Moving a Drop Shadow around
is easy and can make a rather mundane image interesting. Here are the steps:
1. Open
a new Canvas.
2. Using
any of the Selection tools, make a Selection:
-
Lasso tool
-
Pen tool (draw a Shape
and, in the Controls:Shape Design palette, click the Close
button, then click the Make Selection button.
-
Quick Curve tool (Draw as with
the Pen tool to create a Selection.)
-
Rectangular Selection tool
3. Fill
or paint the Selection.
-
Effects menu, Fill,
Using:
-
Current Color -
Art Materials
palette,
Colors section
(Painter 5,
Color
section)
-
Pattern - Art Materials
palette, Patterns section
(Painter 5,
Patternsection)
-
Gradient - Art Materials
palette, Gradients section
(Painter 5,
Grad section)
-
Weave - (Art Materials
palette, Weaves section
(Painter 5,
Weave
section)
4. Click
the Layer Adjuster tool (Painter 5 Floater Adjuster tool),
then click inside the Selection to lift it to a Layer (Painter
5 Floater).
5. With
the Layer (Painter 5 Floater) highlighted, in the Effects
menu, choose Objects, then choose Create Drop Shadow. For
this tutorial, accept the default settings, but later, do some experimenting
to get the Shadow just the way you like it for a particular image.
6.
In the Objects palette, Layers
section, click the small right-pointing triangle to the left of Layer
1 and Shadow (Painter 5, Floater
1 and Shadow) to open the Group.
7.
Click Shadow.
8.
In the Effects
menu, choose Orientation, then choose Distort.
9. Click
the bar at the top of the Distort Selection dialog box and drag
it out of the way so you can see the Shadow
and bounding box around it.
10. To
make the Shadow
fall behind the object,
click the handles at the top corners of the bounding box and drag them
into position, one at a time, remembering to think of the light source
location so your Shadow will fall directly opposite, on the other
side of the object.
11. If
you want your Shadow to be narrower as it moves into the distance,
for a Shadow that falls behind the object, repeat Steps
8 and 9, then click the handles at the far corners of the bounding
box and move them into position, one at a time.
12.
To make the Shadow
fall
in front of the the object, click the center handle at the top of the bounding
box and drag downward and (if appropriate) to one side, depending on where
your light source is located.
13. If
you want your Shadow to be wider as
it moves closer to the viewer, for a Shadow
that falls in front of the object, repeat Steps 8 and 9,
then click the handles at the nearest corners of the bounding box and move
them into position, one at a time.
Now that you know the basics, experiment
with various Drop Shadow settings,
Shadow
positions, and in the Controls:Adjuster
palette, move the Opacity slider to lighten or darken the Shadow.
Remember when you're placing your Shadow,
to consider the slope or flatness of the ground on which it falls and the
perspective used in the rest of your image, and keep that consistent.
Since it's only a sample, in this
image, there are three light sources, one for each object, which would
probably not be seen in real life. If there were, in fact, three light
sources, each object would have three shadows falling in different positions
opposite each light source and on the other side of each object.
Happy Shadowing!
:o)
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