PHOTOSHOP STYLES First, I need to ask if you know what is a Layer Style? A layer style is simply a popular way to add effects, like drop shadows and strokes, paper textures, plastic textures, metal effects, Bevel and Emboss, etc. to layers. They let you quickly apply effects to an entire layer and can quickly bring your artwork to the next level in a matter of minutes! I'm going to show you how easy the entire process is. This is my page without any kind of styles: How to Apply Layer Styles: Let's look at how to load presets in Photoshop that you have downloaded online. (See the end of the article for a bonus style that you can practice with.) 1) Fist you need to install the style. Unzip the Style files. Photoshop styles usually come packaged as a .ZIP file. Using an archiving program like WinZip unzip the files to a folder on your hard drive. A file with the .ASL file extension will appears, which is an Adobe Photoshop Style file. 2) To install it to the PS you’ll need go to the folder where you unzipped your style and double click on the .ASL file or just drag this .ASL file directly into your Photoshop window. You can also do this through the Edit > Presets > Preset Manager menu. Once there, choose Styles from the menu and then Load to import it. 3) Open the styles palette. If it is not already visible, Photoshop Styles are accessed through the Styles panel. This you can add to your Photoshop workspace through the Window tab: Select Window > Styles and the panel appears. Note: You can increase the size of the thumbnails in the Styles palette by opening the Styles palette dropdown menu and toggling the display type between Text Only, Small Thumbnail, Large Thumbnail, Small List, and Large List. I recommend you dock it next to your paths panel in order to gain a better perspective on them. Do this by simply holding and dragging on the tab title. 4) Your new Photoshop layer style will now appear as the last item in the styles palette. 5) Open a document in Photoshop and add the image or text that you want to apply the style to. 6) Next, Select the image or text layer you created in the layer panel. Click/choose your style from the small style preview icon in the styles palette to apply your new style to the text. Remember, layer styles can be applied to any layer except background layers and locked layers. There are plenty of layer styles available here at the LilyPad, since it offers a large selection of Photoshop Layer Style presets that you can download and use. 7) Layer styles themselves can be modified by double-clicking on the layer that you have applied it to (fx), or you can choose Layer > Layer Style > Style Settings and you can edit the settings of a layer’s style or apply other style settings or attributes available in the dialog box, (like angle, opacity, etc…) to adjust the effect. You can also copy style settings between layers and remove a style from a layer. Copy style settings between layers: If you have a layer style with a bunch of effects applied that you’d like to use on another layer, you can right-click on the layer, choose “Copy layer style”, and then right-click on your new layer and then choose “Paste layer style”. This can save a lot of time! 1.In the Layers panel, select the layer containing the style settings you want to copy. 2.Choose Layer > Layer Style > Copy Layer Style. 3.Select the destination layer in the Layers panel and choose Layer > Layer Style > Paste Layer Style. Remove a layer style: Keep in mind that loading too many styles will cause Photoshop to slow down, so always keep your styles panel curated. To delete a style is quite easy. 1.In the Layers panel, select the layer containing the style you want to remove. 2.Choose Layer > Layer Style > Clear Layer Style. If you've done everything outlined above, but a Photoshop layer still can't be applied, check that the layer isn't locked. The locking function can be toggled on and off in the Layers palette next to the Opacity and Fill options. Saving Style Presets: If you have created your own Style presets (or want to save the ones you have bought), you can save them easily from the Styles palette. To save a preset (or group of presets), open the dropdown menu from the Styles palette and click Save Styles...You will be prompted to choose a name and location on your computer for your presets file, and then simply click Save. This is the final page with all shadows and textures styles applied: There are endless ways to use layer effects; see what works and what doesn't. You will need to play with your styles to discover the best applications for each type of image or text. Here's a little gift for you, so you can practice! Styles used here: Mommyish - Gold 12 C Stacked Paper 2 Shadow - SahlinStudio Mommyish MPM Routine | Layer Styles And here it is another tutorial that our dear @cfile CHRISTA kindly made this tutorial for those who use the PSE: How to load Styles in PSE 15 and above: 1) Open up a new workspace in PSE. 2) At the bottom of the Layer Panel, choose STYLES 3) Once you open the STYLES panel, on the top left is what some call a "hamburger" click on that to bring up the menu: 4) From the Menu, select LOAD STYLES: 5) Locate the style you want to load from your stored area in your computer. We will be loading the Free Bonus Paper Style from Paula Kesselring, (as noted here at the bottom of the PS Tutorial), and select load to have it added to PSE. 6) The Style should then be loaded (and reflected) to use: 7) Note if you click on the down arrow (menu list) next to the selected style, it will bring up the loaded styles you have so you can select a different style to use: Note: Just like in PS you can always adjust your angles etc of your shadow styles by double clicking on the fx on the layer and it will bring up the style box. You can also delete an added style by clicking on the menu/hamburger as shown in step 4. THANK YOU @cfile or your kindness and time!!!!!
Oh Thank you Paula! I learned some new tricks, even though I know about styles. And I can see using those paper styles often to easily coordinate a page xoxo Love this!
Been looking through the store & found some styles I like. But - I have an old program (PSE11), can I be sure all styles work in my program? AND thank you Paula for all the instructions and the freebie. It's been years since I used styles, will be fun to dive into it again.
I LOVE styles but oftentimes forget to use them. For me, on a MacBook Pro and using Photoshop Creative Cloud, I right click the .asl file --> select "open with" --> select "other" --> select "Photoshop" --> and select "Photoshop 2022." It is easy peasy and the .asl file goes right to Photoshop's style. The fx box is the style section.
most should, Eva.. is there a particular one you are looking at? Besides PS CC I also have PSE 15 and most work in PSE
Great tutorial Paula I love styles and use a lot of them.. I love patterns .. thank you for your little bonus style.. I am using that in the challenge
Well, I bought 2 and both worked LOL When I thought about it, I think it's actions that are not always compatible, but styles usually works. I have so many actions and styles that I never use. Remember Atomic Cupcake? I have so many of that old stuff.
YES! I have them all!!! You must try them and see if they work. I think with actions is worst because sometimes they aren't compatible. Other thing that I learned is NEVER have PS in other language because ACTION will never work...and sometimes when some action didn't run I pick the RUBBER and click into the image then a message appears : This type layer must be rasterized before proceeding. Its text will no longer be editable. Rasterize the type? What does it mean to rasterize a layer in Photoshop? By default, shapes and text are created on a type of layer called a vector layer. No matter how much you zoom in on a vector layer, the edges always remain perfectly crisp. When you rasterize a vector layer, Photoshop converts the layer to pixels. You might not notice a change at first, but when you zoom in on a newly rasterized layer you will see that the edges are now made up of tiny squares, called pixels. Why does Photoshop tell me I need to rasterize a layer? Certain tools like the brush tools, eraser, paint bucket fill, and filters only work on rasterized layers. In order to use one of these tools on a vector layer, the layer must first be converted to pixels. Be aware: when you convert a vector layer to pixels, it loses its vector functionality, meaning: Shapes and text can no longer be scaled to any size without some loss of quality. Text is no longer editable, meaning you can not change the words or the font. So, should I rasterize my layer? At a certain point in your project you might need to rasterize a vector layer to use the tool or get the edit that you want. Before you rasterize a vector layer, always duplicate it by choosingLayer > Duplicate. Then, rasterize the copy. This preserves the original vector layer if you need to go back and make changes later.
You are correct with the actions.. those are a tricky one for sure... that is because actions use a lot of things not available/applicable in PSE. BTW, I somtimes have issues in PS with actions LOL... they are great for the most part to quicken things. I have one I created to change color of an item which also does a great b/w effect... I also tried the action (and had my husband try it who does not understand using the actions in PSE) in PSE and it worked like a charm so I was a happy camper
I have some Atomic Cupcake stuff somewhere too, thanks for all the tips and the freebie @paula kesselring
Thank you so much for the great tutorial and all the tips, I tried all of them in GIMP, but simply didn't work anything, seems the editor program doesn't recognize the asl files. But I'm gonna try them in photopea, and try to cover the challenge, once again thank you so much <3
I love the fabric style and brushes I purchased from Sahin Designs! I also purchased her layered enamel styles. I can get the metal rims to work, but the others just turn my element gray with a metal rim, the colors don't come through. Does anyone know of a tutorial for these (the same happens with my Mommyish enamel styles)?
That's funny...I thing each PS has own will and behaves in different ways!Hahaha I really don't know why... Is there any tutorial or video with the pack? I think mommyish always do with each product that she made. Why don't you send a message for them asking about this error? @michele hillam @esahin @mommyish
