Install Layer Styles in Photoshop Elements 7–8—Windows

[Linda Sattgast]

Install Layer Styles in Photoshop Elements 7–8 Windows
by Linda Sattgast

To see these instructions on a web page illustrated with screen shots, click on this link: Install Layer Styles in PSE7

Before you start make sure you have your computer set to see all folders:

In Vista or Windows 7

• Open the Start menu and choose "Control Panel."
• Click on Appearance and Personalization.
• Click on Folder Options.
• When the Folder Options dialog box comes up, click on the View tab at the top.
• Under the Folder "Hidden files and folders" click "Show hidden files and folders" and click okay.

In Windows Explorer

• Click on "Start" and choose "My Computer."
• When a window pops up, click on the Tool menu at the top and choose Folder Options.
• When the Folder Options dialog box comes up, click on the View tab at the top.
• In the"Advanced Settings" section there's a folder called Hidden files and folders. Make sure "Show hidden files and folders" is selected. Click okay.

Now you're ready to install layer styles.

Step 1: Place Your 3rd Party Layer Style Inside Photoshop Elements

• If Photoshop Elements is open, close it.

• Navigate to the layer style you intend to install inside PSE. If you have styles inside a previous version, navigate to the folder where they reside in that version. Right click on the layer style and choose Copy from the pop up menu. You can copy more than one layer style at a time. Simply click on one and Ctrl click on additional layer styles. Then right click and choose Copy.

• Navigate to the layer styles folder inside your version of Photoshop Elements.

In Vista or Windows 7 the path is:
Start > Computer > Local Disk (C) > ProgramData > Adobe > Photoshop Elements > 7.0 or 8.0 > Photo Creations > layer styles

In Windows XP the path is:
Start > Computer > Local Disk (C) > Documents and Settings > All Users > Application Data > Adobe > Photoshop Elements > 7.0 or 8.0 > Photo Creations > layer styles

• Right click inside the layer styles folder and choose Paste from the pop up menu.

Step 2: Create A Metadata File For Your Layer Style

• If your layer style has one word for a name, look for an .xml file that has one word. If your layer style has more than one word for a name, look for an .xml file that has two or more words. Right click on the appropriate metadata.xml file and choose Copy from the pop up menu.

• Right click on your desktop and choose Paste to place a copy of the metadata.xml file on your desktop.

• Highlight the first part of the metadata.xml file name—for example, Drop Shadows—and change it to the name of your layer style—for example, Digital Scrapper Yummy Metal. Click once on the desktop to confirm the name. The name of my file now reads: Digital Scrapper Yummy Metal.metadata.xml.

Please Note: Always copy the name of the original layer style exactly as it is, or you may find that this procedure doesn't work. I've changed the name of the original file and then tried to install it without success, so stick with the exact original name!

• Don't try to double click on the copied metadata file to open it. Instead, right click on it and choose Open with > Notepad to see the code.

• Start at the top and scan down until you find the name of the original layer style. I found the title I was looking for on the 5th line: DropShadow=Drop Shadow.

• Highlight the name before the equation sign and change it to the name of your layer style with no spaces between the letters, but do use capital letters when appropriate. In my case, I would type DigitalScrapperYummyMetal.

• Highlight the name of the style after the equation sign and change it to the name of your layer style with spaces between the words, e.g. Digital Scrapper Yummy Metal. Don't add any other spaces or change anything else. If you happen to have a one word name, such as Glitter, it would look like this: /Glitter=Glitter"

• Right after the category line you just changed, you'll see rows of code that give the names of the individual styles within that layer style. Highlight all of these lines, making sure you don't include the very last short line that says </PSEContent>. Press the Backspace key to delete them. Leave one line of space between the last line and the previous lines.

• Choose File > Save (at the top of the open Window) to save the changes, and then close the document.

• Click and drag your new, saved file into the layer style folder inside Photoshop Elements.

• If you're installing more than one layer style, you'll need to follow the same steps to create a metadata file for each style.

Step 3: Get Your Layer Styles To Show Up In The Effects panel

• From the layer styles folder within Photoshop Elements, click the Back button two times until you reach the folder that contains the ThumbDatabase.db3 file.

• Right click on the file and choose Delete. Click okay when you get a dialog box asking if you really want to delete the file.

• Close the window and start Photoshop Elements. When the Welcome Screen comes up, click on Edit. When the Editor desktop appears, you'll also see a dialog box that says "Building Content and Effects." This will take awhile, usually 5 minutes or more.

• When Photoshop Elements is done building content and effects and the dialog box disappears, open the Effects panel and click on the second icon at the top of the Effects panel to get layer styles. Open the Layer Styles menu, and you should see the layer style you just installed in the list of available styles.

Click on the style name to see the style icons. Double click on any style icon, and that style will immediately be added to the object on the currently selected layer.

Enjoy adding new layer styles to Photoshop Elements 7 or 8!