There may be times where you want to turn a layer style (think Drop Shadows, Outer Glow, etc.) into a pixel layer so you can apply transformations and filters to it; for example, you might want to convert a simple Drop Shadow into a nice cast shadow. Thankfully, it’s quite easy to convert a layer style into a layer. Right-click where it says “Effects” in the Layers panel, and choose Create Layers. A new layer will be created underneath the existing layer with the style, but it’s rasterized into a flat pixel layer. It will have the name of the layer to which it was previously attached followed by the name of the style. If there were multiple effects applied, each will get its own layer.
This tip originally published in Colin Smith’s “Photoshop Tips” column in the November, 2020 issue of Photoshop User magazine.
