Custom Shadow Tutorial and a Special Treat from a friend... it's a good day!

Hi everyone! I hope you are having a good week and getting ready to enjoy your weekend :) I thought you might enjoy a few things.. One is my first blog tutorial on making custom shadows on your layouts. I really want to share with the community things that I feel helped me become a better scrapper. So I hope you will enjoy it.

Are you signed up for my Newsletter? Don't miss getting Exclusive offers, Coupons and special updates! I have a signup in the right hand corner of my blog here :) I will be sending out my first one in the next few days and you won't want to miss out!

Make sure to read this whole post because I have a special treat for you from my good friend and Designer Catherine!

Now before you go on... Are any of you Grey's Anatomy Fans? Oh my I'm such a fan and I just finished watching the episode tonight... I'm never disappointed when I watch this show and I have to say this last one really got me... I just bawled my eyes out LOL! Couldn't help my self it was a such a good one...Ha! Does that make any sense me crying and then I say it was good? Well if your a fan then you will understand. LOVE that show!

Ok that is all for today... Have a fantastic weekend and keep your eyes open because I'm working on something new and I'm so excited about it :)

Custom Shadow Tutorial I use photoshop CS3 but this should work for most versions. I hope I make sense LOL!!!:lol This is just a few steps beyond making a regular shadow... I use this to give elements a more realistic look of dimension as if they are raised off the page. Also as a general rule. You want your shadows to be at 60 percent opacity or a bit lower for lighter papers. I use these basic settings to start.

Starting with this... The reason you want to make a separate shadow layer (where the shadow is all by itself not connected to the element anymore in the layers pallet) is so you can modify it by using the warp tool. So now go up to Layers then under Layer Styles. then select Create Layer This will separate the shadow on it's own layer below the element layer. Now you can see in your layers pallet to the right the two individual layers. Now go to your layers pallet and select the Shadow layer Now go under Edit and select Transform Then select Warp Now pull the tips by grabbing the section of the grid... Make sure you move the closest sections around the corner of grid too so it looks natural. You want it to look naturally bent. You will have to play a bit. Also, make sure that you pull back the base so it is close to the object. Here shows what the grid looks like... After warping the grid...  

Here is the finished custom shadow. 

Tip: if your shadow is too sharp go under Filter, Blur, and select Gaussian Blur and you can soften it :) You can do this in the first step making the size bigger. This is used after putting the shadow on it's own layer. Softened Shadow I also lowered the fill to from the orig. 60 to 50 since it is on white paper. 

The fill is right below Opacity and acts the same as Opacity in this step.

I hope this was helpful. There are many different ways of doing things in PS ;) 

More Shadow Tips:

When I'm trying to figure which way to warp my shadows. I usually look at my photo and see which way the light is casting down on the subject. I then try to imitate that when creating shadows on my page. Try to make all your shadows cast in the same direction away from the light. Think about depth and if you want something like a butterfly to look like it is flying off the page then make the shadow depth farther off the page and soften the size of the shadow. I really love using custom shadows on my pages and think it really gives that pop to the elements. I use them on every page and even made an action for creating custom shadows. It makes a lot faster...  

Oh another thing about shadows I was asked is do I color my shadows... I read that suggestion a while back and started to do so, but then I found I personally like using black and don't color them anymore. You can always try it though and make your own choice:)

One more Shadow Tip I hope this makes sense.

If I have an area that I want to add more shadow too. I will make a layer above or below the item which ever area that I'm trying to add more depth. I then put my settings to Multiply:) and select a soft brush. Then set the brush at a low opacity like 10. I then will paint in a shadow to add the depth I want. Building it up slowly so it looks natural. If you want to see an example of this. You can look at my last page I created in my gallery link Here. I used it for the base of the tree on the left side of the hills.

I plan to post more tutorials on my blog and I would love some feedback. I posted this at DST a while back asking for any suggestions for what you would like to see in the future. A few suggestions were a tutorial on Extractions, Lighting and I was thinking one about using the blending modes and masking would be good. I would love your thoughts.

Here is a bonus for you today!!!!

My good friend and one of the kindest people I know Catherine is offering a new Add-on Freebie using her latest kit Winter Retreat... you have to check it out it's gorgeous! Here is the Link to Catherine Designs Blog 

Here is a peek of the Add-on.... Enjoy!

Comments

[Tricia]

Thanks for the great tutorial. I would be interested in all of the other tutorial ideas you mentioned!

[Becca]

Thanks so much for the tut! I've been studying custom shadows in the last few days and this is extremely helpful. Oh -- and I can't wait for the next episode of Grey's, either! ;)

[Ancsika]

Great tutorial, thank you!

[brydka]

Wonderful idea sweetie ;)

[Kristin Vald]

Awsome tutorial Dawn !

And yes...another Greys fan over here...I just love this show ! I own them all on dvd ;-)

hugs
Kristín

[Kuznyec]

Great tutorial, thanks! Please, check out my blog, there is a little surprise for you. :-)