Styles Problems

[JimDodds]

I've just recently started working with Styles in Photoshop CS4, essentially to add roundness and depth to various shapes and figures with Bevel and Emboss. It works great but it has severe limitations as to file size. What I often have to do to get the Effect I want is too reduce the file to 25%, do my adjustments, combine with a new blank layer and do Ctl/E to flatten the file, and then enlarge it to 400% to get it back to the size I'm using.

Windows 10 64 bit, 64 bit Photoshop as well.

If there isn't any way around that size limitation (perhaps with some kind of proxy file?) does anyone know of a third party filter set that would allow me to use those effects on larger files?

Thank you 🙂

Jim Dodds

[Personal info removed by moderator]

[Trevor.Dennis]

Can you describe the sort of style you are tying to apply?

If it is using pixel units, then by way of a for instance, a 10 pixel stroke on a 5000 pixel wide image will show less than a 10 pixel stroke on a 100 pixel wide image.  Is something like that the issue in your case?

[JimDodds]

That is exactly the case. It is not about strokes though. It’s about highlights and shadows

that give a figure, for instance, a three dimensional look. With the limitations of the Bevel

and Emboss filter I have to reduce an 8.5 x 11 300 dpi file to 25% to get the rounded look

that I want and then enlarge it back to full size afterwards.

If I apply the filter at full size I just get a beveled shoulder, which is not what I’m looking for.

I wonder why the filter has such severe pixel limitations. And I wonder if there is a 3rd party

Bevel and Emboss plugin that doesn’t have such limitations.

Jim Dodds

[Link removed by moderator]

[Semaphoric]

If you can only get the effect you want on a smaller image, try this: Make a duplicate of the layer you want to apply the Style to and Edit > Transform > Scale, using,as in your example, 25% for width and height, and apply your style to that.

Now, Layer > Layer Style > Create Layers. Select the two new layers (Shadows  and Highlights), but not the duplicate layer you applied the effect to, and Layer > Release Clipping Mask [Alt+Ctrl+G]. With those layers still selected, Edit > Transform > Scale up 400%. .

In the Layers panel, drag these layers so they are just above your original, full-size, layer. and Layer  > Create Clipping Mask [Alt+Ctrl+G]. The effect will now be applied to the original, although it will no longer be "Live", so it would be a good idea to keep the scaled-down layer around, in case you want to try it with some different values.

[JimDodds · Accepted solution]

This works 🙂 I had trouble with the clipping masks at first, but if you do all these steps in the proper sequence (which could be saved as an Action) I think you've solved my problem. Would you agree that what we're doing is enlarging the effect separately and overlaying it on the original file?

Thank you!

[Semaphoric]

Exactly. The Bevel and Emboss effects are essentially just blurred masks for color fills, with different blending modes, and as such, can be scaled without much ill effect.

[JimDodds]

Very astute, Dude Thank you!

Jim Dodds

http://its-your-story.weebly.com/

[Semaphoric]

There was a book years ago, around the time of Photoshop v4.0, titled Photoshop Channel Chops [Channel Operations], which was all about effects you could get by manipulating and combining channels in various ways. I found it gave me good insight on what was going on when Styles came along a couple of years later.

[JimDodds]

Take a look at my website @ www.its-your-story.weebly.com 🙂