Why do I loose effects when I flatten layers?

MM
Posted By
Mike_Morrell
Apr 18, 2008
Views
485
Replies
3
Status
Closed
I’ve been working on a poster composed of several groups of layers and probably around a total of 80 layers. When I flatten the image, I loose all of my layer effects, things like bevel and emboss on text get flattened out. What is happening here and how do I fix it?
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MV
Mathias_Vejerslev
Apr 18, 2008
You must judge your layer effects at 100% magnification. Try this before / after. Any other magnification is just an approximation.
MM
Mike_Morrell
Apr 18, 2008
thanks, that is what is happening. If I view the effects where the poster fits the screen, the relative effects look much differently than when I view at 100%.

So my follow-up question is why the effects look dramatically different based on magnification? I realize that they cannot be precise at lower magnification, but it is not even close to being representative between low and full magnification. If a "flattened" version of the lower magnification can be accurate enough, why can’t an unflattened version at the same magnification look the same?
MV
Mathias_Vejerslev
Apr 18, 2008
I’m guessing it has to do with the complexity of rendering scaled live effects, and the accompanying anti-aliasing. It must be a nightmare just to approximate them. But even with a flattened image, you’ll see some differences depending on zoom level. Just remember always to judge at 100% zoom level – for now.

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