How do I maintain layer effects when flattening image?

[dg5to]

Wow, thanks so much for going to all that trouble to help me out, I appreciate it. I understand what you are saying in the tutorial, however, in the step where you mention that if you flattened the image all the effects would remain intact, that's not the case for me for some reason... when I flatten my image, I still lose an effect on one of the layers... I don't know why. If I choose to merge all layers instead of flattening, I still get the same problem...

My working PSD file with all of the layers in it has a transparent background... ideally I want to create a PSD that has only one layer and a transparent background, or a PNG file. I really don't care as long as all of the layer effects are maintained along with the transparent background, and none are lost in the process.

I'm sorry if this is confusing.

[Isick]

What effect is being lost? I can't imagine any are, but if you can narrow it down as to which ones is I can look into it.

[dg5to]

I'm not really sure which specific effect is being lost, I just notice the difference on the screen when I select Flatten Image or I merge the layers... the affected layer is one on which I used a custom brush, which also has a custom style applied to it that gives the layer contents their texture... it's a series of effects like Bevel, Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, etc... it's really driving me mad because I don't want to lose the effects!!

The brush basically simulates stitching, and the effects of the brush style give it texture to resemble sewing thread... when I flatten the image or merge layers, the realism of the stitching is lost. Argh, so frustrating!

Here are some cropped images for comparison before and after the Merge Visible command to illustrate the change I'm seeing...

BEFORE MERGE VISIBLE


AFTER MERGE VISIBLE

[Isick]

What does it look like after you press "Flatten Image"?

Merging will lead to problems most of the time you do it because it replaces blend modes in layers that you may not want replaced, but FLATTENING the image tends to yield perfect results.

Just leave all the layers visible and save it as a PNG. PNG will automatically flatten the image that way you will still have the original PSD, but will also have the PNG which saves transparencies. (when you save as a different file type you don't replace the Photoshop verison you just add the new version to the folder)

[dg5to]

If I select Flatten Image, merge the layers, or save all visible layers as a PNG file, I get the same result - as illustrated in the before and after images in my last post!

[artd]

Hi dg5to,

Just a thought but maybe worth mentioning. I've had problems in the past working with several layers that contain different blending modes and/or effects. I've noticed that if I'm viewing the document at a reduced size (say 25% for example) and use Merge Visible, things often appear to change. However, if I viewed the document at 100%, both before and after using Merge Visible, I see that there was actually no change. Somehow, the reduced size made it look like things changed when in reality they didn't So, what I'm suggesting is...

1) Definitely use "Merge Visible" instead of merging each layer down.
2) Don't Flatten the layer or you'll lose the transparency.
3) Compare the before and after with the document at 100%

This may or may not help but I think it's something you should at least check out. By the way, when I need help I think I'll look for Isick, his determination to help you is very admirable!

[dg5to]

Thanks for the suggestion, artd, I'll double check as you may be right ... My canvas is pretty large and it likely was a reduced size!

And I agree, Isick has been extremely helpful and I definitely appreciate his efforts!

[ktpie3]

I feel sorry for the person who posted this question initially because it was never resolved. I've been crawling the whole web looking for an answer to this riddle and I keep finding where people are having this problem, but it consistently goes unresolved.

I'm having the same exact problem.

I'm going to do a screen print of what's going on with my image and see if this doesn't help anyone here to understand what is happening.

This is what I WANT my image to look like (this is the .psd)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/ ... em-psd.jpg

This is what happens if I flatten it, or save as .jpg or as .png. It doesn't matter what I do, the effects are ruined.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/ ... pg-png.jpg

Look at the orbs - they look horrible.

Thanks, in advance, if this ever finally gets resolved!

[ktpie3]

P.S. "Merge Visible" does not work either. I took away the view for all layers that did not contain effects, and only left the effects layers visible. Then, I chose "merge visible" and the effects were still ruined. I should've pointed that out in my initial post. I apologize.

I'd love to see this get resolved. I have to submit my fairy series in just a couple of days. Eek!