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The Tools You Need to Cast a Shadow in Photoshop

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Published: 11Aug2010
Word count: 556
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Casting a shadow is one of the most important competencies one must learn in order to bring his or her visual media to life. It is the final addition that helps render an object so that it stands out and appears more integrated into the background. Furthermore, it adds dimension to a complete piece so that a viewer perceives an actual object in space rather than flat shapes on a surface.

A shadow is cast because of blocked light emanating from a given source. This tutorial will use that principle in order to illustrate how to cast a shadow in Adobe Photoshop. There are a number of ways this can be accomplished in this highly effective graphic program, but only one of these techniques will be covered.

The Simplest Way to Cast a Shadow in Photoshop (aside the automatic option provided in the program):

Foremost, one must create two layers: one exclusively for the object (separate of the background), and another for its shadow. Then, select the layer in which the object is placed, activate the magic wand selection tool (set at a 50% tolerance) and select the field outside of the object. This should select the entire field outside the object, but none of the object whatsoever (if some of the object is selected, undo the selection, decrease the wand's tolerance, and repeat this step). Then, from the "Select" menu, click "Inverse." This will instead select the object. Then, without deselecting, activate the layer designated for the shadow. Make the layer with the object in it invisible so that selected outline of the object is all that appears in the layer. Activate the paint bucket fill tool (which shares a space in the tool box with the gradient fill tool) and fill the selection with the color black. Then, reduce the opacity of the layer to roughly 50%-80% (this can be adjusted as needed, and depends on the darkness of the background as well as the intensity of the light source).

Now that a base shadow as been created, it must be transformed in order to appear as though it is "laying flat" on the background (as would a shadow). At this point, it is easiest to make the object layer visible in order to use the object as a reference point. One should also ensure that the shadow layer is below the object layer so that it appears behind the object. Then, with the shadow still selected, select "Free Transform" from the Edit menu in order to adjust the slant and the size of the shadow. Then, open the "Transform" submenu from the Edit menu and select "Skew." Adjust the shadow as necessary so that it appears as though it is laying flat. Continue to apply adjustments until the shadow looks as realistic as possible.

Finishing Touches

Once the shadow has been successfully cast, one can apply final changes in order to render it even more realistic. For example, one can apply a simple fade-out that one can accomplish using an eraser with a large swatch that has blurred edges and opacity of 70%-50%. Another example could be the application of a Gaussian blur to the shadow layer to add a more evanescent feel to the shadow. At this point, one can play with the shadow endlessly to make it seem as realistic as possible.

Your graphics can pop, and you don't have to take forever to create them when you know HOW to use the right tools effectively. Learn more about the Adobe CS4 Creative Suite through our Adobe Photoshop CS4 Training Classes.

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