Many of us started out paper scrapbooking before we ever even considered
digital. And because of that we often want at least some of our digital
pages to LOOK like paper ones. The first thing new digital scrappers
learn to help make that happen is drop shadows. You put the very first
one on an element and you think “THAT’S IT!” But the more you learn
about drop shadows, you realize one size does not fit all! The standard
drop shadows don’t really work well on clear or transparent elements and
we are going to learn how to create drop shadows that will look more
realistic.
First, let’s learn a little about the drop shadow dialog box. This is the default drop shadow in PSCC:
1. Blend Mode: how the drop shadow will interact with the layer below it
2. Shadow color: default is dark which will be a bit harsh
3. Opacity: the level of opaqueness
4. Angle: the lighting angle at which the shadow is applied. We all tend to develop a favorite.
5. Distance: how far between the item being shadowed and the layer below. The smaller the number, the closer to the background.
6. Spread: how far the base shadow spreads
7. Size: the amount of blur applied to the drop shadow
You’ll
notice the default shadows are dark and muddy looking. The first thing
you might want to change is the Blend Mode, probably to linear burn or
maybe even color burn. This seems to decrease the gray cast but still
preserving the clarity of the element. The next step would be to
decrease the opacity below 50% and to change the shadow color either to a
medium dark gray or brown or even to sample the layer underneath the
acrylic element and choose a darker version of it.
See
how changing the blend mode reduces the gray cast and makes the paper
below much more clear? I did have to reduce the opacity on the linear
burn example to maintain clarity.
The next adjustments we might
make are with the distance, spread and size. Too high of a distance and
it will seem to float which isn’t what we are looking for. Having the
size smaller than the distance can lead to nicer edges. In general, the
thicker the acrylic element, the larger the numbers, thinner transparent
elements like digital plastic pockets would have smaller numbers.
Now
we’re cooking! The second two options are much more realistic than any
of the ones demonstrated so far. This might be just enough to make you
feel comfortable with the drop shadow on your clear acrylic elements.
But we can try one additional thing to add
a touch more realism.
You’ll
right click on the fx symbol on your clear element in the layers
palette and pull down to Create Layer. This will separate the shadow
layer from the element itself. Then, right click on the shadow layer and
select Duplicate Layer or go up to the Layer pull down menu at the top
of your screen. Both shadow layers should be
below your element. The bottom one is going to be the outer shadow and the top one is going to be the inner shadow.
Then,
you’ll ctrl-click/cmd-click on the thumbnail of the element layer. This
brings up the marching ants. Then move your mouse down to the bottom
shadow (outer shadow) layer in the layers palette and hit the delete
key. This removes the shadow underneath the element and creates the
shadow around it. Next, move your mouse to the top shadow (inner shadow)
layer in the layers palette. This time we want to delete the area
outside
the element so we’ll select the Inverse (ctrl-shift-I or cmd-shift-I)
or go up to the Select pull down menu and choose Inverse. Then hit the
delete key. Ctrl-d/cmd-d to deselect. Feel free to adjust the fill
opacity of one or both shadow layers to your liking.
The difference is really subtle but it’s there. The bottom two flowers with the separated shadows are a little more clear.
But
what if your background isn’t solid? Does that change things?
Absolutely, it might! Here are the same flowers on a patterned paper
background.
At
this point, it’s all up to personal preference. Your choice will depend
on the element, perhaps if it is completely clear or has writing or
words on it or even the size of the element itself to help you decide
which blending mode, level of opacity and distance/size works for your
page. Keep tweaking those settings until it’s
just right!
If you come up with a few favorites, consider saving them as custom
styles so you can pull them up again. Or you could create an action for
the shadow separation steps to make that part a bit quicker.
So
what’s your favorite of the ones shown? Do you have a different
shadowing method for clear elements that is your go-to? Share with us in
the comments below.
