Applying a Layer Effect in Photoshop

Follow these steps to apply a layer effect:
1. Select your desired layer in the Layers palette.
2. Choose Layer➪Layer Style and choose an effect from the submenu.
You can also use a shortcut by clicking the Layer Style icon in the Layers palette and choosing an effect from the pop-up menu. An intimidating dialog box with a ton of options rears its head.
3. Select the Preview check box on the right so you can see your effects as you apply them.
4. To accept the default settings, just click OK. Or you can experiment with the settings.
You can use sliders, or you can enter values in the text boxes. The upcoming sections in this chapter describe the options and settings in detail.
5. When you’ve refined your effect settings, click OK.
Photoshop applies your effect to your layer as indicated by the florin. The Layer Style dialog box also has options for Styles and Blending Options (default).

Managing and Editing Layer Styles
You can always just apply the layer effect with Photoshop’s default settings, but what fun is that? To edit a style, double-click the layer thumbnail or the layer style icon in the Layers palette and make your desired adjustments in the Layer Style dialog box. The following sections give you the details on each of the options. But a picture is worth a thousand words. Experiment to really see these effects come alive.

Managing layer styles
Here are a few pointers to keep in mind when working with and editing layer styles:
- Choose several effects at one time: Simply select the check box for the effect on the left side of the Layer Style dialog box. To access the options for each effect, you must click the effect name so that it is highlighted.
- Remove an effect: Deselect the check box associated with it.
- Move a style onto a separate layer: By default, layer styles are attached to a layer. To put a style on a separate layer, select the styled layer and choose Layer➪Layer Style➪Create Layer. You see a new layer in the Layers palette with a name, such as Layer 0’s Drop Shadow. Although separating a style onto its own layer may give you more manual editing capability and allow you to apply filters, you lose all editing ability with the Layer Style dialog box. Also, the style won’t dynamically update when you change the layer itself. Your style basically becomes just a generic mass of colored pixels.
- Copy and paste effects onto other layers: Select the layer containing the effect and choose Layer-->Layer Style-->Copy Layer Style. Select the layer on which you want to apply the effect and choose Layer➪Layer Style➪Paste Layer Style. Even easier, you can also just drag and drop an effect from one layer to another.
- Copy an effect onto multiple layers in one fell swoop: Link the layers and choose Layer-->Layer Style-->Paste Layer Style to Linked.
- Hide effects: Choose Layer-->Layer Style-->Hide All Effects.
- Display hidden effects: Choose Layer-->Layer Style-->Show All Effects. You can also Alt+double-click (Option+double-click on the Mac) the style in the Layers palette.
- Remove all the effects on a layer: Choose Layer-->Layer Style-->Clear Layer Style. You can also drag the Effects bar (what Adobe calls the name Effects) to the trash can icon in the Layers palette.
- Remove a single effect: Double-click the effect in the Layers palette and deselect it in the Layer Style dialog box. You can also just drag and drop the single effect to the trash can icon in the Layers palette.
- Resize a layer effect: Choose Layer-->Layer Style-->Scale Effects. Select Preview and enter a value between 1 and 1,000 percent. This command allows you to scale the effect without scaling the element.