This tutorial will explain about a Drop Shadow and how to apply one. You may ask "Why do we use a drop shadow"? A Drop Shadow will give your image or text depth almost like a three-dimensional appearance.

Before Drop Shadow:                                          After Drop Shadow:
          

Preparations:

1. You may want to print this out to use as a reference. Go to the very top of this page, click File, then Print. Follow the instructions for your printer.

2. Open your PSP.

3. Go to the bottom of your Windows desktop. Look at your taskbar which is located to the right of your Start button. It lists all the windows folders and programs you have open. Look for an empty spot. Right Click and hold mouse down on that blank space.

4. A menu pops up. Select "Tile Windows Vertically". You should now have the tutorial and your own PSP open side by side. This will aid you in following the tutorial.


Now we will begin:

Step 1 - Preparing Image

Create a new image


This is what it looks like on a PSP workspace:


Now we need to add to the new image by inserting a psp image or a tube.
This is the psp image used for this tutorial:


Copy and paste the psp image onto the new image.
To Copy: Select the psp image and place the mouse on the top bar and right click.
A menu appears and choose "Copy".
To Paste: Select the new image, and place mouse on the top bar and right click.
Again a menu appears and choose "Paste as a new layer".
See there are now 2 layers:


Next, flood fill the bottom layer using the Flood Fill Tool
White was chosen for this tut so the shadow will show better.

Look at this image to see how it's done:


Now we are ready to move on.

Step 2 - Placing A Drop Shadow

First, select the image layer:


Then go to "Effects, 3D Effects, Drop Shadow:


The Drop Shadow dialog box will appear (see image below) and contains the following controls:

• Vertical — determines the height of the shadow.
• Horizontal — determines the width of the shadow.
• Opacity — determines the shadow’s opacity. As this value decreases, the drop shadow fades.
• Blur — determines the blur of the shadow
• Color — lets your choose the color of the drop shadow. You can click the color box to choose a color from the Color dialog box, or right-click the color box to choose a color from the Recent Colors dialog box.
• Shadow on new layer — places the drop shadow on a separate raster layer

There is a finger pointing to a box at the top of the image below. When that box is checked it allows a preview of what the shadow looks like on the actual image.
The second finger is pointing to the vertical and horizontal placements of the drop shadow.
The third finger is pointing to the opacity (how dark) for the shadow and the amount of blur (how much it will spread out).
These are the settings used for this tutorial:

Click OK when satisfied with the looks of the drop shadow and it will be applied to the image.

The image now has a drop shadow.

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The next step is to learn how to "Merge Layers" and "Export as a JPEG Graphic".

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Tutorials Index

This tutorial was written and graphics used were created by Cathie.
Any similarities to other tutorials is merely a coincidence.
©   Cathie's Collection
~September 2006~