Mastering Anchor Points and Layer Styles

Layers have five transform properties, parts, position, anchor point, rotation, opacity,  and scale. What is the anchor point? It's that little crosshair in the middle, okay? Now,  most, every imported layer, its anchor point is in the middle of the layer,  okay? Which means when I rotate it, it rotated around the anchor point, scales from the anchor point, okay? However, text layers have their anchor point in different places,  and it's in general based on the paragraph alignment. So center align text will put the anchor point in the middle.

Left align text, right align text would move the anchor point,  okay? In most situations, let's try to animate it, it doesn't really matter. But if you're trying to animate like rotation, for example, right now, this layer would rotate like that, because that's its anchor point, okay? If you want to force the anchor point to the middle of a layer, layer menu, transform, center anchor point in layer content would force it to the middle, okay? One note on this, if you have animated position, changing the anchor point will force the position to change. Anchor point and position are related to each other, okay? So in general, set the anchor point before you animate something, okay? I have not animated this, so I can do this without a problem at all.

The anchor point can also be manually moved using a tool called the pan behind tool, that one right there. Sorry, one second. Why is that not popping up? Okay, that's weird, never mind.

So that's the pan behind tool. Its only job is to move anchor points around. It has no other point.

An anchor point can be in a layer, away from a layer, whatever, but it controls where something scales from and where it rotates from. That's the anchor point down there, how it now rotates. If you wanted like a clock hands to rotate,  or you want to do like a character, you got to move the anchor points around, because normally they start in the middle of the layer.

So you'd have to animate, move them around to like in the way you want. Okay, I'm going to undo that. Okay, so in our case, guitar picks is not moving, so it doesn't really matter, okay? Now, if you follow the instructions, you would have put the text below the photos.

That is fine. If you want that, if you prefer it above, that's fine too. Okay, whatever you want.

Again, the layer order is one of the few things you can't animate. Okay, so we're going to pick up from, we did the creating text layers. Okay, we'll add a drop shadow, add a stroke to this, and that'll be in with the formatting of the pictures.

Okay, so one thing in this program is, in general, there is no difference in the way it treats text layers, imported images, imported video. Anything visual pretty much is treated the same way. Some things like text and shape layers, the ones you make here, have additional options,  which are cool, but anything visual has the same five properties.

Okay, so while I'm not animating the text, I could. We could animate it flying in or whatever. One other note on this,  there is a section of what are called text animators.

Text animators are special features only for text layers that allow you to animate them character by character, word by word, or line by line. So, technically, again, the native layer types, text layers and shape layers, have more functions. Okay, but they could be animated like any other imported layer.

Now, so if you're used to Photoshop, there are certain things you cannot apply to text layers. Like, you can't put filters on a live text layer in Photoshop. It's one of the rules in Photoshop.

Okay, we don't have that limitation. I can apply any effect to that text layer, no problem whatsoever, that I can apply to any of the image layers. And the same is true for video.

There's no real difference. Okay,  so they have the transform properties. They have this entire library called effects and presets,  which should be next to your properties panel, by the way, but it's a library of effects.

Okay,  there are also layer, sorry, highlight the layer, sorry, highlight the layer, layer, layer styles,  which are these handful of effects, which are taken from Photoshop, by the way. Okay, and that could be applied to anything. So, in the lesson, I'm going to apply a drop shadow and an outline,  a stroke, to the two photo layers.

We could also apply the text layer. It's not a problem. The wasn't part of the design.

That's the only reason. Okay, now, if you're not used to things with timelines, it is possible to be editing one thing, but not looking at it. Okay, photo one does not physically exist on the screen until here, which means if I'm over here, I could actually be adding an effect to photo one, but not see the result of the effect.

Okay, even if I'm here at the beginning of the layer, I might not see it because it's off screen, even though it exists. So, the instructions have you do this after both photos are on screen. Okay, so keep that in mind.

You can edit something without physically looking at it, but that's harder to do. It's easier to visualize. Okay,  so the instructions will have you go, like, make sure you're at the end of it, and it's fine.

Okay, specifically, it says, yeah, five seconds is what it says, actually. It says go to, like,  five seconds, but anytime after it, so both photos, I'll see the result. Okay, so I'm at 5 14, but whatever, it's fine.

Now, I'm going to hide the properties here because I don't, I want to kind of save space in the timeline. So, I'm going to hide the properties for photo one and photo two. Okay, you can manually click on their arrows, but here's what I'm going to do.

Okay, that's another right button. I'm going to highlight photo one. I'm going to hold down shift and highlight photo two.

Okay, this is, keyboard is, command is a little strange. It's command, and it's the tilde key. The tilde is the key to the left of one on your keyboard.

That shows or hides all properties on the highlighted layers. Okay, and by the way, if I do it again, it shows all properties on the highlighted layers. So, it's command tilde.

So, you can manually close the arrow, or you can highlight a layer. Command tilde. It's the one above tab.

Hold that. Nice. Now, I want to apply my layer style to photo one and photo two simultaneously.

The instructions are going to have you apply a drop shadow and a stroke. There's a whole bunch of layer styles, like bevel and emboss, drop shadow,  satin, other inner shadow, that sort of thing. The instructions just wanted a drop shadow and a stroke and outline.

Now one note on this is a note at the end of the section. There are layer styles, and there are layer effects. Sometimes they have the same name.

So, there is a drop shadow layer style we're going to use here. There is also a drop shadow in the effects and presets panel. One's an effect, one's a style.

Sometimes they do the exact same thing. Drop shadow is the same behavior, although it has different properties listed. Sometimes there's a stroke effect, a stroke style.

Very different results than what they do. So, we're using layer styles here just because they have the look I want. They'll give me an outline,  which is what the stroke does, and give me a drop shadow very quickly.

But it's fast. Okay, now they have one other advantage. I can apply them and edit them to multiple layers at the same time.

Effects can only be edited one layer at a time. So, styles, if you have to apply the same thing to many layers, are a little faster. Okay, so this is the strengths and weaknesses.

Okay,  so adding a drop shadow, adding a stroke. It doesn't matter the order you do this in, honestly. The instructions say add a drop shadow, add a stroke.

The key is, what do you have selected? When do you have it selected when you change things? So, this is, in addition to actually making these things, it's also getting used to, what do I have selected before I change something? Okay, because this is going to happen. So, notice I highlighted both layers. Okay, I can either right click on a layer in the timeline, or I can go to layer,  layer styles, that's the list.

If for the right click on a layer, so to go into the menu, that's fine too. Layers are highlighted, both of them. Right click on a layer name, layer styles is right there.

Everything I can go to the layer menu on top, I can also get by right clicking. By the way, notice what you do not see, copy, paste, cut, duplicate, no clue. They're just not a right click choice.

So, I'll add drop shadow. That's a drop shadow. It adds a new group of properties into the layers, layer styles, and then drop shadow is added on each layer.

Okay, so adding in certain things, like if I add a mask, which hides part of a layer,  that would add a new group called masks. If I add an effect from effects and presets, it'd add a new group called effects. So, as you add more things into your layer, you get more of these like subcategories.

Okay, notice both layers are still highlighted, but they're still highlighted. Okay, if I click on empty space, it would deselect the other layer. Do not do that.

You want to edit them simultaneously. So, I need both layers highlighted for this work. So, if I click on empty space, it'll deselect.

I got to reselect both layers. I'm going to open up drop shadows option little arrow. I'm going to make some changes.

The instructions tell you the numbers we used. Here's what you normally do. Normally, you set the distance first, get what you like visually for that.

Then you set the angle. Okay, then you set the opacity and the color if you want. So, that's why they're here.

Okay, if I hover over the values, click and drag, I can literally see them change in real time. Okay, by the way, size would make the edge blurrier like that. Fades it out.

Opacity would make the shadow more or less transparent. Lower numbers are more transparent. Higher numbers are less transparent.

Okay, and then angle is a little arrow. It's a little number for rotation. The instructions give you a number, but do whatever you want.

It's fine. Okay, notice as long as both layers are highlighted, I'm changing both simultaneously. If I click on empty space accidentally, oh look, I missed clicking on the number.

Now, my change only affects that one layer. Okay, so I just want to make sure that both layers,  I'm just rolling my mouse button up and down, by the way, are highlighted before I make a change. And when I do that, changing one changes both.

Now one other note. If you only applied it to one layer, for example, let's say I didn't apply it to the other one. I could copy it, copy,  go to the other layer, paste.

So, you can copy and paste effects, copy and paste styles. But again,  if you know you're going to have it applied to five things, just add it to five things. It's a little less trouble.

Now, so again, both layers are highlighted. When I add the effect, both layers are highlighted. When I edit the effect in the timeline,  they'll both change.

Do you ever notice one is changing, not the other? It's because you accidentally deselected something. A little practice. Okay, I'm going to add a second effect to this layer.

As I right click on the layers, they're both highlighted. Again,  layer styles, this time stroke as an outline. Stroke added, stroke added.

I'll open up the options in either one of them. It doesn't care. And I'll make changes.

The instructions say,  make the stroke 12 pixels in size. Whatever, do whatever you want. It's up to you.

I don't care. Okay, position outside. It rounds the edges off.

I'll make the position inside. Now,  it's inside the layer. So, I get like hard edges.

Okay, but the stroke always rounds off the edges when it's outside. This house is on. Okay, look, color.

Click on that. The instructions give you a color to use. Okay, notice an eyedropper.

Notice it's an eyedropper. I can sample. I can sample if I approve it.

Sorry, one second. Okay. Later, later, go away.

Okay, so now my eyedropper will work. You can say I'm pretty easy. So, an eyedropper here.

One other note, I'm trying to use an eyedropper. One, if you're on Mac, you have to approve the behavior by going to system settings, which should be set up on my computers. The other thing, if you have multiple monitors, eyedroppers sometimes don't function in Adobe software if it's on a secondary monitor.

Usually, it's got to be running your primary monitor. So,  just be aware of that. Okay, but I can sample it or type a color in.

The instructions give you a color to use, which you can feel free to ignore. And we give it to you in this system,  which is called hex code. This is a quick way of giving you colors.

D46371. Like that. Okay, notice they both changed because they were both selected.

It then has you go to only photo two and change its color to something else. Okay, and it tells you in the steps, it's like the color to use. This is like EAC something or other.

EAC0636E. Wow. Hex code is a quick way of giving you RGB color values without having to type out red RGB six numbers or nine value.

Sorry, yeah, nine values possibly. That's all it is. But again, eyedropper, pick whatever you want.

It was basically a pink from the pink pick,  and it was a yellow from the yellow background. That's basically what the colors are taken from. So, whatever you want.

One other note, that'll sample from anything on your screen. So, if you wanted to, you could literally sample from that little preview at the top of the project panel if you wanted to for the eyedroppers. They'll sample anything that you see.

Okay,  so have fun with that.