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Better Drop-Shadows in Photoshop
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Add 1 extra step to the conventional process to make your shadows better.
Step 1. Open or create a new document with an object you
want to add a shadow to.
Figure A.
Step 2. CTRL+Click on the layer with your original object to load it as a selection.
Step 3. Create a new layer, and fill the selection with black (ALT+Backspace)
Step
4. CTRL+D to deselect. Now move the 'black' layer underneath
the other one.
Your layers palette should
look similar to figure B.
Figure B.
Step
5. Go to Edit > Transform > and use whatever you
like to move the shadow into
a position you like. I used
perspective, scale, and skew. (See Figure C).
Figure C.
Step 6. Now blur the shadow layer with Gaussian
Blur. Whatever setting you like,
I used 9.2.
Step 7. Ok, here's the good part. With the shadow
layer active, go to Layer > Add
Layer Mask >
Hide all.
Step 8. Now using the Gradient tool 
with white foreground, and black background,
drag a gradient
from the bottom of your shadow to near the top. If you don't
like how the shadow
looks, drag another gradient, and keep doing it until it
comes out right. Try laying the gradient at an angle. This is what
I got with
mine. See Figure D.
Figure D.
Here's a look at what my Layer mask looks like in the layers palette. (Figure
E).
Figure E.
In real life, shadows get faint the further away they are from the casting
source.
(Don't quote me on that, I'm making it up;-)
So the gradient revealed mask, kind of simulates that.
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Final Result
If
this tutorial was confusing in anyway, or did not work out for you © tomledin.com |
