Photoshop tips and tricks..

Creating Drop Shadows Without Filters

Drop shadows have gotten to be extremely popular and they can do a lot to make an image stand out. Most people use filters to create drop shadows, but I prefer to have more control and flexibility. This is how I do it.

Making sure that the object I want to shadow is on its own layer (separate from the background), I duplicate the object's layer.

Then I move the duplicate layer below the original layer and move it slightly so that it's no longer hidden by the original.

Now I darken the lower layer until it is solid black.

Next I adjust the opacity of the lower layer to about 20%. I also apply a slight Guassian Blur to soften it.

Now I have the freedom to move the shadow wherever I want and to adjust the shadow's opacity whenever I want, and I can work with the layers independently.

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