The Shadow Effect in Photoshop
One of the essential abilities you need to have in Photoshop is the ability to take something that’s 2D and make it look 3D. Adding shadows in Photoshop is easy with the Photoshop Shadow Effect. The effect is everywhere now and expected in the presentation of most all work. Have a look at other useful Photoshop effects too.
How to add the Photoshop Shadow Effect
To make it easy, have everything that you want to have a shadow in one layer. Then:
Rasterize layer to have shadow. Do this by right clicking the layer you want to rasterize.
Duplicate that layer. The shortcut is “command(or ctrl) J”
Flip layer – Go to Edit>Transform>Flip Vertical while the layer is selected.
Position flipped image under upright image using move tool
Choose the select tool
Set Feather – This will affect the level of fade. For High resolution (300PPI) try a high feather around 50 px, For web images (72PPI) start at 10px
Select most of the flipped image
Click delete one or two times
Adjust (lower) opacity to fit
Photoshop Down & Dirty Trick: Casting Shadows
How to Create a Drop Shadow from Scratch in Photoshop
