Overwhelmed by my shadows!

gracielou

gracielou

New member
Ok. I have 3 pretty much finished LO's that have been sitting in my Photoshop workspace for 3 days now. I am really happy with the overall layout of them but when it comes time to add my shadows all of a sudden I go numb :blink: and just get right back up and walk away or start surfing the web.

Does anyone else have this problem? I do this everytime. I know in my head and with my eyes how I want them to come out, I just can't get my hands and skills to cooperate with my wants KWIM?

Just waiting for the shadow fairy to come and make it all better! If you see her please send her my way!
 
yes pretty much every layout. I always do shadows last and there is always something about them that bugs me and I cant get it just right
 
I used to have that problem but I started doing the shadows as I go along and it makes it much less overwhelming. Usually by the time I'm done with the design all the shadows are already finished too.
 
Nettio said:
I used to have that problem but I started doing the shadows as I go along and it makes it much less overwhelming. Usually by the time I'm done with the design all the shadows are already finished too.
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Maybe I should try this. Then I might get a whole lot more scrapping done! It honestly takes me twice the time to put my shadows on as it does to create the layout.
 
I do my shadows as I go along, but I do spend a lot of time on shadows because I'm a perfectionist. But, I must say, shadows are my favorite part of doing a layout. lol
 
SeattleSheri said:
I'm a weirdo, I like doing shadows. I do them as I go along too. Did you get the action I sent you?
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Yes. Thanks so much. I haven't had time to play with it yet. I need to go play with it. I have been searching tutorials today although that just frustrates me even more because my brain gets fried with to much info. I need to see pictures not words! I am such a picture girl!
 
I've never been able to do mine as I go, so sometimes a LO will sit that needs to be shadowed, simply because I don't feel like doing them.

I'm semi-happy with my shadows, of course there is tons of room for improvement, but I've come to the conclusion that I would rather SCRAP then spend my time obsessively shadowing... if that makes sense. And that is a big step for a perfectionist like me! LOL!
 
Shadows are always challenging because they're never the same and there's no solid "rules" like the rule of thirds or any of that. I still don't get them very well but I just try and keep going.
 
I don't know why I don't obsess over mine, *course maybe I should) unless I really want to highlight something. I've been trying to play with doing shadows so some of my edges looked curled, but I just play till I think they look ok and try to make sure they're all going the same direction. I think there's lots of actions out there that you can purchase though that are drop shadows if you use photoshop
 
I have a bunch of shadow styles that I use as I go along. Then I just warp and play with a few of them at the end.
 
gracielou said:
Maybe I should try this. Then I might get a whole lot more scrapping done! It honestly takes me twice the time to put my shadows on as it does to create the layout.
Click to expand...

I do mine in sections as I go. I usually get the foundation of my layout all designed first - papers, photos, photo frames and then I add shadows to them. Then I go on and add embellishments and shadow those. Titles and journaling are usually last. At the end I'll adjust any shadows that still aren't working right.

I've actually found that doing the shadowing as I go has made it easier for me to figure out where I want to add embellishments. I can see where I might want to add more dimension and I think that makes a big difference. When I used to wait and do all my shadowing at the end it was kind of always a surprise to see whether everything came together or not. :D
 
I shadow as I go too...I couldn't get past the photo if things were still all flat I think. Of course I've been doing this so long that I pretty much have memorized what shadow I want to use on what element lol
 
I totally understand, Amanda. I think that's why I've given up on having great shadows. Plus, CS2 does really weird things on my computer since I switched over to Vista. The shadows move in really weird ways. I'm not kidding. LOL!

Finally I just had to tell myself that since I mainly scrap for my kids (and because I enjoy it, too), that they really don't care about the shadows, so I won't obsess over them too much.

I also add shadows as I go. I just found a LO in my gallery (one that I loved), where I forgot to add a shadow to one of the pictures and it's driving me bonkers.
 
I do my shadows as I go along, too. Sometimes if I am doing a cluster of items, I leave it until the end of the cluster is together. Of course, I don't do my own shadows - I have a purchased set that I use in my layer styles which are much better than the ones PSE comes with. I just got another set, but I haven't played with them yet. I do want to take the tutorials out there to make my own, but I haven't made the time to do it yet (I have bookmarked Misty's tutorials, though).
 
I am a definite shadow DUFUS.....I only use the ones that came with PSE and I am not even sure if I do it right or not. I have become more aware of what I should and should not shadow but I would love to learn how to do my own too....someday like when the kids have all gone off to college I may get my chance!!!
 
It sounds like most everyone on the board uses either Photoshop or PSE?? I use PSPXI and from what I gather the shadows are different on these programs. Like we do not have styles. We do have scripts that you can save for something that you do over and over but Ive never done that and Im not sure it would work for shadows. But when you say you buy drop shadows does that mean you have bought pre-made shapes or is this a style also? Im a little confused over that?? It would be really great though if someone who uses PSP preferably XI or XII (or one that is very close I think it might be the same back a version or two) could help with shadowing on that program.
 
Dawn, what styles do you use...I am looking for some, but don't know which ones would be good (actions would be great, too!)
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Aaron, I just make my own (in PSCS3). Basically, they are all dark brown. Then, I just made a range of ones that are small/darker to big/lighter/fuzzier (I read somewhere that you shadows should get softer as they get bigger). It's easy to do -- just save a bunch as you are making shadows anyway.

[I also have another set that has higher opacity for using on dark BGs]
 
jessica31876 said:
It sounds like most everyone on the board uses either Photoshop or PSE?? I use PSPXI and from what I gather the shadows are different on these programs. Like we do not have styles. We do have scripts that you can save for something that you do over and over but Ive never done that and Im not sure it would work for shadows. But when you say you buy drop shadows does that mean you have bought pre-made shapes or is this a style also? Im a little confused over that?? It would be really great though if someone who uses PSP preferably XI or XII (or one that is very close I think it might be the same back a version or two) could help with shadowing on that program.
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Traci Murphy has scripts for PSP, so does Heather Manning. Although I'm not sure Heather's are shadows.
 
I use actions. I could do my own.. but the tuts I've read make my head hurt.. and the actions are quicker. LOL
 
I've been trying to work more on my shadows. I mostly still use the ones that came with PSE but I'm learning to adjust the colors and stuff so they're not all just black. LOL And I found a great tut online about doing shadows on striped/patterned papers that I've been playing around with too. :thumbup:
 
I add mine as Im going too! I have a whole set Ive saved as Styles. I'll still play with the opacity and depth sometimes but mostly its a click of a mouse.

Set the time aside to get the shadow technique you want - research and experiment. Its then super important to spend the next amount of time automating it - with scripts, actions or styles. This part really took the headache out of shadows for me - get your basic photo and element settings under control first. Write a notepad with your settings or make sure you save all of your styles/actions and scripts so you dont lose them between upgrades or crashes. You will find you still need to play with the occasional shadow but having your basics covered will leave you more time to spend on them.

There are some great tuts out there - Misty's blog is fab and Flergs shares her settings on her blog too - just search on 'drop shadow scrapbook' and you'll find a mint of other tuts. You must find one that you like the results of and then play, play, play.

There is never any hard and fast rules - thats why this question is always difficult to answer - play and automation will make a huge difference to your work flow and is well worth the time you invest.
 
LOL, apparently I'm the only person that doesn't worry at all about shadows. I have ONE that I use on everything (papers, elements, stitches, whatever). Well, except I have a style with a white stroke on it along with the same shadow for photos.

I dunno, I think it looks realistic enough.
 
story of my friggin life, amanda. oh....magic shadow fairy...come out come out and bestow upon us your mystic tutorial.
 
ditzyscrap said:
LOL, apparently I'm the only person that doesn't worry at all about shadows. I have ONE that I use on everything (papers, elements, stitches, whatever). Well, except I have a style with a white stroke on it along with the same shadow for photos.

I dunno, I think it looks realistic enough.
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I envy you Bree!! And your layouts aren't suffering one little bit!! Its one of those things about creativity we all create to our own taste but are still awed by a variety of finished creations that we wouldnt think to do in the same way ourselves. I am as equally impressed by non shadowed LOs as shadowed ones - there is something in me that rarely lets me go without 'em myself though most of the time I dont notice the shadows missing in anothers work. Isnt that weird!!
 
Mamasita said:
I do my shadows as I go along, but I do spend a lot of time on shadows because I'm a perfectionist. But, I must say, shadows are my favorite part of doing a layout. lol
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Well you do a fabulous job, Brandy. I always admire your shadows.
 
I try not to think about it too much...I'm somewhat limited to what I can actually do with shadows because I use PSPX2...not all the same fancy options as PS...which I think is good for me.
I'm happy with my pages and so is my family...that is the #1 most important thing to me!
 
Well I have got to keep working on my LO's because they are still sitting unshadowed on my desktop and I am ready to play with all the new goodies in the store!

I guess I just get so frustrated because when I was a paper scrapper the whole digi look is what turned me off from digital scrapbooking but then I started browsing the galleries after I tried digital and I saw some of the most amazing LO's that honestly looked like I could reach out and pick the objects right off the page I was hooked right then but I am ready to pull my hair out because with all the hard work and research I still have yet to accomplish this but I will not give up and I will keep trucking along and maybe one day figure it all out!

Thanks for the posts ladies. I will be trying some of your ideas!
 
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