Layer styles are a great way to put some cool effects on shapes, text or any graphic. In order to add a style to your layer, follow these steps:

  1. Click on the layer where the text or graphic is located.
  2. Click the Add a layer style button at the bottom of the Layers Palette, it’s the second icon and looks like an fx. When you click on that button, you are going to see a menu with the different styles available. Click on the one of your preference.

OR

  1. Click the Layer menu, Layer Style and click on the style.

This is a list of the different styles with the description of each one.

Layer Style

Description

Drop Shadow

Adds a shadow behind the layer.

Inner Shadow

Adds a shadow inside the edges of the layer.

Outer Glow

Adds a glow outside of the layer.

Inner Glow

Adds a glow inside of the layer.

Bevel and Emboss

Adds depth by adding shadows and highlights.

Satin

Adds shading to the interior of a layer that reacts to the shape of the layer.

Color Overlay

Adds a color overlay to the layer.

Gradient Overlay

Adds a gradient overlay to the layer.

Pattern Overlay

Adds a pattern overlay to the layer.

Stroke

Outlines the object on the current layer.

 

Now, it’s time to play around with different styles. If you like what you can achieve with these styles, you can download different ones from the Internet; just search for Photoshop styles and you will find many for free.

The extension for the style files are .asl and once you download them, you have to put them under the Preset, Styles in your Photoshop folder.

Then go to your Styles palette and Load Styles to access them. Once they are loaded, you are going to be able to access them any time.

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