Photoshop CS2 Help

Is there anyway to rasterize the layer style effects (like drop shadow, inner shadow)?

I know there was in older versions, but I just can't seem to find it in this new version.

I'm incredibly frustrated because a drop shadow on one layer will change if I add a drop on another layer and want it to add a shadow in a different direction. Argh!

Any help would be really appreciated.

Yes, Create a blank layer above the layer you want to rasterize...then merge the blank layer with the layer with the layer style.

That's it.

Thank you!

Of course it had to be really simple

Ummm.. if you make a new layer above the layer with the layer style in CS 2, you have to select them both and Merge for this to work. (If you just use Command/ctrl E to merge the new layer onto the one with the Style, the Style is preserved.)

On the other hand, if you make a new layer below the layer with the Style, you can just drop the Styled layer without selecting both of them.

If you like Keyboard shortcuts, you can do this by holding down Command/ctrl while you click the New Layer icon (make a layer beneath the current layer) then Option/alt ] (right square bracket) to select the layer above the current (the one you started with,) and Command/ctrl E to drop the layer.

Or, if you need to do this a lot, make an Action that does it, and assign the action to a Function key. Then all you'll need to do is tap the key, and it'll just happen. (Do use the keyboard commands if you're making an Action, so PS won't insist on a layer name.)

Kala, if the problem is that you need your drop shadows to have different directions on various layers, I think you should be able to just turn off "use global light" in the parameters for the layer that you want to be different than the others. That should fix your issue without having to rasterize the layer (in case you ever want to modify the shadow again without recreating the effect...)

Cool, great info, thank you all