Arthur,
In your Layers palette, select the layer which contains the object which you wish to give a shadow.
Open the Layer Styles palette, and choose Drop Shadows from the drop-down list at the top of the page. Then choose from the available shadows.
Once you have selected a shadow, go back to the Layers palette and you’ll see a cursive "f" symbol on that layer. Double-click the "f" and you’ll be able to adjust the shadow depth and angle.
HTH,
Byron
just to add a little to Byron’s excellent post…be sure the object is alone on it’s own layer. If you need help putting the object on it’s own layer please come back and we’ll help.
Arthur,
If I have guessed wrong I apologize, but I think maybe you don’t know that you need to first "select" the portion of the image that you want to shadow (for instance a person or object in a scene). Unless you want to "paint" a shadow on your image you need to isolate the part you wish to shadow by selecting it and creating a new layer of that selection.
To select it use the magic wand or if you have PSE2 you can use the "selection brush".
Once selected then create a "new layer" by going to Layer (on the menu at the top of the screen) and then choose "new" and then "layer via copy". This will create a "New Layer" that has just the selected object.
You can then click on the "Layers" palette (top of screen on right side….look through the files tabs). You can click on that file tab, hold and drag it down on to your screen work area. (you will need to refer to it to see which layer is "active".
Now you can go through the steps that Byron posted.
Pete
I’ve always had to add one more step to this process. I make drop shadows for the entire image, so after duplicating the layer and making the shadow, I have to resize the canvas in the direction of the shadow to make the shadow visible. Is this necessary, or is there a way to make the shadow visible automatically?
Eric,
I don’t know of a way to have the canvas "auto-enlarge" when you add a drop-shadow to the entire image.
You do need canvas space to display the drop shadow, so you are bound to either enlarge the canvas, as you describe, or you could shrink your image, if you don’t want to increase overall dimensions… you could select the entire image, and use Free Transform or the Move tool to contract it so that the shadow shows within the existing canvas space.
Someone with more experience may come along and explain that I am giving you a bum steer, so make any notes in pencil.
Byron
Go ahead and make notes in Pen …Byron is right on target.
for a real quick way to enlarge the canvas, use the crop tool & drag OUTSIDE the current canvas – hit <enter> & kapow! bigger canvas…. —
<mike>
graficalicus web & graphics
www.graficalicus.com
wrote in message
Eric,
I don’t know of a way to have the canvas "auto-enlarge" when you add a drop-shadow to the entire image.
You do need canvas space to display the drop shadow, so you are bound to either enlarge the canvas, as you describe, or you could shrink your
image,
if you don’t want to increase overall dimensions… you could select the entire image, and use Free Transform or the Move tool to contract it so
that
the shadow shows within the existing canvas space.
Someone with more experience may come along and explain that I am giving
you
a bum steer, so make any notes in pencil.
Byron
Mike, could you please do a favor for those of us who don’t access via newsgroup? Please don’t quote the entire message! It adds a whole bunch of extra text that some of us don’t like to have to wade through and often causes confusion. Thank you. 🙂
Mike,
Thanks! I’ll give that a try.
the idea would be to get whatever you want to create a drop shadow behind separated from the rest of the image by selection, and then apply a Layer Style. For example:
1. Use the lasso to select the object.
2. Copy (Cmd/CTRL+C)
3. Paste (cmd/CTRL+V). This creates a new layer with the copied content.
4. Open the Layer Styles palette (choose Layer Styles from the Window menu), Select Drop Shadow from the category list, and click one of the styles.
Customizing drop shadows is a bit more involved. There is a set of tools on Adobe Exchange that can help you create these more complicated effects quickly.
Mac: <
http://share.studio.adobe.com/axAssetDetailSubmit.asp?aID=75 31> PC: <
http://share.studio.adobe.com/axAssetDetailSubmit.asp?aID=75 16>
Richard Lynch
Arthur,
Elements "out of the box" does give a modicum of customization for drop shadows. After you have followed Richard L’s instructions, show your layers palette. Next to the layer thumbnail you will see a cursive f. Double click that symbol and you will get a dialog that lets you set the angle and distance for the shadow.
If you want more complex control, visit the links that Richard suggested.
Rich
OTOH, it makes it harder for those of us in newsgroups to remember what the original topic is, since not only is it not displayed, but the threads aren’t even kept up properly so you don’t know who is responding to whom. It’s like a catch 22 kind of thing, I think.
Vicky
(who tries to be super careful in this ng, but only this ng)
P.S.
If some of my replies don’t make sense, it’s likely because of this problem – I sometimes lose track of who is saying what. (and when threads get too long, I usually just give up and don’t participate in any meaningful way, unless the other participants are also using newsreaders so that they are at least keeping the threads intact)
Larry,
You need to access the Style Settings.
In the Layers palette, after you applied the drop shadow, you now will see a cursive letter f in a circle. Double-click the f, and you’ll get the Style Settings dialoge. (you can also get it via Layer > Layer Style > Style Settings…)
At the top of the box, you can set the Lighting Angle by clicking on the edge of the circle to designate the source of the light… or just key it in directly if you wish. The Use Global Light option, when selected, will set all drop shadows and bevels and such in the same document to the same lighting angle. You can also adjust the Shadow Distance with the slider.
As you can see, there are other sliders which become available if you have the corresponding style applied to the layer.
HTH,
Byron
