Photoshop layer styles are design effects that change the appearance of the layer contents. A style can be applied to anything that is on the layer: text, objects, images, people, backgrounds, etc. There’s a preset of 10 ten layer effects available in Photoshop, the most common ones being Drop Shadow, Stroke, Bevel & Emboss, and Inner Glow.
In this Photoshop layer styles tutorial, we’ll try to answer all your questions about layer styles: How do you use layer styles in Photoshop? How to create a style in Photoshop? How do you save a layer style in Photoshop? How do I find my styles in Photoshop? And last but not least, how do I install a downloaded layer style in Photoshop? This tutorial will also consider how to use layer styles in Photoshop CS6.
Alrighty, with that many questions ahead to answer, let’s get right into it and start with the basics!
How do you add effects in Photoshop?
Using layer styles in Photoshop is extremely easy. You can add one or many different effects to a particular layer with just a few clicks. Adding an effect to a layer always affects all the contents of that layer.
There are 3 ways to add effects in Photoshop, all being super-simple and straightforward:
Way #1:
Click on the little fx layer style icon at the bottom of your layers panel and select the effect you want to add first.
Clicking on an effect will open the Layer Style dialog box where you have further options to configure the selected effect.
Way #2:
Make a right-click on the layer you want to add the effects to and select Blending Options at the very top of the pop-up menu.
This will again bring up the Layer Style dialog box where you can pick and edit your favorite effects.
Way #3:
Go to Photoshop’s top menu and click on Layer. Then select Layer Style and again the effect you wish to apply to the layer. Again, the Layer Style dialog box will pop up and you can adjust your settings.
How to create a style in Photoshop?
Technically speaking, the individual style options (such as Drop Shadow, Stroke, Inner Glow, …) are effects.
Combining several of these effects is actually what creates a layer style.
However, most people just use the terms ‘layer effect’ and ‘layer style’ interchangeably, regardless of whether they refer to an individual effect or a combination of them.
Once you’ve added an effect, you will see it appear below the layer in your layers panel.
The little eye left to the effect indicates that the effect is active.
To switch off an effect, click on the eye icon. To turn off all layer effects, click the eye icon next to Effects at the top.
Using layer styles in Photoshop is incredibly versatile. Even when you edit a layer, move around its contents, delete or add objects, the selected style will still be applied to the layer!
So there’s lots of room for experimentation and creativity – you can switch between styles, add different styles to different layers, or move around your content as you please without affecting the layer styles.
How do you use layer styles in Photoshop?
Using layer styles in Photoshop involves a number of things you can do. First of all, you can create your own layer styles by adding different effects to a particular layer as described above.
Using layer styles in Photoshop also means that you can apply layer styles which are already saved in your Styles Palette.
How do I find my styles in Photoshop?
The Styles Palette is where you can find all the styles available in your Photoshop application. It contains thumbnails of all the styles, and, if you have enabled Tool Tips in Photoshop’s Preferences, hovering your mouse over a thumbnail will show you the name of the layer style.
There are two ways to open the Styles Palette:
Way #1:
Click the Styles icon in your Panels Bar and the Styles Palette will pop up.
Way #2:
In the top menu, go to Window and select Styles.
With your Styles Palette open, you can then simply select the layer that you want to add the style to and click the style thumbnail in the palette.
Clicking a style thumbnail will immediately add all the effects of that particular style to the layer. If you take a look at your layers panel, you will see which effects are now active on the layer.
Every time you save a new layer style (more about saving layer styles later on in this tutorial), the new thumbnail will appear at the bottom of the list in the Styles Palette.
How to Copy & paste layer styles in Photoshop?
Using the same style for another layer in your Photoshop file is extremely simple. You don’t need to configure the entire layer style all over again, you can just copy and paste it to the new layer.
How do you do that? Right-click on the layer whose style you want to duplicate. Then select Copy Layer Style from the pop-up menu.
Alternatively, you can also go to Layer > Layer Style > Copy Layer Style in the top menu.
To apply the style to another layer, right-click on that layer and select Paste Layer Style. In the top menu, go to Layer > Layer Style > Paste Layer Style.
How do you save a layer style in Photoshop?
If you’re planning to re-use a layer style on different images and want to have it handy in your Styles Palette, you’ll need to save the layer style.
In order to save a layer style in Photoshop, this is what you’ll need to do:
With your layer style complete, open the Layer Style dialog window. Then click the New Style button on the very right. This will bring up a dialog box where you can enter a name for the style that you want to save.
At the bottom of the box, you’ll see two options that Photoshop usually pre-selects as needed. The first option, Include Layer Effects, allows you to decide whether you want to save the individual effects, such as Drop Shadow, Stroke, etc. Obviously, you want to keep it checked, as you want to save the effects used for the layer style.
The second option, Include Layer Blending Options, is only important if you made changes to the blending options of the layer, such as setting the blending mode to Overlay or Soft Light, or reducing Opacity or Flow of the layer. If you want to apply those changes, too, every time you use the style, then make sure to tick this option.
→ How To Use Blending Modes In Photoshop – (With Blend Modes Cheat Sheet!)
Once you’re ready to save your style, just hit OK and the layer style will appear in the Styles Palette. From there, you can select and apply it again whenever you wish.
How to export styles in Photoshop?
Using layer styles in Photoshop also gives you the possibility to export styles. Exporting styles is necessary if you want to use a layer style with a different Photoshop installation, for example, give it to a friend, or make it available to download on a website.
Because one thing to keep in mind when saving layer styles is that they are only saved inside your Photoshop installation. That’s totally fine for your day-to-day editing.
However, if you want to use the styles somewhere else, or if Photoshop ever crashes and you need to re-install it, the layer styles that you’ve saved will be lost.
If you want to create a backup of your layer styles, or make them available to other people for use, you’ll have to export the styles, which basically means that you save a copy of the layer style outside Photoshop.
We’ll see how to do that next!
Exporting layer styles in Photoshop
Step 1: Open The Preset Manager
To save any layer styles on your hard disk for further use, you’ll need to use Photoshop’s Preset Manager.
To open the Manager, go to Edit > Presets and select Preset Manager from there.
You can also load the Preset Manager by opening the Styles Palette (Window > Styles; or click on the Styles icon in the Panels Bar).
From there, you can select the Preset Manager by clicking on the down arrow at the top right that will open a drop-down menu.
Below the Preset Manager, you’ll also see a menu item called Save Styles. However, this option won’t allow you to control which styles you’re saving. All it will do is save all available layer styles as one big group.
The Preset Manager, on the other hand, will allow you to pick exactly the layer style you want to save.
Step 2: Select Styles From The Preset Type Dropdown
With the Preset Manager open, select Styles from the Preset Type drop-down menu at the top.
This will show you all available layer styles with their thumbnails, as you already know them from the Styles Palette.
Step 3: Select And Save a Layer Style
To save a particular layer style, select the thumbnail with the mouse (a blue border will appear around the thumbnail when selected) and click Save Set.
This will bring up a Save dialog box where you can choose a name for the style and the location where you want to save it on your computer.
With the layer style now safely stored on your hard disk, hit Done to exit out of the Preset Manager.
When looking into the storage folder, you will see an .ASL file in there – this is your saved layer style!
How to import styles in Photoshop?
When you download a layer style from a website, you’ll usually receive it in a zipped file. Unpacking the contents of the file will reveal a new folder that includes an .ASL file, which is your layer style.
There are two ways to quickly import the style into Photoshop.
Way #1: Importing Styles Using the Preset Manager
- Step 1: Open the Preset Manager by going to Edit > Presets > Preset Manager.
- Step 2: Switch to Styles in the Preset Type dropdown menu and click the Load button. Then select the .ASL layer style file from your unzipped folder.
The style has been imported and you’ll now see the new thumbnail in the Styles Palette.
Once you’ve finished importing styles, simply hit the Done button on the right.
Way #2: Importing Styles using the Styles Palette
- Step 1: In your Styles Palette, click on the little down arrow on the top right to open the dropdown menu.
- Step 2: Select Load Styles from the dropdown and then navigate to where you saved the style. Once you’ve selected the .ASL file, the new style will be added to your Styles Palette.
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I hope that this Photoshop layer styles tutorial was helpful and you have lots of fun trying out and experimenting with new styles. If you found any value in it, please feel free to share it with other artists so they can also learn from it!
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