Combining Automation Elements
Photoshop Tutorial

I started out in Photoshop learning from actions, and pretty much stayed within that small niche for a number of years. What can I say? Change is usually healthy, but not always desired. Prior to Photoshop 6 I was content to stay put… not so anymore. Photoshop 6 is just too powerful for one to squander all their time developing in one area, using the same old set of tools for familiarity's sake.

Thus it occurred that my focus shifted to developing Layer Styles. That naturally led to developing elements to be applied to styles, such as curves, patterns, gradient, etc

So what happens when you bring all these elements together? For instance, say I create an action that requires a certain Layer Style which, in turn, requires certain other elements like custom patterns, curves, and so on? After some experimenting I've found that this is indeed powerful… the effects can be incredible.

The key is working in reverse. By that I mean you develop your Style Elements, Create the Style, then incorporate them into an action.

1

Ok, intro over. Let's start with some white type on a black background. The type is in it's own layer so we can develop our Layer Style.

2

Select the Type layer. To develop a style for this layer, click the layer styles icon on the bottom of the layers palette and select blending options.

 

Let me say in advance that I've already created a custom pattern set for this tutorial, so I won't walk thru the process this time around.

3

That being said, let's start by filling our type with a pattern. With the Layer Styles window open, select Pattern Overlay. Load your custom pattern set (the set I used is included in the included zip file), and choose a pattern to fill your text with.

4

Add a few more elements to the style. Try a bevel, a stroke, gradient overlay, etc.
Here's my resulting Layer Style (it is Style 13 in the included Style Set):

 

I REALLY like how that turned out. Now as long as Photoshop can find that pattern set in the presets>patterns folder, you can apply that style to any layer in any future project. An immediate application that springs to mind is an industrial style interface.

5

Now let's incorporate this style into an action. Here's what I've come up with:

 

This week wasn't really a tutorial, and if that is what you were hoping for you will have to forgive me. This was more a demonstration of the power Photoshop affords for generating effects when you combine a few simple elements together.

As mentioned before, I'm including the Style Set, the Pattern Set, and the action generated here for you to download. To ensure the action works properly, the pattern set must be saved in the Presets>Patterns folder, and the Layer Style set must be loaded in the styles palette. After these requirements are met, you should be able to run DeathMetal.atn with no problems.

See you at Action Fx!
Al Ward, Action Fx Photoshop Actions Resource
http://actionfx.com

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