6. Effects

Effects can be applied to all kinds of layers, but not all effects are available for every layer kind. All effects are explained in this chapter. If you do not see any specific effect in the effects list for a particular layer, then the two are not compatible.

General effects controls

These general controls apply to the Effects section of the sidebar as a whole, and to all individual effects. The controls unique to each effect are explained on the following pages, under each specific effect’s heading.

• Expand/collapse all effects: The white triangle to the left of the Effects heading is used to expand or collapse all effects for the currently selected layer. Click the triangle to toggle between the two states.
  • Expanded: Expand the controls any time you need to access them to adjust their settings.
  • Collapsed: Collapse the effects when the controls aren’t needed, to save space in your sidebar and limit the amount of scrolling you need to do to access other controls.
  • A similar triangle exists to the left of each individual effect’s name, and can be toggled to collapse or expand that specific effect’s controls.
• Display mode menu: The display mode menu at the top right of the effects section controls how the effects are displayed on the canvas. The menu shows the currently selected option, which by default is Apply. Thus the appearance of the menu will change if you have a different option selected, but its location remains constant.
  • Apply: The viewer shows the final resulting image, after all effects are applied to the image’s current state.
  • Disable All: Disables all effects so you can view the original image.
• Preset menu: Use this menu to access or create presets involving multiple effects.
  • Click this icon in the Effects header and select any preset from the list inside. You can also use the Save Preset command at the bottom of the list to save all effects currently applied to the layer as a new preset.
• Add new effect menu: The button opens the add new effect menu. Due to the number of effects available, they cannot all be displayed on-screen at once. Scroll down through the list to access the effects you don’t see at first.

General controls for individual effects

Each individual effect contains several controls in its header for general control of the effect.

• Visibility: The visibility of any layer can be enabled or disabled using the square toggle next to the layer’s name.
  • Visible: When the toggle is filled, the layer is visible. When the layer is not selected, the fill will be blue. when the layer is selected, the toggle will be filled with white.
  • Invisible: When the toggle is empty, the layer is invisible.
• Preset menu: Use this menu to access or create presets for any specific effect.
  • Click this icon in the title bar for any specific effect and select any preset from the list inside, to use the settings stored in the selected preset. You can also use the Save Preset command at the bottom of the list to save all settings contained in the effect as a new preset.
• Reset: All controls for the effect can be reset to their defaults by clicking this button.
• Add effect mask: This button opens the effect mask menu, from which you can select the specific type of mask you wish to apply to the effect.

Effects categories

Effects are grouped into several categories, based on how they alter the image. Each group has its own page in the section that follows, with specific details of all the effects in that category.