[candlefish]

I'm working on a Photoshop layout which has several layers, many with layer effects such as overlay, hard light, multiply etc. My problem is trying to merge a normal layer with a layer which has layer effects, without losing the layer effect. For instance, I have two duplicate layers: the layer below is normal, the layer above is identical but with an overlay effect. When I try merging them into one layer, I lose my overlay effect. I know I can flatten the image and keep all the layer effects, but I want to merge several "layer-effect" layers before the final flattening. I've tried putting them into grouped folders and merging the folders but that doesn't work either.

If there's anybody who knows how to solve my problem, I'd really appreciate knowing the right way to proceed.