This was the senario; I duplicated a layer twice so I had 3. I applied different blend modes and lighting to each of them to get the effect I wanted. Then I decided a trip to the Liguify filter was in order. I did at first merge the 3 layers but they didn't look as I wanted anymore so I un merged them and linked them instead. The liquify filter only affected the one layer I had active. I thought if they were linked it would do all 3 ? Is that what meshes in Liquify are for? I didn't know what to do. I haven't used that filter much before but I think its got great potential. As it was I went back to an earlier snapshot, did my liquify on the origonal layer, then re -did all the duping, blending, lighting etc and it was a real pain. What would have been the sensible way to do this ? Thanking you all in advance for any help.

As regards Liquify's reach, as Adobe say: "Only the active layer is distorted, even if other layers are displayed" Also, some blending modes can be very sensitive to the order in which you merge layers. In general, merge from the bottom upwards.

Thank you- I didn't know that about the blends/merge order. I'll go look up about meshes in liquify.

Try making a new layer and pressing Cntrl+Alt+Shift+E. it should merge all visible layers onto the new layer without losing any of the underlying layers and without losing any of the results of your blending modes. the liquify filter will still ofcourse only affect that one layer. i hope this helps

Let me see if I can put something into a coherent explanation....

I find when I merge the linked layers while I am on an active layer set at NORMAL blending mode, the blending appearance does not alter upon merging the layers. And its better to link your layers and then merge them, rather than simply merging down.

Er...usually, anyway. Don't bet your life on it ;)

Obviously in hindsight it would have been better to Liquify, then duplicate, then apply blending effects.

Thank you all for the merging advice. Losing the desired effects is something I've come across before so I'm real glad for these tips ! LOL Hindsight is a wonderful thing - I just wish I was as good with foresight ; )

Oh yeah, you can also save/load "meshes" in the Liquify filter window. That way, you can save what you did to the one layer, and apply it to the other 2, while still keeping the 3 layers separate.

jonbalza- thankyou for confirming that !