Photoshop
Layers
Layer Styles
Layer styles allow you to apply special effects like drop shadows and bevels to your layer elements without permanently modifying the layer content. The effects are placed on special sublayers. Applying layer styles can add some flair to your elements with very little work.
- An effect refers to an individual effect like a drop shadow. It's on its own sublayer.
- A style refers to all effects applied to a layer.
Adding Layer Styles
To add a style to the currently active layer, use one of the following methods to open the Layer Style dialog:
Go to Layer > Layer Style and choose an effect from the submenu.-
Click the Add Layer Style button at the bottom of the Layers panel (right). Choose an effect from the popup menu (below, right).
Layer styles can be applied to the pixels on a layer as well as to type layers and shape layers. When you add elements to a layer that already has a style applied, the new elements will inherit that style.
Note: Layer styles cannot be applied to a background layer, a layer with Lock All enabled, or to groups. The Add Layer Style button 
and the Layer Style command in the Layer menu will be greyed out.
The Layer Style Dialog
Once a style is selected, the Layer Style dialog will open. (View a full-sized version of the Layer Style dialog box.)
The Styles panel on the left side of the dialog lists all the layer styles/effects. The Drop Shadow effect is selected in this example. The centre panel shows the settings available for the Drop Shadow. Each effect has different settings. We'll look at settings in the next lecture.
On the right side of the dialog there are the following options:
- OK button
- Clicking the OK button will apply the style to the active layer.
- Cancel button
- This button will close the Layer Style dialog without applying a new or modified style. The button has an interesting and useful variation. When you hold down the Alt (Option) key, the button will change to a Reset button. Clicking on it will restore the settings to the way they were when you first opened the Layer Style dialog.
- New Style button
- Clicking this button will allow you to save the style with its current settings as a style preset.
- Preview check box
- This option is enabled by default and your image will automatically update so you can preview the effects of your setting choices. Disabling the check box will let you see the original image without the style applied. This can be handy for comparing the 'before' and 'after' versions.
- Preview thumbnail
- This is just a generic example showing you what the style would look like when applied to a black square.
Description of Effects
The table below shows a simple circle element placed on a separate layer from the background with the various effects applied to it.
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Effects can be applied singly or in combination. In this example, Pattern Overlay, Bevel and Emboss, and Drop Shadow were used.
Style Layers
Here is what the Layers panel looks like for the layer containing the combination example above. When a layer has a style applied to it, the layer effects icon fx will be displayed in the Layers panel.
Under the main layer, there is an indented Effects bar. Indented under that is one sublayer for each effect. You will see the significance of the Effects bar in a moment.
Expanding/Collapsing Style Layers
On the right edge of a layer with a style applied, there's a vertical bar with an inverted triangle. When clicked, it will expand/collapse the style layers. The image shown here is same layer as above with its style layers collapsed. The triangle on the expand/collapse button is now pointing downward.
Showing/Hiding Style Effects
Style effects can be selectively hidden in the following ways:
- Individual effects can be hidden.
- All effects associated with a single layer can be hidden.
- All styles in an image can be hidden.
For an Individual Layer
Clicking the eye icon beside the Effects bar will hide all the layer's associated effects. Clicking the eye icon beside an individual effect will hide only that effect. The table below shows the Layers panel before and after hiding and uses the combination style image to show the effect that hiding the styles had.
| Showing/Hiding Style Effects For One Layer | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Visibility On | Visibility Off | Image Result | |
| All Layer Effects |  |
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| Individual Layer Effects |  |
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For an Entire Image
To hide all the styles on all layers in an image go to Layer > Layer Style > Hide All Effects. To show all the styles go to Layer > Layer Style > Show All Effects. This menu item toggles back and forth between the two commands.
Editing Layer Styles
To edit a style after the Layer Style dialog has been closed you can do one of the following:
- Select the layer, go to Layer > Layer Style and choose the effect you want to edit.
- Select the layer, click the Add Layer Style button at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose the effect you want to edit.
- Double-click on the effect sublayer in the Layers panel.
Let's say you had selected the Drop Shadow effect to edit. The Layer Style dialog would open up to the Drop Shadow settings and it would be highlighted in the Styles list as shown here. Other effects applied to the same layer would be checked in the list too.
To edit one of the other effects, click on its name in the list so that the name is highlighted. To add another effect, click on its name. Its check box will be enabled automatically and its settings will be dispalyed. Disabling a check box will only hide the style in the image window, not delete it.
Removing Layer Styles
An individual effect layer can be deleted by dragging it to the trashcan icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. All effects applied to the active layer can be removed by going to Layer > Layer Style > Clear Layer Style. Alternately, you can drag the Effect bar to the Layers panel's trashcan icon.
Copying and Pasting Layer Styles
Using Menu Commands
If you've set up a layer style on one layer that you would like to apply to another layer, click on the layer with the style you want to copy and go to Layer > Layer Style > Copy Layer Style. Click on the layer you want to apply the style to and go to Layer > Layer Style > Paste Layer Style. This will replace any existing styles on the target layer. You can even copy a style from one document and paste it into another.
In earlier versions of Photoshop, you could paste a style to multiple linked layers at once. This option no longer exists. Instead, to paste to multiple layers, select the destination layers by Shift-clicking for contiguous selections or Ctrl-clicking (Cmd-clicking) for non-contiguous selections and then using the Layer > Layer Style > Paste Layer Style command.
By Dragging Style Layers
Layer styles can be copied and pasted by dragging from one layer to another layer within the same document. Use the Alt (Option) key while dragging:
- An individual effect from one layer to another, or
- The Effects bar to apply all effects from the source layer to the destination layer.
Scaling Layer Styles
This option will let you scale a style without affecting the size of the object on the layer to which the style has been applied. To access this option go to Layer > Layer Style > Scale Effects. The dialog lets you enter in a scaling value, either by typing it in or using a slider control that you can access by clicking on the black triangle beside the Scale text entry box.
Converting a Layer Style to a Layer
Sometimes you may want to convert a style layer to a normal layer so you can apply further changes to it, such as filter effects. To accomplish this go to Layer > Layer Style > Create Layers. This new, independent layer can be moved freely around the Layers panel now. However, you will no longer be able to edit this layer as a style.
Style Presets
The Styles panel (right) provides access to libraries of style presets for buttons, strokes, image effects, text effects, etc. The default set displayed in the Styles panel includes a small selection of styles from various libraries.
To display the Styles panel, go to Window > Styles.
Adding a Style Preset to a Layer
Style presets can be added in one of three ways:
- Click a preset in the Styles panel to apply the preset style to the selected layer(s).
- Drag a preset from the Styles panel and drop it on a layer in the Layers panel.
- Drag a preset from the Styles panel over to the image and drop it on the layer content to which you want to add a style.
Normally, the preset will replace any existing styles. However, if you hold down the Shift key while clicking or dragging to apply a preset, the preset effects will be added to the list of effects already present on the layer.
Removing Layer Styles From a Layer
There are two ways to remove a style from a layer using the Styles panel.
The first style in the Styles panel is named "Default Style (None)". Clicking on it will remove all style effects from the current layer, whether they were presets or not.
The second way is by clicking on the Clear Style button at the bottom of the Styles panel.
Both of these methods have the same effect as dragging the layer's Effects bar to the trashcan icon in the Layers panel which was mentioned earlier in this lecture.
Creating a New Style Preset
When you customize a layer style and it's something you think you'll find useful in the future, you can save it as a style preset. Let's say you modify the Drop Shadow setting so the shadow extends 10 px beyond the layer object instead of the default of 5 px. First, make sure the layer with the 10 px shadow is the active layer, then do one of the following.
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Hold the cursor over an empty area of the Styles panel. The cursor will turn into a paint bucket icon. Click the mouse button.
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Click the Create New Style button at the bottom of the Styles panel.
- In the Styles panel menu (see the next section), select New Style.
The New Style dialog will open. Here you can enter a name for the new preset and set its options. When you click OK, the new preset will appear in the Styles panel. The name you assigned to it will be displayed as a tool tip.
Styles Panel Menu
The commands in the Styles panel menu will look familiar as they are similar to those we looked at in the Swatches panel, the Brushes panel, and the Preset Manager.
- New Style Command
- This command was mentioned above for creating a new style preset.
- Display Options
- These five commands determine how the presets will be displayed in the Styles panel.
- Preset Manager
- Use this command to open the Preset Manager. If you want to delete a preset style, you will need to do so in the Preset Manager.
- Working With Style Libraries
- This section contains commands for resetting, loading, and replacing the presets displayed in the panel. It also has a command for saving libraries.
- Style Libraries
- This section lists all the style preset libraries that come with Photoshop. One of these, in particular, is interesting: Dotted Strokes. Strokes applied with the Edit > Stroke command and the Stroke layer style have no options for dashed or dotted lines. This library has presets using patterns designed to simulate dashed and dotted strokes.
Layer Styles Summary
- Special effects can be applied to elements on a layer by using layer styles.
- Each layer effect is placed on a subsidiary layer and is grouped with the content layer. One or more effects can be applied to a layer.
- Style layers can be expanded or collapsed and their visibility toggled on and off.
- Layer styles cannot be applied to a background layer, a layer with Lock All enabled or a group.
- Each style/effect has settings which can be customized.
- Styles can be copied and pasted into other layers in the same document or in a different document.
- Styles can be scaled without scaling the object on the regular layer.
- Style layers can be converted to regular layers.
Layer Styles Keyboard Shortcuts:
- Change Cancel button into Reset button: Alt (Option)
- Drag an effect or a style between layers: Alt-drag (Option-drag)
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