EDUCBA Logo

EDUCBA

MENUMENU
  • Explore
    • EDUCBA Pro
    • PRO Bundles
    • Featured Skills
    • New & Trending
    • Fresh Entries
    • Finance
    • Data Science
    • Programming and Dev
    • Excel
    • Marketing
    • HR
    • PDP
    • VFX and Design
    • Project Management
    • Exam Prep
    • All Courses
  • Blog
  • Enterprise
  • Free Courses
  • Log in
  • Sign Up
Home Design Design Tutorials Photoshop Tutorial Layer effects in Photoshop
 

Layer effects in Photoshop

Updated August 25, 2023

Layer effects in Photoshop

 

 

Introduction to Layer effects in Photoshop

Layer effects in Photoshop are specially created effects for existing layers with a document. These effects are created in such a manner that they are beneficial and non-destructive in nature. These Layer Effects are also sometimes referred to as Layer Styles, but in nature, the Layer Styles are a group of layer effects applied to a particular Layer.

Watch our Demo Courses and Videos

Valuation, Hadoop, Excel, Mobile Apps, Web Development & many more.

How to Create Layer Effects in Photoshop?

The Layer Effects in Adobe Photoshop is a vast concept that has unlimited features and functions that the user can use to create realistic graphic designs.

These Layer Effects are created on active Layers and represent live effects respectively. The user can anytime change, delete, copy/paste, scale, the Layer Styles as necessary. In addition, these layer Effects adds negligible amount to the size of the file.

Considering this, the Layer Styles work only on the layers that support the transparent areas therefore, these Layer Effects do not work on the Background Layer. The image shown below will helps the users to understand that when the background layer is selected, the Effects button is not visible at all.

Layer effects in Photoshop output 1

Steps to Create Layer Effects:-

There are many ways the user can apply the Layer Effects in Photoshop. Layer Styles generally contain different Effects such as Drop Shadow, inner glow, outer glow, color overlay, and many more. These effects can be categorized in three different choices as Strokes, Overlays, and Shadow & Glow.

We can also apply different pattern Styles and Gradient styles to the Layers.  The user can easily Copy/ Paste, Delete, Toggle of/on, increase/ decrease the opacity of the layer and perform many functions.

Following are the steps to create a layer with a layer effect:-

  1. Open Photoshop
  2. Click on File> New

Layer effects in Photoshop output 2

  1. Create a New File in Photoshop

Layer effects in Photoshop output 3

  1. By default, Photoshop creates a Background layer.

Layer effects in Photoshop output 4

  1. Click on NEW LAYER OPTION as shown below to create a New Layer.

Layer effects in Photoshop output 5.1

Layer effects in Photoshop output 5.2

  1. Select the TEXT option from the tools menu

Layer effects in Photoshop output 6

  1. Write a text on Layer 1 as shown in the image below.

Layer effects in Photoshop output 7

  1. Now, Click on fx button to create Layer Styles. Alternatively, right-click on the layer and select BLENDING OPTIONS or go to the Menu bar> Layers > Layer Styles.

Layer effects in Photoshop output 8.1

Layer effects in Photoshop output 8.2

Layer effects in Photoshop output 8.3

  1. Select DROP SHADOW Effect from the Menu and apply the same.

Layer effects in Photoshop output 9

Layer effects in Photoshop output 9.2

  1. Similarly, the user can add multiple Layer Effects as shown below.

In Continuation to the above steps, the following are the steps to modify the Layer Effects: –

  1. After applying the Drop Shadow effect, apply Bevel & Emboss Effect

Layer effects in Photoshop output 10

  1. Apply Inner glow Effect on the text.

Layer effects in Photoshop output 10.2

  1. Double click on the Layer effect to edit the settings of the same effect.

Layer effects in Photoshop output 10.3

  1. Right-click on the layer and select CLEAR LAYER STYLE to remove all Layer Styles applied on the Layer at once.

Layer effects in Photoshop output 10.4.1

Layer effects in Photoshop output 10.4.2

  1. To remove the Layer Effects individually, you can click on the Eye button in front of the Effect or double click on the Effects and uncheck Box for the Effect.

Layer effects in Photoshop output 10.5

  1. Right-click on the layer and select COPY LAYER STYLES to copy the same Layer Styles to another layer.

Layer effects in Photoshop output 10.6

  1. Create a New Layer. Write a Text on the new layer

Layer effects in Photoshop output 10.7

  1. Right-click on the Layer option and select PASTE LAYER STYLE to copy the same layer Style from Layer 1.

Layer effects in Photoshop output 10.8

  1. Right Click on the Layer Styles and Select SCALE EFFECTS to resize the value of effects. Do as shown in the image below.

Layer effects in Photoshop output 10.9.1

Layer effects in Photoshop output 10.9.2

  1. To decrease/ increase the transparency of the layer, select OPACITY and drag the mouse as shown in the image below.

Layer effects in Photoshop output 10.10

The user can also apply different styles other than the Layer Styles. These Styles are readymade and created by Photoshop Itself. Following are the steps to apply these STYLES on the layers

  • Create a New File

output 10.11

  1. Create a New Layer

output 10.12

  1. Write a TEXT on the layer

output 10.13

  1. Go to WINDOWS> STYLES

output 10.14

  1. Select the Text layer
  2. Double click on any of the available ready Styles from the dialog box

output 10.16

  1. That Style will be applied to the Layer itself.
  2. To edit that STYLE, Double click on the Layer Styles and the user can change the values and directions of that particular Layer Style.

output 10.18.1

output 10.18.2

How to Add Layer Effects using two layers or more layers:

  1. Create a New File In Photoshop

output 10.19

  1. Create a New Layer

output 10.20

  1. Write a text on that layer

output 10.21

  1. Add some Layer effects on the Text layer

output 10.22

  1. Create a new layer on top of the text layer.

output 10.23

  1. Fill a solid color on the New layer

output 10.24

  1. Select the option as shown below to change the effects on the text layer

output 10.25

  1. We can choose any function from the list as shown above.

output 10.26

Conclusion

To conclude, this article will help the users to apply different Layer Effects and Styles. The users will be able to create some realistic and Stunning Graphic designs and artworks with the help of Layer Styles. Layer Styles in Photoshop are very helpful in comparison to other photo editing software. These are added benefits to Photoshop Layers that keep the users adhere to Adobe Photoshop.

Recommended Articles

This is a guide to Layer effects in Photoshop. Here we discuss how to create Layer effects by using some steps to apply different Layer Effects and Styles in Photoshop. You may also have a look at the following articles to learn more –

  1. Photoshop hologram effect
  2. Pixel Effect Photoshop
  3. Night Effect in Photoshop
  4. Photoshop Sun Effect

Primary Sidebar

Footer

Follow us!
  • EDUCBA FacebookEDUCBA TwitterEDUCBA LinkedINEDUCBA Instagram
  • EDUCBA YoutubeEDUCBA CourseraEDUCBA Udemy
APPS
EDUCBA Android AppEDUCBA iOS App
Blog
  • Blog
  • Free Tutorials
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Log in
Courses
  • Enterprise Solutions
  • Free Courses
  • Explore Programs
  • All Courses
  • All in One Bundles
  • Sign up
Email
  • [email protected]

ISO 10004:2018 & ISO 9001:2015 Certified

© 2025 - EDUCBA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE CERTIFICATION NAMES ARE THE TRADEMARKS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.

EDUCBA

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you
Loading . . .
Quiz
Question:

Answer:

Quiz Result
Total QuestionsCorrect AnswersWrong AnswersPercentage

Explore 1000+ varieties of Mock tests View more

EDUCBA

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you
EDUCBA
Free Design Course

3D animation, modelling, simulation, game development & others

By continuing above step, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you
EDUCBA

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you

EDUCBA Login

Forgot Password?

🚀 Limited Time Offer! - 🎁 ENROLL NOW