Let's talk about drop shadows

nesser1981

nesser1981

Sweet Shoppe SugarBabe
I'm trying to expand my scrapping, I feel like I'm in a rut, so how are you doing your drop shadows?

I use to always use Traci Murphy's actions, now I just alter those, but I'd still like to be able to do my own. I've been look at the tutorials on Misty's blog and the links that were posted at the Hawt Mama blog.

How do you do yours?
 
I do mine Misty's way, I've never been able to do mine as a layer style, so this way is perfect for me. I think you also have a lot more control having the shadow on a seperate layer.

Megan had started a thread where we were talking about cutting and bending shadows just the other day.... let me see if I can find it! Here's the link!
 
THanks Jac. I'm trying the layer ones right now, but man, I'm going to be slow if I start doing them this way. LOL! :)

I keep trying to get Karah Fredricks to write me directions on hers.
 
Mine is a modified lazy shortcut way. :)

I always put it on Linear Burn with between 20-45% opacity. Then I mess with... *lol* the first slider (I really can't remember what it is!) and the third. Usually, the first one is at 5-10% and I move the third one to 15-25%. I don't mess with the second one.
 
I will share my EASY method, even though I always thought I would keep it a secret.
LOL!

I have CS3, btw.
I right click on the layer and click on Blending Options.
I then checkmark the Drop Shadow options and highlight by clicking on it.
After that, I set my opacity to 75-100%, sometimes less depending on the quality of the item. Items made with better quality are easier to keep at a higher opacity.
My Distance, Spread and Size depends on what I'm shadowing.
My Spread is almost always a 0.

Here are the settings for the following items:
Papers & Photos: Distance at 8, Size at 15...I then play with my opacity as I said earlier, because the quality of the paper depends on how realistic the drop shadow looks. Sometimes the shadow needs to be toned down a little.
Elements: Distance at 13, Size at 21. If it's bulkier, I may bring it to 18 and 21, or 18 and 24...I just play a little to see how much POP I want from the element off the screen.
Acrylics: I usually use Distance 13 and Size 21 but I switch my Blend Mode to "overlay". Again, with acrylics, the opacity will need to be played with depending on the size and quality of acrylic item.

Thats it! No extra layers or anything! I love my method and I like the way my drop shadows work. Plus I can shadow each item as I go and it really takes NO time!
If anyone uses my method I would like to see what you think of it.:)
 
I created a few different layer styles that I use with blending methods, so I can apply the same styles to multiple layers at a time. For more advanced shadowing on some layers (mostly strings, photos, etc.), I use Misty's method.
 
psalm149 said:
I created a few different layer styles that I use with blending methods, so I can apply the same styles to multiple layers at a time. For more advanced shadowing on some layers (mostly strings, photos, etc.), I use Misty's method.
Click to expand...
Ditto! That's what I do too. My method is slightly different in process to Misty's but with the same output (I duplicate my image, add a black overlay, gaussian blur it and then play with my transform controls/warp tool). I've also made several (10+ styles) that I use over and over. Most of the time I group my elements, so I'll apply a style to the entire group.

Mandy, your styles are similar to the ones I've made, some of my numbers are just slightly different.

Anyway, good thread. I'm always trying to get better at shadows! It's definitely a work in progress! I love how much depth they add to a LO! I really think they can make a good layout, fantastic!
 
Mandy said:
I
I right click on the layer and click on Blending Options.
I then checkmark the Drop Shadow options and highlight by clicking on it.
After that, I set my opacity to 75-100%, sometimes less depending on the quality of the item. Items made with better quality are easier to keep at a higher opacity.
My Distance, Spread and Size depends on what I'm shadowing.
My Spread is almost always a 0.

Here are the settings for the following items:
Papers & Photos: Distance at 8, Size at 15...I then play with my opacity as I said earlier, because the quality of the paper depends on how realistic the drop shadow looks. Sometimes the shadow needs to be toned down a little.
Elements: Distance at 13, Size at 21. If it's bulkier, I may bring it to 18 and 21, or 18 and 24...I just play a little to see how much POP I want from the element off the screen.
Acrylics: I usually use Distance 13 and Size 21 but I switch my Blend Mode to "overlay". Again, with acrylics, the opacity will need to be played with depending on the size and quality of acrylic item.

Thats it! No extra layers or anything! I love my method and I like the way my drop shadows work. Plus I can shadow each item as I go and it really takes NO time!
If anyone uses my method I would like to see what you think of it.:)
Click to expand...

I pretty much do this too with slight tweaks here and there, and THEN I right click and choose Create Layer so each element's dropshadow has its own layer. Then I can nudge or Warp the shadow to "fall" the way I want it to. I LOVE the Warp function--I got CS2 for this function alone, lol. I know Holly Griego (known for her fantastic layering) also fiddles with the smudge tool for her shadows.

I also recently discovered how to shadow acrylics--yep, I change the blend mode to overlay or screen or even soft light, depending on how dark I want the acrylic. I love how it looks :D
 
I use Misty's method and I love it. Now that I know what Im doing with it I can do it so quick so Im sticking to it.
 
mrshobbes said:
I pretty much do this too with slight tweaks here and there, and THEN I right click and choose Create Layer so each element's dropshadow has its own layer. Then I can nudge or Warp the shadow to "fall" the way I want it to. I LOVE the Warp function--I got CS2 for this function alone, lol. I know Holly Griego (known for her fantastic layering) also fiddles with the smudge tool for her shadows.

I also recently discovered how to shadow acrylics--yep, I change the blend mode to overlay or screen or even soft light, depending on how dark I want the acrylic. I love how it looks :D
Click to expand...
I never thought to make a layer out of the drop shadow style! *lightbulb goes on* --- thank you so much for the tip Lex! That's awesome!!! :thumbup:
 
my way is similar to Mandy's. I pick an item and apply a drop shadow to it. Usually I change the color of the shadow to a dark brown so then I just copy the layer style to all my other layers so the shadow color is the same. Then I tweak each layer for size and distance, opacity, and blending mode. I have no set settings for anything. I just do what I feel at the moment.

I use to change the angle but now I usually just keep it at 120 b/c it seems like that's what preshadowed items are set at and I just want to stay consistent.

If I'm feeling ambitious, I then put the drop shadow on its own layer and warp or whatever.
 
SeattleSheri said:
I never thought to make a layer out of the drop shadow style! *lightbulb goes on* --- thank you so much for the tip Lex! That's awesome!!! :thumbup:
Click to expand...

I learned it from Holly Griego. Happy to help, Sheri--and you're right, it IS awesome! I **heart** PS! :thumbup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Community platform by XenForo® © 2010-2026 XenForo Ltd.
Back
Top