Inner shadow in Photoshop. Shadow Layer Style in Photoshop

Giving an object depth and volume – chiaroscuro. It occurs when an object is illuminated by various light sources directed under different angles. Artists and photographers, when creating their works, attach great importance to chiaroscuro, as it enlivens the picture and gives it greater expressiveness. This element is also used in web design. On many modern sites you can find objects containing highlights and shadows that add volume and reality. Let's look at how to make a shadow from an object in Photoshop .

Let the subject be lit by a fairly large light source from above, such as many lamps on the ceiling. Look at these two photographs. In the first case, there is a small shadow under the pan, this gives the impression that it is standing on a flat surface. In the second case, there is no shadow, and the objects seem to “hang” in the air, they are separated from the background, there is no single whole with it.

How to make this small but important shadow. To do this we will use the program Photoshop use which we . We create new document (Ctrl+N). Open a file with an image of the object for which we want to make a shadow. You can see that our plush hippo has no shadow. It looks unreal, he “floats” in the air.
Let's select it. To do this, let's take a tool Wand and click on the white background. He will stand out. Now let's invert the selection: Selection – Invert (Shift+Ctrl+I). Next, copy it and paste it into a new document.
It turned out to be two layers, on one - the background, on the other - the subject. Let's create another layer between them, call it Shadow.

Tool Oval selection Let's draw an oval at the bottom of the object, slightly wider than the object, and fill it with black. Remove selection: Selection - Deselect (Ctrl+D). Now let's make the shadow blurry. To do this, run the command: Filter - Blur - Gaussian Blur.

By moving the slider, we achieve the necessary blur.

Choosing a tool . Setting it up Opacity — 20%, Rigidity— 20% and edit the shadow according to the shape of the object.

Use the Blur Tool to blur the shadow a little around the edges. By changing the opacity of the layer, we achieve the desired brightness of the shadow.

To make the shadow even more real, create a duplicate layer. Shadow. Let's run the command: Editing — Transformation —

and compress the shadow a little so that it is darker directly under the object.

Now, using the eraser and layer opacity controls, we achieve the desired effect.

Now let's create a duplicate of the layer with the object, move this layer lower, run the command: Image - Correction - Levels and move the slider to the left.

First, select the item you want to make a shadow for. Determine which way it should fall. It is necessary to take into account the laws of natural lighting, since if you make the shadow unnatural, it will ruin the entire image.

How to make a shadow in Photoshop?

Open and load the selected picture into it for which you want to make a shadow. Find the item " File» -> « Open…"(File -> Open).

Select an object using the " Wand"(Magic Wand). While holding Shift key, left-click on the area white background. Then find the item “ Selection" (Select), click on it and select " Inversion"(Inverse).

After this, the selected item must be copied to new layer. To do this, left-click on the layer and select the command “ Duplicate Layer"(Layer via copy), or use the key command "Ctrl + J".

Go to the layer you just created. On the left side of the command bar, select " Gradient tool"(Gradient Tool). From the Gradient palette, select " Black, white" Fill the shape with a gradient from bottom to top vertically.

Next in the menu “ Editing" (Edit) select the tool " Free transformation"(Free Transform). While holding Ctrl key, click at the top of the selected frame and drag it in the desired direction to give the shadow a natural slope.

To make the outline of the shadow blurry, find in the menu “ Filter" (Filter) -> " Blur" (Blur) -> " Gaussian Blur"(Gaussian Blur). Adjust the shape blur that suits you.

In order to remove the “extra” shadow, go to the layer with the original image, select the “ tool Eraser» (Eraser) and very carefully adjust the outline of the shadow.

“I didn’t mention how the shadows were made. I decided to correct myself and make a separate post on this topic.

So, you have some kind of image and you need to make a shadow from this object that looks like a real one. It's not very difficult to do this. For many simple objects It's very simple, but for complex objects it's more complicated. But the “technology” for obtaining shadow is very simple.

So, we have an image of the table from "Alice"

I'll fill the very first layer (Background) with a gray-white gradient for example. Making a copy of our table using Ctrl+J, upper rename the layer to " table", layer underneath let's call " table shadow". On this layer we need to erase everything unnecessary, leaving only the object we need.

Advice: make the layers clear names, so it will be easier for you to navigate the layers palette!

Turn off visibility upper layer, select second layer and apply to it Exposure -20.

Next you need the received contrast black the image is a little blurry Gauss. We select the blur strength as needed - the less blur, the clearer the shadow will be; the more, the softer the shadow will be.

Activate the visibility of the topmost layer ( table) and instrument Move Tool move the image to second layer in a direction slightly up and slightly to the left. The blending mode of this second layer needs to be changed to either Soft Light, or, if the degree of shadow density is not sufficient, then you can select Hard Light with reduced opacity (let's say 50-80%... I chose 70%) (or leave blending mode at Normal, lowering the transparency of the layer “to taste”).

We get a realistic shadow... but this would be a shadow if the table stood near the wall and it would be a realistic shadow on the wall. This is a very good way to make shadows from objects hanging on the wall (paintings, for example).

But we need a shadow on the floor. To do this you need to go to second layer, use the rectangular selection tool to select the entire shadow and select the option Edit -> Transform -> Skew.

Pull for top corners left and down, if necessary, adjust the bottom by shifting the lower corners to the right, and, also if necessary, while in the mode Skew change it to Warp, when you can move individual parts of the “shadow” in necessary points... i.e. V in this case I moved the shadow to the legs of the table.

Click Enter to apply the geometry change and click on Ctrl+D hide the “snake” of the selection.

Voila!!! The shadow is ready!!!

If you need to add a shadow somewhere, or just darken some part underlying layer, That:

1) you need to add an empty new layer on top layer on which something needs to be darkened.
2) set the mixing mode to Soft or Hard Light
3) choose soft brush, choose black and choose Opacity(transparency) within 5-15%
4) start painting with such a brush on this new layer over those areas that need to be darkened. The more you pass such a brush over one area, the more it will darken.
5) If you went too far with darkening, or applied it in the wrong place, then select Eraser same with not so much high degree transparency ( Opacity) reduce the degree of darkening by erasing the “extra”

If you need lighten some areas, then instead black brush colors need to be chosen white... and that's it!

This is one of the commonly used techniques darkening and lightening - Dodge & Burn. The difference between this method and existing Photoshop tools is that all darkening and lightening are easily edited, enhanced, weakened and removed without any problems and represent non-destructive working with the original image.

Advice: it is advisable to create two different layer for lightening And blackouts, giving them appropriate names - this way there will be less chance of confusion.

Happy experimenting!

P.S. If anyone has comments, notes or additions - write, let's discuss!

Adding shadow to a subject in a photograph adds depth and naturalness to it. This is why many people are so eager to learn how to make shadows using a graphics program. And software like Photoshop allows you to add a shadow to any object without much difficulty. After reading the article, you will learn how to make a shadow in Photoshop.

Step 1: Opening the Image for Editing

Before you learn how to make a shadow of an object in Photoshop, you need to understand the basics of the graphics program, namely, how to load finished photo, how to select an object and work with layers. In order to open an image in Photoshop, you need to go to the “File” section in the menu bar and click on the “Open” item. This can also be done using a combination of buttons quick access Ctrl+O. In the window that opens, select the image you want to change and click on the “Open” button.

Step 2: Copy the Photo to a New Layer

If you are wondering how to make a shadow of an object in Photoshop, you need to learn how to work with layers. This is almost the most important element in working with graphics. Therefore, after opening the image, you need to press the Ctrl+J buttons, and the background will be copied to a new layer. There's another one good method copying layers. To do this you need to click right key mouse on the background, select “Create a duplicate layer...” and give it a name. Then you can proceed to the next stage of photo editing.

Step 3: Cutting Out a Single Object to Add a Shadow

After the layer has been copied, you can start cutting out the object to which you want to apply the shadow overlay effect. To do this, a lot of different tools are used to cut out objects. Can be cut using the Pen, Magic Wand, Magnetic Lasso, Rectangular, or oval area. After selecting an object, it is best to copy it to a new layer by pressing the keyboard keys Ctrl+J.

Step 4: How to Open the Effects Palette

So we got to the point about how to make a shadow from an object in Photoshop. You need to apply a shadow function to the layer. The effects palette is located under the layers panel. This is an icon in the form of the letters "fx". After clicking it, a new window will open with the addition of internal shadows, gradient, glow, gloss and other effects. But before adding a shadow, you need to make sure that the required layer is selected and apply effects to it.

Step 5: Shadow Effect Settings

So you have learned how to make a shadow in Photoshop. Now you need to understand the settings of this effect. There are many blending modes: darken, multiply, spot light and others. A color palette has been created nearby. It is possible to choose literally any shade to create shadows. The settings indicate the angle of its application in degrees, the size and offset of the shadow in pixels, and the range in percentage. Shadows can add noise, or grain, to a photo. And its most interesting setting is the contour. It can be set using different geometric functions, and the shape of the shadow will vary accordingly.

Step 6: Selecting a Different Shadow Type

There is also such a thing as applying an internal shadow to an object. You may be wondering how to make a shadow in Photoshop so that it is in the center of the selected object. It's very simple. Instead of selecting a shadow in the Effects palette, click on the " Inner shadow" In settings this parameter you will see the same items. The only difference will be that the shadow will not extend beyond the selected object or object.

Now you have succeeded in adding a shadow to the selected object. But professional overlay requires precision. There is another way to add a shadow effect to an image. Let's move on to it after we look at how to make a text shadow in Photoshop.

Adding a shadow effect to text

In order to add shadows to letters, you first need to learn how to type in a graphics program. Anytime Photoshop versions there is a tool “Horizontal and vertical text" Having selected it, you can create any inscription using the keyboard and then add a shadow using the same scheme. If you already have text written on the finished image, it is clear that it is the same layer as the background. To add a shadow to it, you must first cut out the text onto a new layer and only then add effects.

Another way to add a shadow to an object

You can add a shadow effect to an object using a completely different method. After importing the photo into work area graphics program you need to copy the object to a new layer. Just don’t cut it out, but copy it. This is done using selection tools such as the Pen, Magic Wand, or Lasso.

After selection, you must press the key combination Ctrl+J. The object will be copied to a new layer. Next, between the background and our copied object, you need to add empty layer. This is done by clicking on the document icon in the panel located under the layer work area. After the empty layer has been added, press the Ctrl button and, without releasing it, click on the selected object with the mouse. You should get a dotted outline of the object against our selected new background. Let's move on to the point on how to make a shadow in Photoshop CS6 or any other version.

You need to go to the “Editing” section and select “Fill” in the menu bar. In the window that opens, select the fill color, which will be our shadow. Next, press the Ctrl+T button combination, hold down the Ctrl key and drag the top point of the image to the side. The lower points should be left untouched, because any shadow should be in contact with the object. Next, we add noise to the shadow for believability and uneven edges. It's in the Filter menu bar. Click on Blur and select Gaussian Blur. We select the necessary blur parameters and get a shadow for the object.

So we’ve looked at 2 ways to make a shadow in Photoshop. The rest is practice!