ABgirl Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 I read in a tutortial somewhere to use drop shadows to get a raised effect, making the page look more real. I am looking for info on how to decided what to use the drop shadow on and what not to. Do I use it on everything? I could get carried away and use it on everything but I am not sure if that is what I should be doing. Any help would be appreciated. I recently posted 2 layouts that I used drop shadows on. If anyone could take a look at these layouts and let me know what they think. Thanks. I am very new to this and am looking for feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shari PV Mom Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 First .... here are the links to your LOs so people can see them easier. Snow Boys Second ... I think you are doing great with the drop shadows. A good rule of thumb is that anything that would get layered and show a shadow on a paper LO would have a shadow. You can also change the depth of your shadow. What program are you using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelaNussbaum Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 I think you did great with the shadows. Im just starting to use them... and this is what i try to do... keep them always in the same direction for the entire page. And sometimes i change the color of the shadow, so it isnt always black. Sometimes if i want an element to pop more than look layered, i'll change the shadow color to a similar hue. I hope that makes sense! Angela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shari PV Mom Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 I would love to be able to change the colors of my shadows but since I use PSE I don't have that capability. So, someday I'll upgrade to PSCS3. I just need to start making some money. This SAHM job pays great but it's not cash! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickypow Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 another thing to keep in mind about drop shadows is don't make them too big!! What alot of people do at first is create these huge drop shadows (which I did myself at the beginning) which makes elements look that they are "floating" above the page instead of layered on. I tend to keep my drop shadows under 10 for both size and distace, usually closer to 5 or 6 and I reduce the opacity from the default 75% to 50% - this is in PSCS2 and PSE5, I'm not sure what program you are using. Yours in your layouts are well placed and I don't think you went overboard at all, but I bet if you made them a wee bit smaller you'd be really happy with the results! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leigh Ann Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Ditto everything Erin said, and here's another piece of helpful info - on your folded ribbons, before you apply the dropshadow, merge the layers together that contain each half of the ribbon, then apply the drop shadow to that layer. that will prevent you top half from appearing to 'float' over the other half. I think you are well on your way to becoming a great digi-scrapper! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kara Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 I've found that PSE's default shadows, even the low and soft ones, make the item look like it's hovering on the page. I know that SG has more natural drop shadows available as a layer style, but for some reason, I can't get styles from SG to work on my PSE. So I use shadows from Traci Murphy Designs. They are set up as effects in PSE and make the pages look soooo realistic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giggsster Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 I took a look at your LOs....great job! I do agree with the other about big shadows...sometimes adding a drop shadow does make the paper appear like it is floating. I use PSE; I'll adjust the shadow down some so that I get less of a floating look. I haven't tried the styles from SG, but I'm going to have to try that at some point for a realistic shadow. Anyway, keep up the really great work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloginny Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 I read in a tutortial somewhere to use drop shadows to get a raised effect, making the page look more real. I am looking for info on how to decided what to use the drop shadow on and what not to. Do I use it on everything? I could get carried away and use it on everything but I am not sure if that is what I should be doing. Any help would be appreciated. I recently posted 2 layouts that I used drop shadows on. If anyone could take a look at these layouts and let me know what they think. Thanks. I am very new to this and am looking for feedback. I thinkk your pages are great! I'm new at this too, and I'd love to do as well. Ginny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloginny Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 I read in a tutortial somewhere to use drop shadows to get a raised effect, making the page look more real. I am looking for info on how to decided what to use the drop shadow on and what not to. Do I use it on everything? I could get carried away and use it on everything but I am not sure if that is what I should be doing. Any help would be appreciated. I recently posted 2 layouts that I used drop shadows on. If anyone could take a look at these layouts and let me know what they think. Thanks. I am very new to this and am looking for feedback. I think your pages are great! I'm new at this too, and I'd love to do as well. Ginny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digital Addict Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 There are some great techniques for doing shadows on layouts to help them feel more 'real' ... in the beginning it's enough to learn how to use all the 'auto' shadow features of your software (the direction, depth, size, etc). Once you are comfortable with manipulating all those settings, you can expand and really have some fun. Think about shadows and how they 'happen' ... sometimes I even use some pieces of papers etc to 'recreate' my design so I can see how the shadows look for real. When you do that, you'll notice that items next to the background paper will have little or no shadow ... unless they are 'thick' and then they will have a shadow ... the items that are farthest from the background paper will have the largest shadows and these shadows will be abit lighter than those of the items next to the background paper... Shadows beneath things like ribbons will often be warped...not an exact 'match' to the ribbons themselves. Sometimes this will also be true if you have a piece of 'paper' that is bent...or you're wanting your 'piece of paper/photo' to look like it's bent...good handling of a 'shadow' will help. To make 'custom' shadows ... one simple way is to make a copy of the layer you want a custom shadow for, move that layer so it is 'below' the original, then use your hue/saturation (PS CS or Elements) and move the saturation all the way to the left so your layer will be grey, then move the lightness all the way to the left as well...now your layer will appear black. You can control the 'darkness' of the new shadow with the layer's opacity. Now...you can't really see a 'shadow' yet because the new layer is the same size and location as your original. You may want to move it out from behind the original (the amount you move it will control how 'close' or 'far' it appears to be from the background paper!). THEN...once it's out where you can see it...you can use a 'soft' smudge tool set to a size large enough to pick up at least the center half the shadow and drag it just a bit...as you drag it you'll see how it's giving your original the appearance of being slightly 'bent'. Isn't that fun? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmoo Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 I've found that PSE's default shadows, even the low and soft ones, make the item look like it's hovering on the page. I know that SG has more natural drop shadows available as a layer style, but for some reason, I can't get styles from SG to work on my PSE. So I use shadows from Traci Murphy Designs. They are set up as effects in PSE and make the pages look soooo realistic! I didn't like the defaults in PSE4 either and use Traci Murphys. I drop shadow everything using these except for text. I sometimes look at layouts in magazines to get an idea about how much shadow something should have. Otherwise the best way is just to lay something out and see it. Paper and photos don't leave a lot of shadow unless you have actually padded them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rose Ann Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 I think you did a great job on your LO's, but you're right and your shadows are "off" just a wee bit. It's most noticable in the Snow layout where the top half of the folded ribbon is floating on top of the bottom half. I agree with what Chickypow and Digitaldreamer said about shadows. You didn't mention what program you are using, but in PSE 5 you can change the color of the shadows as well as the size and opacity. If your program won't let you customize your shadows, you might look at the shadow styles in the boutique. I have some of them and they are very subtle and natural. Here's some info that might help you out. Give a shadow its own layer Newsletter with realistic shadow tutorial HTH. PS: for Kara: one of the reasons styles sometimes don't work in PSE (especially 5) is that they have changed how you install them. You have to copy and paste the whole folder into the styles folder and you have to use the edit button to do it , you can't use keyboard shortcuts. Here is a link to a thread that might help http://scrapgirls.com.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=10710 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PBarnes Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 Technically you can change the color of the shadow in PSE. After you have applied the shadow style, there is a little sun-like icon on the right side of the layer in the layers palette. You can double click on that and it will bring up a dialogue box. There is a little color box on the right side of that area that is filled with black as default. You can click on it and it brings up the color picker screen. I played around with it a little and it didn't seem to make much difference except if you make it a very light color, the shadow will disappear. To make a shadow look more natural, you could go in and chose a darker version of the background the object is sitting on and adjust size, distance and opacity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kara Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 Rose Ann, thanks for that link! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABgirl Posted June 10, 2007 Author Share Posted June 10, 2007 You have all been so helpful. Thanks Shari for providing a link to my pages. How do you do that? I am using PSE 5. There is so much to learn. I'm not sure if I will ever figure it all out. I have gone back to my page and merged the ribbons and then applied the low drop shadow. I have also changed to color of the drop shadow to a little darker than the background paper. It did make a big difference. I was using the default color (black) not realizing I could change the color. Is there a rule of thumb for the color of the drop shadow? Do I use the depth setting to change the size of the drop shadow? What size of drop shadow should I use? Also, a few of you mentioned Traci Murphy Designs for good drop shadows. Where would I find these? This is so much fun. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PBarnes Posted June 11, 2007 Share Posted June 11, 2007 Heather, I think of the shadow as the object casting the shadow blocking the light that falls on what the object is sitting on so it would seem that the shadow should be a darker version of the background. It makes it a little bit more difficult to figure if the background is made up of lots of colors. Then, a gray/black type shadow probably works best. You can create a link to your layouts or something in the boutique or whatever by finding your layout in the gallery, highlighting and copying what is in the browser window, then highlighting a key word that you've typed in your message and clicking on the green + sign just above the text window. That will bring up a small box where you can paste in what you copied from the gallery. What you will see in your text will just be a string but when you send your reply, it will show up as an underlined item that is a clickable link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrappylibrarian Posted June 11, 2007 Share Posted June 11, 2007 Heather, it looks like you are getting some great advice here! I picked up a few tips myself! I just wanted to give you a big welcome to SG, keep up the great work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest elkay Posted June 11, 2007 Share Posted June 11, 2007 I am so glad I read this topic as there is lots of great advice here. I know that I tend to add shadows to almost everything and things sometime do look as though they're flying off the page - I have PSE4 too . Thanks to the tips here, I will put a bit more effort into my shadows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in NC Posted June 11, 2007 Share Posted June 11, 2007 I would love to be able to change the colors of my shadows but since I use PSE I don't have that capability. So, someday I'll upgrade to PSCS3. I just need to start making some money. This SAHM job pays great but it's not cash! Hi Shari, Which version of PSE are you using? In PSE 5, you can change the color of the shadows by clicking on the little sun that appears in the layer palette on the layer where you've applied the drop shadow layer style. Once the menu opens, if you click on the square with the color showing, you'll get an eyedropper and it will take you to the color picker. HTH, Jennifer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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