Editing Bevel and Emboss Effects in Photoshop

Because Photoshop offers five bevel and emboss styles, you have, of course, a ton of options. Some are similar to those found with the shadow and glow effects, whereas others are unique. The Layer Style dialog box is divided into four panels.

Structure
This panel contains the most relevant options.
- The Technique settings of Smooth, Chisel Hard, or Chisel Soft determine how soft or hard the edge of the bevel is. Chisel Hard works well with type and harder-edged elements.
- Depth affects how raised or sunken the edge of the bevel or the pattern appears.
- For the Direction settings, Up positions the highlight along the edge closest to the light source, and the shadow on the opposite edge. Down does the opposite and positions the shadow near the light source.
- Size controls the size of the bevel or emboss effect.
- Soften blurs the shading of the effect.
- Angle is the same as with Drop Shadow.

Shading
Because of the 3-D nature of bevel and emboss effects, Photoshop has settings for Highlight and Shadow (each with separate Blend Modes and Opacity options) and Depth. Because bevels and embosses are more dimensional, an additional setting of Altitude affects the light source.
Texture
In the Texture panel (click Texture on the left side of the dialog box) you can apply a pattern onto your layer that creates a texture. Adjust the scale and depth of the pattern, and link the pattern to the layer if desired. If you link the pattern and layer, the pattern moves when you move the layer. The Snap to Origin command aligns the pattern origin with the document if you have selected the Link with Layer option. If you haven’t selected the option, the Snap to Origin command aligns the pattern to the upper-left corner of the layer.

Contour
Contours change the distribution of the colors in the effect. You can use the various presets offered to create interesting, and sometimes bizarre, shadows, glows, bevels, and other effects.