Both Photoshop 5.5 and Image Ready 2.0 have some special effects that you can apply to a layer. You can even apply the special effect to the whole image if you make the whole image a layer. Of special interest to webdesigners are "bevel and emboss" for making buttons and "drop shadow" for images and text. Notice how much better this beveled and embossed button 
looks than a plain button
. Adding a drop shadow to an image or text 
adds a special effect in certain situations. You can also experiment with the other special effects to see if they have value in webdesign. Each special effect allows you to adjust(below right) how the special effects will appear by changing color, opacity,
angle, etc. Experiment with these adjustments. If you are in Image Ready, there is also a button 
for the special effects. The adjustments to each effect can be made in a box(below left) below it.
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