Expert: Scott Valentine - 7/18/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hi-
I saw a question from someone else which was very similar to the question I'm asking now. The answer however, was not what I'm looking for. I would like to know if there is a way to preserve layer style effects such as bevel and emboss in a flat file. I do not want to keep editable layer styles. I have a psd file that has a bevel and emboss texture on the background as the base for a watercolor, so it's like a textured paper or canvas. When I flatten the file, the texture disappears. I'd like to be able to have a flattened jpg, eps or tif file and still retain that texture in the background.

ANSWER: Hi Danielle,

The easy solution for you is to do the following:

Create a new, blank layer above all the other layers. Make sure the canvas looks exactly the way you want it to.

With the blank layer selected, use the following short cut:

Cmd/Ctrl-Opt/Alt-Shift-E

Mac: CMD + Opt + Shift + E
PC: Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E

This will make a copy on the new layer of everything that's currently visible. You won't see any change on the canvas, so watch the layer thumbnail and you'll see the content appear.

I hope that helps! If you have other questions, please don't hesitate :)

-Scott

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Scott-
Thanks for your answer :) I had tried that already and my texture still disappears. Any other suggestions?

Answer
Hmm... That's very odd. Perhaps you can try it with *only* the copied layer turned on?

Alternatively, do you need the PSD file, or can you save it out as a JPG? That should preserve everything you need. Use the Save for Web option if you want to try it - that won't alter your PSD in any way.

The only other thing I can think of to suggest in this case is to reset your preferences file by holding down the Shift key while Photoshop starts up. This will ask you if you want to reset the preferences, which will cause you to lose custom menus and a few other things you might have changed. If you have custom brushes, actions or other elements, be sure you save them before resetting your preferences so you can reload them.

Let me know if you still have the problem, and if so, post the PSD somewhere so I can take a look.

-Scott