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Creating your own effects
When you can import selections from one document to another, you have
the power to create many special effects that will remain consistent
from one image to another. You can create and share the basic selection,
and then follow up with Actions to apply attributes quickly and consistently.
(See Actions tutorial.)
Although dragging a channel from one image to another gives you more
freedom than working with same sized images, you still must plan ahead.
When the saved selection is larger than the new image, parts of the
selection will fall outside the image boundaries. Plan ahead and make
sure your selection is smaller than your smallest image.
In the sample at the left, this image is used as the base for creating
a rough edge. The original selection was created with the Rectangle
Marquee. Add rough edges with the Quick Mask mode and a rough paintbrush.
To ensure that the frame is small enough to be contained on any of the
subsequent photos, choose Select>Transform select to reduce the size
of the selection.  Save
the selection to a channel.
Choose Select>Transform to restore the selection to
the edge. Select delete to clear the selection and create the rough
edge. The final effect is shown here.
With the image containing the selection still open, open
(or create) another image. Drag the selection channel to the new image.
Transform selection to reach the image edges and complete as for the
initial image.
This is a method you should practice until it is second
nature if you do repetitive graphics – you will save countless
hours. Consistency is guaranteed, too. In fact, it is often worthwhile
to create a separate document that contains nothing but selection channels
for each project. As you create special effects, drag the channels into
the master document.
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Open
the Channels window in the original document. In this example, the Channels
window is shown beside the original document which is below the new
image. Click and drag the Selection channel that you wish to transfer
to the new image. Release the mouse button and the channel will be added
to the Channels window of the new image. Click on the Load Channel as
Selection to activate the selection. Move your selection as desired.
For the effect shown at the left, create a new layer. Fill selection
with white and add drop shadow effect. 
