Now That I Know How to Outline Text, What Else Can I Do?

Since I had so much fun with Text Effects, I decided to try Layer Styles. I used the same image of cherries but changed the text colour from white to a shade of red chosen from the image via the eyedropper. To change text colour, highlight the text, click on the white text colour box, select eyedropper tool and click on a particular cherry that has the exact shade of red that you desire. Then, with the Text Layer selected (i.e. blue), click on Layer Styles tab, select options from the pull down menu (Bevels is the first option), and then select from the many style libraries under that (Simple Outer is the first style under Bevel).

Original

Bevels>Inner Ridge

Bevels>Scalloped Edge

Bevels>Simple Sharp Inner (there is also a Simple Inner)

Bevels>Simple Sharp Outer (there is also a Simple Outer)

Note: Other options under Bevels are: Simple Emboss, Simple Pillow Emboss, Simple Sharp Pillow Emboss, and Wacky Metallic.

Complex>Rainbow

Note: Other Complex options are too numerous to list but range from Cactus to Sunset Sky.

Drop Shadows>Hard Edge (there is a Soft Edge as well)

Note: Other Drop Shadows are: High, Low, Noisy, Outline, Fill/Outline, and Neon.

Glass Buttons>Translucent

Note: Glass Buttons also come in a range of colours from Black to Yellow.

Image Effects>Sun-faded Photo

Note: Other Image Effects include (among others): Puzzle, Rain, and Tile Mosaic.

Inner Glow>Simple

Note: There are many Inner Glow effects such as Fire, Blue Ghost and Radioactive. I can't see myself ever using any of these but you never know.

Inner Shadow>Low (as opposed to High)

Inner Shadow>Reverse Shadow

Note: There are also Noisy, Noisy Stripes and Ridges options under Inner Shadow.

Outer Glow—Small Border (as opposed to Big Border , Big Noisy Border, or Small Noisy Border)

Note: The remaining Outer Glow options are: Simple, Noisy, Heavy, Heavy Noisy, Fire, Blue Ghost, and Radioactive.

Patterns>Tie-dyed Silk

Note: The other Patterns have interesting names such as: Satin Sheets, Blanket, Denim and Dry Mud.

Photographic Effect>Sepia

Note: I can't see the value of Photographic Effect but I included it to show that it is available. Other options range from Blue Tone to Orange Gradient.

Visibility>Ghosted (as opposed to Show and Hide)

Below are the appropriately named Wow Layer Styles. They are in alphabetical order but coincidentally, my favourite one is last.

Wow Chrome>Bevelled Edge

Note: Other Wow Chrome options are: Textured, Shiny Edge, Reflecting, and Dark.

Wow Neon>Red Off

Wow Neon>Red On

Note: Wow Neon comes in all the colours of the rainbow and is available in both Off and On.

Wow Plastic>Clear

Wow Plastic>Red (my favourite)

Note: Wow Plastic comes in all colours of the rainbow as well.




Layer Styles can be combined so you can multiply the wow (intentional word choice) factor.

This is a combination of three Layer Styles: Bevels>Simple Sharp Inner, Drop Shadow>Hard Edge, and Wow Chrome>Bevelled Edge.

Combo of Three Layer Styles

You can also combine Layer Styles with Text Effects.

Here is Layer Styles>Wow Plastic>Red combined with Text Effect>Water Reflection

Combo of Layer Styles and Text Effect

For the picture below, I first changed the font from Impact to Stencil, then applied Text Effect>Sprayed Stencil, lastly selected Layer Styles>Drop Shadows>High

Combo of Layer Styles and Text Effect