Styles are great and convenient assets used to reproduce a particular look on various elements. Today I am going to demonstrate how I created a simple distressed, overlay style in Adobe Photoshop. I’m using a Windows PC. The software version I’m using is Photoshop CC 2019.
With a document open and a layer selected go to your menu bar and click “Layer”>”Layer Style”>”Bevel and Emboss”.
The layer style dialogue box will open. There you will input the dimensions as follow:
To the left of the Layer Style dialogue box check the box beside “Bevel & Emboss”. Over to the right under “Structure” choose “Outer Bevel” in the Style drop down list. For Technique choose “Smooth” in that drop down list. Leave the “Depth” at 100% with the “Direction” circle highlighted “down”. Make the size 6px, and Soften 5px. These measurements can be made by either manually typing in the number into the box or by clicking and dragging the handle across to the correct position.
Under “Shading” make sure that the Angle is set to 120 degrees, the “Use Global Light” box is left unchecked, and that the “Altitude” is 30 degrees. Beside “Highlight Mode” choose “overlay” in the drop down list. Set the opacity to 40%. For Shadow Mode choose “Linear Burn” in the drop down list with an opacity set to 65%.
Next , to the left of the Layer Style Dialogue box check the box beside “Contour” and double click “Contour” to choose the correct elements. Under “Elements”, to the right of “Contour” click on the arrow and Choose the “Linear” option in the drop down list. Make sure that the box beside Anti-Aliased is left unchecked and that the range is set to 100%.
Then check the box beside “Inner Shadow”. Double Click “Inner Shadow” to view the elements within that asset. Under “Structure” Make the Blend Mode” set to “Linear burn” in the drop down list, with an Opacity set to 10%. Make sure that the Angle is set to 90 degrees and the box beside the “Use Global Light” is left unchecked. Set the Distance to Zero pixels (0px) and the choke is Zero Percent 90%). Make the size 18px. These adjustments can be made by either manually typing the number into the boxes or by clicking and dragging the handles across to the suited amount.
For the Quality, leave the Contour set at “Linear” which was already selected earlier. Make sure that the Noise is set to zero percent (0%).
Next check the box beside “Inner Glow” to the left of the Layer Style dialogue box; Then double click “Inner Glow”. Under “Structure” Make sure that the Blend Mode is set to “linear Burn” in the drop down list with an Opacity set to 35% and Noise set to 15%.
Make sure that the circle beside the “Color Picker” box is highlighted then click the box. This open up the Color Picker (Inner Glow Color) dialogue box. Choose a medium to light color brown. I used #947754. You can drag the circle in the color picker box to the shade of your liking or manually type in the digits in the # box.
Once the color has been chosen, choose the transparency you like. I used the “Foreground to Transparent” gradient selection. You can acquire this option by clicking on the dropdown arrow beside the gradient box and choose from the list.
Under “Elements” set the “Technique” to softer, and make sure that the circle beside “Edge” is highlighted for the Source. Set the Choke to zero percent (0%) and the size to 84px.
Under Quality, make sure the contour is still set to Linear with the box beside “Anti-Aliased” left unchecked. Set the Range to 50% and and the Jitter to zero percent (0%).
You are now ready to save and name your style. To the right of the Layer Style dialogue box, click “New Style…”. The New Style box opens. You can give it a name. I named mine “Frame Shadow Overlay”. Then Click “Okay”. Your Style is now ready.
You should be able to find it at the very bottom of the Styles Window. Typically, the very last style you add will show at the very end of the list of styles.
This style can provide numerous looks for the enthused digital crafter.
Multimedia Crafts Digital 