Layer effects
The fixed set of eight non-destructive effects every layer carries: Outline, Color Overlay, Gradient Overlay, Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, Outer Glow, Inner Glow and Gaussian Blur, their parameters, and where each one lands in the stack.
Celas Studio ships exactly eight layer effects, and that set is fixed. The first time you open Layer Effects on a layer, all eight are created disabled. There is nothing to add, remove or reorder, only to switch on and adjust.
Open the window from a layer's right-click menu, Layer Effects…, or from the fx dot in the Layers panel.
The eight effects
| Effect | What it does |
|---|---|
| Outline | Draws a stroke around the layer's alpha, outside, centred on, or inside the edge |
| Color Overlay | Flat-fills the layer's alpha with a solid colour at a given opacity, staining the source rather than replacing it |
| Gradient Overlay | Fills the layer's alpha with a linear or radial gradient |
| Drop Shadow | Casts an offset, blurred, coloured copy of the layer's alpha behind it |
| Inner Shadow | The same idea, cast inward from the edge, reading as a carved recess |
| Outer Glow | A soft coloured halo grown outward from the alpha edge |
| Inner Glow | The same halo, grown inward from the edge, or from the centre |
| Gaussian Blur | Blurs the whole layer, after every other effect |
Parameters and defaults
| Effect | Parameter | Default | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outline | Width | 3 px | 0 to 1000 px |
| Outline | Color | Black | - |
| Outline | Position | Outside | Outside / Center / Inside |
| Color Overlay | Color | Red | - |
| Color Overlay | Opacity | 100% | 0 to 100% |
| Color Overlay | Blend | Normal | 13 blend modes |
| Gradient Overlay | Type | Linear | Linear / Radial |
| Gradient Overlay | Angle | 0° | -360...360° |
| Gradient Overlay | Scale | 100% | 0 to 100% |
| Gradient Overlay | Opacity | 100% | 0 to 100% |
| Gradient Overlay | Blend | Normal | 13 blend modes |
| Gradient Overlay | Start / End Color | Black to white | first two stops only |
| Drop Shadow | Color | Black | - |
| Drop Shadow | Opacity | 100% | 0 to 100% |
| Drop Shadow | Angle | 45° | -360...360° |
| Drop Shadow | Distance | 5.7 px | 0 to 1000 px |
| Drop Shadow | Size | 8 px | 0 to 1000 px |
| Drop Shadow | Spread | 0% | 0 to 100% |
| Drop Shadow | Blend | Normal | 13 blend modes |
| Inner Shadow | Color | Black | - |
| Inner Shadow | Opacity | 100% | 0 to 100% |
| Inner Shadow | Angle | 45° | -360...360° |
| Inner Shadow | Distance | 2.8 px | 0 to 1000 px |
| Inner Shadow | Size | 6 px | 0 to 1000 px |
| Inner Shadow | Spread | 0% | 0 to 100% |
| Inner Shadow | Blend | Normal | 13 blend modes |
| Outer Glow | Color | Pale yellow | - |
| Outer Glow | Opacity | 75% | 0 to 100% |
| Outer Glow | Size | 10 px | 0 to 1000 px |
| Outer Glow | Spread | 0% | 0 to 100% |
| Outer Glow | Blend | Normal | 13 blend modes |
| Inner Glow | Color | White | - |
| Inner Glow | Opacity | 75% | 0 to 100% |
| Inner Glow | Size | 10 px | 0 to 1000 px |
| Inner Glow | Spread | 0% | 0 to 100% |
| Inner Glow | Source | Edge | Edge / Center |
| Inner Glow | Blend | Normal | 13 blend modes |
| Gaussian Blur | Radius | 5 px | 0 to 1000 px |
Where each effect renders
The stack has three bands. Behind the layer: Drop Shadow, Outer Glow, and Outline when its Position is Outside. Into the layer, painted over the artwork itself: Inner Shadow, Inner Glow, Color Overlay, Gradient Overlay, and Outline when its Position is Center or Inside. Last, over everything including the other seven: Gaussian Blur.
Turn on Clipping Alpha for the layer and its outward effects (Drop Shadow, Outer Glow, and an Outside outline) stop spilling past what is beneath them: they only paint where the layers below, inside the same parent, already have alpha.
Sizing and zoom
Every size and distance in the tables above is set in document pixels, the same units as stroke width. Zoom your view in or out and an effect scales together with the artwork instead of holding a fixed screen size. Opacity, Spread and Blend mode are ratios and are never affected by zoom.
Keyframing
Every continuous field in the parameter table carries a keyframe diamond in Properties and its own row under the layer's Layer Effects group on the Timeline. Position, Source, Gradient Type and each effect's own Blend dropdown are discrete choices and cannot be keyframed. The Add Keyframe channel popup has an Effects checkbox that keys every animatable parameter of every enabled effect on a layer in one step.