Any effect, even a single one using the default settings, is a style
once it has been applied. You can even save a single effect which uses
the default settings, as a style in order to be able to apply it by simply
clicking on its thumbnail in the Styles palette.
However, you will generally want to save multiple effects as a style.
Doing so preserves all the settings from each effect’s dialog box and allows
you to repeat the combined effect on any other layer.
If you want to create your own styles and
add them to the Styles palette, you need to first apply the style to a
layer. The layer’s contents don’t matter; only the effects will be
saved as your new style. Once you have the effects combined the way you
want them, with all settings for individual effects customized, press
Alt, and click the New Item button at the bottom of the Styles palette.
Or you can drag the selected layer style (drag the main Effects bar which
is above all the individual effects) from the Layers palette into the
Styles palette.
A third method of saving a style is to click on an empty area of the Styles
palette while your style is selected.
And a fourth method is to choose New Style from the Styles palette menu.
Fifth (!) is to click the New Style icon that appears within many of the
individual effects dialog boxes:
You will have the option of saving the Blend Options and/or Layer
Effects as part of your style.
Please note that styles saved as part of the default Styles preset palette
can be lost if you delete your preferences, or choose Reset Styles from
the Styles palette menu.
Choose Styles from the main menu there. Click on your new style to select it. Shift-click to select any additional styles that you would like to save as a part of your new set. Click on the Save Set button. Give the set a name, and click Save.
In order to load your new set into the Styles palette, you will need to exit, Photoshop. When you reopen the program, go to the Styles palette menu, and choose your set from the menu. Choose Append in the alert box that appears after that to add your set to the default set, instead of replacing it.
I applied the Sunset Sky style, which is the last one in the default Styles palette. It’s in the third row.
The Layers palette for the image, plus style looked like this.
I then chose Layer > Layer Style > Create Layers to turn the effects into layers. The resulting layers looked like this.
Last, I ungrouped the layers so I could show them to you individually, below. As you can see, ungrouping the layers allows the effects to spread beyond the shapes to which they were applied.
The top layer contained the Inner Bevel effect’s shadows.
The second layer from the top contained the Inner Bevel’s highlights.
The third layer contained a Gradient Fill effect.
The fourth layer from the top was the original image layer to which the
effects were applied.
The fifth layer from the top, which is below the layer to which the effects
were applied, contains the Drop Shadow effect.
And, below it all is the background layer.
It’s a lot of fun to do this with any of the preset Styles.
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