personally i've never used any photoshop effects in my pixels, but then again i only had photoshop for a few months before my hard drive died a slow and painful death :/

i actually prefer pixel art to any other medium just because of its precision and retro vibe, and that, although as painfully tedious as it is, it can be used to create the effects that other programs can, and making it all by hand is a lot more fun and helps your understanding of the effect.