Photoshop - The Missing Manual

Layer Styles
One of the most important parts of Photoshop, so I won't be including this into the Layers section, but I will be dedicating a separate section to it.

Layer Styles can be access by double clicking the right side of a layer.

Bevel and Emboss
The Bevel and Emboss gives an object a raised (Bevel) or depressed (Emboss) look. The effect has two sub-effects, Contour and Texture.

Contour
Contour allows you to make your bevel/emboss sharper or softer.

Texture
Texture applies a pattern or texture to your layer.

An example of Bevel and Emboss:


Stroke
Stroke makes an outline of your object (Trace the edges). Such examples are like this:



Inner Shadow
Inner Shadow makes your text looks like as if it were pushed in. It is the opposite of a Drop Shadow.



Inner Glow
Inner Glow creates a glow on the inside. It makes a good combination with the Gradient Overlay. It is the opposite of Outer glow



Satin
It looks as if Satan distorted the text himself.



Color Overlay
Changes the image to one color.



Gradient Overlay
Gradient Overlay is one of the most important styles to make your text look good. It makes a color change from color to color gradually.



Pattern Overlay
Pattern Overlay adds a pattern to your layer. Similar to Color Overlay, but with a pattern. Patterns can be custom defined.



Outer Glow
Outer Glow gives a faint glow on the outside of your text. Works great with a drop shadow.



Drop Shadow
Creates a shadow to give the effect that your layer is floating on top of another.



Combined Styles
By combining a Gradient Overlay, an Inner Shadow, and an Outer Glow, you can make something similar to this: