5 Creative Ways to Use Photoshop Styles

Photoshop Styles are a great way to add artistic flair to your layouts. If you haven’t jumped into the world of custom styles, you are missing out! With the simple click of the mouse button, styles can completely change the look of your papers, embellishments, and even photos. Today, I want to share a few of my favorite uses for styles with you!

1. Paper

Adding photoshop styles to finished papers can change the look dramatically. Depending on which style you use, you can add some artistic flair, fun accents, or a cool industrial feel to your papers. This is a great technique for expanding the use of your supplies to work with a variety of layout themes.

Sample 1: ScrapSimple Tools – Styles: ConstructedSample 2:  ScrapSimple Tools – Styles: Painting TexturesSample 3:  ScrapSimple Tools – Styles: Gold Pattern Overlays

2. Fonts and Word Art

Often while scrapping, I am lucky enough to find some fabulous pre-made word art that works perfectly on my layout, and I can just drag-and-drop it onto my page and be done. Sometimes, however, I have to make my own. I start by choosing my fonts and typing out my word art. Then I rasterize my type layer so I can apply my styles to it. If I want to add more than one style, like a wood style and a drop shadow, I add one style, then hold down the Shift key while adding the second style.

Sample 1:  ScrapSimple Tools – Styles: Wooden BiggieSample 2:  ScrapSimple Tools – Styles: Splashed JuicySample 3:  ScrapSimple Tools – Styles: Chalk NaturalSample 4:  ScrapSimple Tools – Styles: Denim Embroidery Super Biggie

3. Brushes

Styles are a quick and easy way to add color, texture, or patterns to your brushes. I often find working with brushes a bit intimidating. However, the simple step of adding a style to my brush layer takes away all my anxiety of what to do with my brushes. Just add your brush to your layout on its own layer and apply your chosen style. Because of the varying size of brushes, you may have to scale the size of the style. To do this, in the menu bar at the top, click on Layer> Layer Style> Scale Effects. This will give you a sliding scale that will allow you to increase or decrease the scale of your style.

Sample 1:  ScrapSimple Tools – Styles: Wooden BiggieSample 2:  ScrapSimple Tools – Styles: Life KeepingSample 3:  ScrapSimple Tools – Styles: Rustic Super BiggieSample 4:  ScrapSimple Tools – Styles: Splashed Summer Biggie

4. Bling

There are tons of styles in the SG Design Shop to help you add a little bling to your layout. Glitters, metals, flair, lights – the choices are endless! You can add these styles to brushes, word art, templates, or finished products. A little bling can really dress up your layout and take it from blah to wow! with the click of the mouse button.

Sample 1:  Value Pack: Light it UpSample 2:  ScrapSimple Tools – Styles: Modern MetalsSample 3:  ScrapSimple Tools – Styles: Sugar Dusted BiggieSample 4:  ScrapSimple Tools – Styles: Everyday Glitters His

5. Photos

The use of styles is not limited to your papers and embellishments. They can also be applied to your photos. Changing the look of your photos is as easy as choosing a style that will transform your photo by altering the colors or adding special effects like bokeh, stars, or vignettes.

Samples:  ScrapSimple Tools – Styles: Photo Transfers Super BiggieSample 2:  ScrapSimple Tools – Styles: BokehSample 3:  ScrapSimple Tools – Styles: Soft Color
I hope this article has given a few new ideas for using custom Photoshop styles. Don’t be afraid to play around with them. Mixing and matching multiple styles on your layouts can produce some fabulously unexpected results. If you need more information on loading styles into your program, download the ScrapSimple Instructions Handbook (free eBook) from the SG Design Shop.

dArticle by Melanie Cockshott