Merging without loosing different layer styles

Hey guys

photoshop 8.0 cs
I made this shirt, but I wanna merge it now too 1 piece so i can put an alpha layer behind it and upload it, but when I am merging (control-e) my layer styles go lost and will be done in the style from other layers.

I tried to work arround but i dunno how to select the layers i want and then copy them to a new open image. The shirt contains out of 15 layers (i am a layer whore, and it is still a simple shirt)

When I use the original layer from the PS images from SL and take the alpha layer from the shirt and line it perfectly out, and then wanna upload, the shirt is basically gone (i probably do something wrong)

Can anybody help me here?

If I recall correctly, you should be able to keep your .PSD as is, create your alpha channel, then do a 'save as' in .TGA format with only the layers you want visible... or at least this seems to work just fine for me (I am using PS CS2 and am not sure if the saving procedures are any different between the two).

A few things to know:

1. First, Aki's correct that there's absolutely no need to merge your layers. In fact, it's much better if you don't. You should always preserve your layered work for archival purposes. If you merge, you lose the ability to edit easily.
   
   TGA's are inherently flat. Layers don't exist in them at all. When you export to TGA, it doesn't matter if your working source image contained just one layer or one million layers. The TGA will come out exactly the same.
   

1. Second, there's no such thing as an "alpha layer". It's an alpha channel. Layers and channels are two entirely different things, and you should never use the two words interchangeably.
   

1. Third, this is pretty minor, but don't feel like 15 layers makes you a "layer whore". You should see my source PSD's some time. They usually contain anywhere from several dozen to a few hundred layers. It's pretty standard for good quality images to contain lots and lots and lots of layers. 15 is nothing, so don't worry about it.
   

1. If you were to merge your layers (and I repeat, there's no need to merge them), what will happen is that the style effects of the individual layers will get "baked" into the merger. If you've got a drop shadow or a bevel or what have you on any layer, the look of the effect will be preserved after merging. The only difference is you won't be able to edit the effects parametrically anymore. They'll be nothing more than rasters.
   
   Since merging happens downward, the merger layer will retain the style of whatever layer is lowest in the merged stack. So, to avoid mishaps, simply put a new blank layer at the bottom of the stack before merging, and then merge all the other layers onto it. That will allow the the styles of the upper layers to bake without the style of the bottom layer interfering (since the bottom layer is blank and has no style).
   
   Again though, I'd recommend against merging.
   

1. To make thumbnail selections from more than one layer at a time, simply ctrl-click the first thumbnail, and then shift-ctrl-click all the others to add to the selection. Among other things, this will allow you to mask your alpha channel boundaries without having to merge the layers.
   

Thanks for awnsering, yes i ment the alpha channel off course..... silly me..... ehm what I actually ment was the layer i created after that, the black overlay. (as described in the tutorials be you in the sticky)

Yes I left tjem actually open so i have a more open source thingie and i got it to work all, thanks

Sorry if I'm overly sensative to the "alpha layer" thing. It's just a petpeave of mine. I hope I didn't sound too harsh.


Glad you got it working now. Any more questions, fire away.