How To Add Shadows And Highlights To Text In Photoshop For Depth – Shadow is a staple of Photoshop effects and is great for creating eye-catching compositions. With just a few mouse clicks, you can highlight background design elements. Using examples from web design and classic image editing, we’ll show you how to add shadows to create modern web designs and realistic compositions.
In the early 2000s, web and user interface designers used heavy shadows to highlight buttons. Fortunately, this trend of excessive design is a thing of the past. The shadows of the Internet, which disappeared for many years, are gradually returning. But this time they were used subtly and selectively.
How To Add Shadows And Highlights To Text In Photoshop For Depth
The angle of the light source and the background on which the shadow is placed are very important for creating reliable photo compositions. We’ll show you how to add a hard drop shadow and a very soft drop shadow in Photoshop.
Shadows/highlights In Photoshop
The first example application is a colorful and shiny landing page without shadows. The site has interactive buttons that we want to highlight by adding shadows. To create a drop shadow, first double click the layer with the button. Select Shadow at the bottom of the Blending Options list. If you set the Opacity to 100 percent in the Texture section of the Light Shadow options, you’ll get a typical 2000s look: a thick, heavy shadow.
Today’s designers choose a “less is more” approach. So we’ll add a thin drop shadow to highlight the button to show users that it’s interactive.
To achieve this, first move the Opacity of the shadow to 20. Then, if you set the distance to 0, you don’t need to set an angle. We want the shadow to be the same around the button. Then set the size to 5px to blur the shadow. A subtle shadow should now be visible, but faint enough to highlight the button.
To create a popup button, click the Outline drop-down list and select an outline shape that determines how the shadow will disappear. In the example, we are using a circular outline.
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Don’t worry, you don’t need to repeat these steps for each button. In the Layers panel, right-click the button you added a drop shadow to and click Copy Layer Style. To apply the effect to all other buttons, right-click the layers and select Paste Layer Style.
When creating composite work, it is often necessary to add shadows to combine photos taken in different situations. In our example, we want to blend a pen into a photo that shows some other elements. We have adapted the visual appearance, especially the color of the pen, to the style of the photo. Now all we need to do is add shadows to create a believable composition.
The shadows from other objects in the photo show us that the light source is from the upper right corner. Open the Blending Options again in the Layers panel and check the Ribbon drop shadow box.
Start by setting the Opacity to 67 percent and the Angle to 44 degrees. This gives the shadow an orientation like the shadows of other objects. Then set the distance to 24px and the size to 29px. The shadow from the pen looks convincing. But to achieve a harmonious overall effect, it is necessary to adjust the ratio between the highlights and shadows of the pen itself.
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Under Blending Options, click Label & Emboss. Set the Depth slider to 100 percent and the Size slider to 49 pixels. The Shadow then said: Set the angle to 30 degrees and the height to 30 degrees. Finally, move the bottom sliders to 4 percent and the shadow slider to 38 percent for the highlights. Voila! A ballpoint pen is blended into the photo to create a realistic result.
A natural shadow can add realism to composite photos, including a person or object in the landscape. As in the second example, we remove the person whose shadow we want to place on the plastered wall. Once the face layer is removed, open the Blending Options again and enable the Drop Shadow checkbox.
In this case, we will assume that the light source is in the upper left corner. To create a natural shadow effect, set the Opacity of the shadow to 30 percent and choose an angle of 155 degrees. Set the depth to 286 and the size to 18 pixels.
Tip: If you drag a slider to the right side in Photoshop, it does not mean that its maximum value has been reached. In the shadow example, you can manually enter a larger value and the slider will exceed the maximum limit.
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We keep the default values for other shadow parameters. What makes a shadow unique in the real world is that it appears dark and clear when close to a person and softens as they move away. To achieve this effect, you need a drop shadow defined as a separate layer.
From the top menu, select Layer > Layer Style > Create Layer. Shadow and Taken are now on two different floors. Then select the shadow layer and from the top menu click Filter > Blur Gallery > Blur Box.
This filter now allows you to add blur to specific locations. Place the first point at elbow lengths by left clicking on the photo. A field blur pin is then applied to the image. Drag the opacity handle to increase or decrease the opacity.
In our example, we will use a value of 150 pixels. If necessary, you can change this value in the settings on the right of the settings panel. Then place the second opacity pin at the belly level and enter a value of 130px. Finally, add a third blur pin under the hips at 80px. This creates a more natural looking drop shadow and the opacity can be confirmed with the OK button. We can all agree that everyone should know how to add shadows in Photoshop. It is useful not only for text styles, but for images and even icons you can use shadows. Although people rarely use shadows, they can sometimes be used for things like quick titles, buttons, and images. Learning how to add shadows to text in Photoshop can open up countless creative possibilities. Simply put, it helps you design better. Most people don’t know how to use it properly, or if they do, it’s in excessive amounts, making their design look unprofessional. So let’s learn how to find a nice medium and add the perfect amount of shadows while keeping the design clean. Learning how to add shadows in Photoshop is very easy (at least this method can be done). Table of Contents Step by Step Guide to Adding Shadows in Photoshop Step 1: Create a White Background Step 2: Create the Text Step 3: Ad Layer Effects Step 4: Adjust the Shadows Step 5: Refine the Shadow Appearance Step 6: Click OK to Change. Step by step guide on how to add text shadows in Photoshop Creating text shadows in Photoshop is not difficult. Step 1. Create a white background. To get started, you need to create a new document. To do this, select File -> New and click Create. Here we are: an empty background. Step 2: Create the Text To create a drop shadow for anything, we need to use the Layer Styles option. First, we will create a text layer and drop a shadow from it. To do this, go to the bottom left corner of Photoshop and click the Horizontal Type Tool to create the text. Then enter the text. When you’re done, choose a color, size, and font. Step 3: Ad Layer Effects As I mentioned earlier, learning how to add shadows in Photoshop is easy. In the Layers panel, click the FX icon at the bottom of the panel. Then select Drop Shadow from the list of options and you will see the different settings you can make. You can also choose from the menu Layer > Layer Style > Drop Shadow. Step 4: Adjust the shadow position A new window will open where you can adjust the shadow settings. Select a shadow color and click OK to begin. I chose black. You can adjust the angle using the conversion factor. I recommend using 45 or 150 degrees (this is the best angle for the image), but you can change it if you want. You’ll also find settings like distance, spread, and size (but I’ll explain that in more detail in the next step.) Keep this in mind when learning how to add shadows in Photoshop; Harsh, dark shadows often look fake.
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