10 Photoshop Techniques You Can't Work Without:

 

4. Scale Layer Styles:

Summary: Ever apply a layer style and wonder why it doesn't look quite right? It's often the case that one style looks great at one scale but horrible at another. Effects like a 1px outline look completely different on a 100 pixel diameter button than on a 1000 pixel diameter button. Scaling a style to the size of a layer's content is the key to getting the result you want.

 

 

 

Shown: Here we have a layer containing a yellow dot. The dot is defined with a style.

 

 

Step 1: Right-Click on the "Layer 2" up arrow and select "Scale Effects".

Caution! Be sure to Right-Click on the UP ARROW specifically (outlined in the image), otherwise "Scale Effects" won't appear in the context menu.

 

 

Step 2: Click on the scale % arrow in the Scale Layer Effects pop-up menu.

 

 

Step 3: Drag the Scale % slider left to reduced the style's scale to 50%. Notice how the style changes.

 

 

Step 4: Drag the Scale % slider right to increase the style's scale to 200%. Notice how the style changes.

 

 

Step 5: Drag the Scale % slider right to increase the style's scale to 500%. Notice how the style changes.

 

 

Shown: Here the dot's diameter was doubled. To keep the original effect intact, the style is scaled to 200%.

Tip: Experiment with style scales to find a different look. If you download a style and it doesn't look as good as you expected, tweak its scale.