode Specifies the blending mode of a bevel or emboss highlight or shadow.
* Jitter Varies the application of a gradient’s color and opacity.
* Layer Knocks Out Drop Shadow Controls the drop shadow’s visibility in a semitransparent layer.
* Noise Specifies the number of random elements in the opacity of a glow or shadow. Enter a value or drag the slider.
* Opacity Sets the opacity of the layer effect. Enter a value or drag the slider.
* Pattern Specifies the pattern of a layer effect. In ImageReady, click the inverted arrow next to the pattern sample and choose a pattern from the list. In Photoshop, click the pop-up palette and choose a pattern. Click the New preset button to create a new preset pattern based on the current settings. Click Snap To Origin to make the origin of the pattern the same as the origin of the document (when Link With Layer is selected), or to place the origin at the upper left corner of the layer (if Link With Layer is deselected). Select Link With Layer if you want the pattern to move along with the layer as the layer moves. Drag the Scale slider or enter a value to specify the size of the pattern. Drag a pattern to position it in the layer; reset the position by using the Snap To Origin button. The Pattern option is not available if no patterns are loaded.
* Position Specifies the position of a stroke effect as Outside, Inside, or Center.
* Range Controls which portion or range of the glow is targeted for the contour.
* Size Specifies the amount of blur or the size of the shadow.
* Soften Blurs the results of shading to reduce unwanted artifacts.
* Source Specifies the source for an inner glow. Choose Center to apply a glow that emanates from the center of the layer’s content, or Edge to apply a glow that emanates from the inside edges of the layer’s content.
* Spread Expands the boundaries of the matte prior to blurring.
* Style Specifies the style of a bevel: Inner Bevel creates a bevel on the inside edges of the layer contents, Outer Bevel creates a bevel on the outside edges of the layer contents, Emboss simulates the effect of embossing the layer contents against the underlying layers, Pillow Emboss simulates the effect of stamping the edges of the layer contents into the underlying layers, and Stroke Emboss confines embossing to the boundaries of a stroke effect applied to the layer. (The Stroke Emboss effect is not visible if no stroke is applied to the layer.)
* Technique Applies a technique. For bevel and emboss, Smooth blurs the edges of a matte slightly and is useful for all types of mattes, whether their edges are soft or hard. It does not preserve detailed features at larger sizes. Chisel Hard uses a distance measurement technique and is primarily useful on hard-edged mattes from anti-aliased shapes such as type. It preserves detailed features better than the Smooth technique. Chisel Soft uses a modified distance measurement technique and, although not as accurate as Chisel Hard, is more useful on a larger range of mattes. It preserves features better than the Smooth technique. For glows, Softer applies a blur and is useful on all types of mattes, whether their edges are soft or hard. At larger sizes, Softer does not preserve detailed features. Precise uses a distance measurement technique to create a glow and is primarily useful on hard-edged mattes from anti-aliased shapes such as type. It preserves features better than the Softer technique.
* Texture Applies a texture. Use Scale to scale the size of the texture. Select Link With Layer if you want the texture to move along with the layer as the layer moves. Invert inverts the texture. Depth varies the degree and direction (up/down) to which the texturing is applied. Snap To Origin makes the origin of the pattern the same as the origin of the document (if Link With Layer is deselected) or places the origin at the upper left corner of the layer (if Link With Layer is selected). Drag the texture to position it in the layer.