What exactly are trying to accomplish?
Bob
If you move the text, the drop shadow will follow it.
If you want to select the pixels that comprise both the text and the drop shadow, you’ll need to create layer from your Layer Effects (Right Click on the Effects Layer). This will put the rasterized drop shadow on its own separate layer. Now, Command+Click on the text layer, Then CTRL+Shift+Clickin your Layers Paletteon the drop shadow layer created from the Effects Layer(s).
If your able to select your drop shadow text and edit it, then you are editing both the type and the drop shadow. If you want to alter the drop shadow properties, go to the Layer Style>Drop Shadow or double-click the drop shadow layer on the layers pallet.
Just my 2 cents. Not really sure what you meant…
Scott,
As a general rule you don’t want to select the shadow and the text. You can CTRL+CLICK the parent channel with only the text layer visible. You could create layers from the styles. There are a number of ways to do what you want, but like Robert I am a bit curious about what you are trying to do.
In the end, I need to create an alpha channel that contains the text and its drop shadow. I thought I could do this by selecting both the text and shadow, and then saving the selection to a new channel (alpha). Where the text and shadow were selected will be white in the alpha channel. Everything else will be black in the alpha channel and will be masked away in post-processing of the image.
Scott,
CTRL+CLICK the main channel, invert the selection, and then add an alpha channel.
Yes! I knew it had to be simple, but I was overthinking it and trying to work with the layers. Oops.
Thanks everyone.
Hmmmm. I guess I spoke too soon. CTRL-click on the main channel does not select everything I need because (I think) the text is not a solid color when I try to select it. Let me give a little more detail on the steps I’m taking to see if that helps…
I’m trying to use a method from "Photoshop7 Down & Dirty Tricks" to create gold metal look to my text. The effect works very well. The basic steps to the process are as follows:
1. Create a new document
2. Creat a new text layer
3. Enter the text
4. Select the text (CTRL – click on ther layer)
5. Create an alpha channel
6. Delete the text layer
7. Gaussian blur on the alpha channel
8. Lighting effects on the RGB channel
9. Curves on the RGB channel
10. Select the alpha channel and expand the selection
11. SHFT-CTRL-J to put selected type into its own layer
12. Select background layer
13. Select All
14. Delete
15. Add drop shadow to the text layer
16. Add color overlay to the text layer
At this point, there is an alpha channel, but it does not include the drop shadow. So, I have been deleting the channel in the hope that I can select the final text with drop shadow, and then create a new alpha channel from that selection. When I tried CTRL-click on the main channel, the lighting effect, curves, and color overlay must have played havoc with the selection because I didn’t get everything.
I think I’ll try Phosphor’s suggestion. That might work in this situation.
Thanks.
Scott,
"I think I’ll try Phosphor’s suggestion. That might work in this situation."
It will. But I am not sure why you are doing so much editing in the alpha channel. Also are you sure you need an alpha channel? Even if it is for video many applications will read transparency now, eliminating the need for messy alpha channels. If you are loading it as a texture map in a 3D package that splits the alpha instead of reading transparency then you will still need to make an alpha channel.
In your steps why don’t you do it like this?
1. Create a new document
2. Create a new text layer
3. Enter the text
4. Rasterize Type
5. Gaussian blur on the alpha channel Type
Thanks Photo Help,
The alpha channel is needed because it is used for masking in the OEM imaging software my company designed. As far as why there is so much editing in the original alpha channel, those were the steps outlined in the book. Their explanation for the Gaussian blur in the alpha channel was to add bevel to the text…"The more blur, the wider the bevel will appear later."
Phosphor’s suggestion did work.
Thanks for all the help.
