Ultimate Collection of Free Photoshop Styles (Layer Styles)
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Photoshop users can save time during the design process by making use of layer styles. Whether you are saving your own custom style to be used multiple times throughout your design or using pre-made styles created by other designers, taking advantage of this feature in Photoshop can greatly speed up your workflow.
Layer styles can help you to customize the whole appearance quickly and introduce drastic effects. Layer styles are customizations that can be applied to text, buttons, shapes, and other types of layers. Adobe Photoshop provides you a variety of layer styles or you can create your own layer style by using different presets.
Related: 5,000+ Free Photoshop Gradients for Designers
Layer styles refer to different effects that are applied to the specific layer instantly. If you’re creating your own styles, you’ll create the effect once, save the style, and then apply it to other layers for an instant effect. If you’re using pre-made styles, you never have to create the effect manually.
The Best Free Photoshop Layer Styles to Download
In this post, we’ll link out to hundreds of useful Photoshop layer styles that can be downloaded for free. Many of them have been created especially for text, others for buttons, and some are more general. Download the styles and apply them to your layers for instant results.
Midas could turn anything to gold, and with the help of this free Photoshop layer style, you’ll be able to instantly turn any text to gold.
These text layer styles were inspired by vintage (80s era) video games. There are five styles included in the pack.
These rough and textured Photoshop layers styles for free download are perfect for text (you’ll need heavy, fat fonts), but they can also be useful for other types of layers.
These styles were inspired by sci-fi films. The futuristic text effects can prove to be very useful in your own designs.
This set of five layer styles makes it easy to create Halloween-inspired text. These are awesome effects that are perfect for your Halloween design projects.
This creative set of layer styles was inspired by different types of drinks. As you can see, the styles work well with text, but they can also be useful for other types of layers.
This fun and colorful set of Photoshop styles for free download is sure to make your text stand out.
Easily and quickly replicate the letterpress look with the help of this free download.
This 3D metal effect works well for creating a nice text effect whenever the situation calls for it.
This big pack of free Photoshop layer styles gives you a wide variety of options for creating text with a chrome look.
This is another option for beautiful 3D chrome-like text.
Create fun glowing and shiny text that will definitely get noticed.
If you like colorful text effects, you’ll definitely want to download this pack of free Photoshop styles.
There are a lot of situations where metallic text can fit well within your designs. In those situations, this pack of three Photoshop layer styles for free download will prove to be very handy.
You’ll love what you can create with this pack of two styles.
This layer style will give your text a jelly type of look. It works best with fonts that rounded and uneven edges rather than perfectly straight lines.
This is another type of metallic style that can prove to be very useful.
The styles in this pack are fairly simple, and that makes them usable for a wide variety of situations. You’ll be able to easily create 3D text that is more subtle than extreme.
Here’s another option for creating metallic text, but this time with a rusty look. This grungy effect is sure to make your text stand out and can be very useful in the right situation.
This clear glass style is interesting and different.
Use this free Photoshop layer style to give the appearance of a sticker, thanks to the stroke and drop shadow. It’s useful for text and other types of layers.
This is another set of styles that gives your elements a loot that resembles a sticker.
These text effects were inspired by Christmas, so they are perfect for using with your holiday-themed design.
Here’s another pack of Christmas and winter inspired text styles that we think you’ll love.
We’ve showcased a few different metal options so far, but this one is different. It combines a metallic look with lighting to create text that is sure to stand out.
This is another option for creating glass-like text, although this one creates a much different look than the previous one.
This TRON-inspired style is similar to what you might see from a neon sign.
Sweety Photoshop Style Presets
This big pack of playful layer styles is colorful and sure to make an impact in your designs.
These intense effects were inspired by cinema and will certainly help your text to get noticed.
Lovelicious Photoshop Styles Pack
This collection of 8 styles includes more subtle effects rather than extreme looks.
This set of four layer styles was created with buttons in mind. Simple apply the style to a rectangle or rounded rectangle and you’ll have a styled button in no time.
These colorful styles are perfect for buttons, but you can use them with other elements as well, including text.
This is a HUGE pack of free Photoshop styles that gives you many options for creating various buttons and other elements within your designs.
This is another big pack that includes colorful styles in different varieties like glossy, glowing, and more.
This set includes a few different styles that can be useful for buttons and other elements.
This is the 2nd volume that is basically a continuation of the pack that was listed previously.
These soft colors and subtle gradients are ideal for buttons but could also be useful for a lot of other elements too.
This Photoshop styles download includes 12 unique patterns that are much different from any of the other options featured on this page.
These free Photoshop styles include subtle patterns of diagonal lines.
These simple dotted free PSD styles can be useful in different situations.
These soft crystal styles could be useful for buttons or shapes, like you’re seeing with the stars in the image above.
Recreate or mimic the look of a Polaroid picture with the help of these free Photoshop styles.
Premium Photoshop Styles
Although we’re featuring free styles in this post, there are also some amazing styles that can be purchased. If you’re looking for high-quality options, here are the best Photoshop styles you shouldn’t miss.
Create beautiful and realistic watercolor effects easily with the help of these Photoshop layer styles.
This pack includes layer styles for 10 different fruits. They’re perfect for design advertisements, product packaging, and more.
This set gives you 28 seamless layer styles that give your designs a nice gold sparkle effect. Use them for text, shapes, backgrounds, and more.
Alaina’s Adobe Layer Styles Bundle
This huge bundle includes well over 2,000 different styles at an incredible price. It also comes with free updates and additions.
This pack includes 10 awesome retro effects intended for text. They come in both ASL and PSD formats.
If you like 3D text effects, you’ll love this bundle that includes 150 different options.
80s Retro Photoshop Layer Styles
Create awesome 1980s-inspired text effects with this set of 20 layer styles.
Here’s another pack of ’80s text effects. This one gives you 10 different styles to choose from.
This pack includes 55 layer styles for creating a variety of different neon effects.
Easily mimic the look of a neon sign with these styles. It comes with five style categories and 60+ color variations.
Looking for something unique? This Adobe Photoshop styles pack is perfect for decorating text, shapes, and other layers in abstract ways.
Create text or shapes that have a fun orange peel look and texture.
20 Pressed and Embossed Styles
Instantly create awesome pressed or embossed text or buttons with the help of this pack that includes 20 different layer styles.
Frequently Asked Questions About Photoshop Styles
A layer style is an effect or combination of effects applied to a specific layer or group of layers. Styles can be saved and applied to other layers or layer groups. There are a lot of ways to use styles, like creating specific text effects, creating and styling buttons, or designing other elements with a style that you’ll want to be able to repeat.
First, you need to download the styles. If the styles are stored in a zip file, you’ll need to unzip it. You should see a .asl file, which is the file that includes the styles. The fastest and easiest way to install styles is to drag the .asl file into your Photoshop window.
To open the styles panel, go to Window > Styles. In the styles panel, you’ll see all of the styles that are installed (Photoshop comes with some default styles). Make sure the layer that you want to modify is selected, and then click the style that you want to apply.
The styles panel can be moved around, so it is not always in one constant location. If you’re not seeing it, go to Window > Styles and it will become active.
