Hello artsy friends! I am dropping in today with a quick tip for shadowing transparent elements in Photoshop. There are some quirky and cute Frou Frou tulle flowers in today’s SOSN Sale that are the perfect addition to any page. However, adding a drop shadow to a semi-transparent element like netting or tulle can be tricky. Getting the “lift” you want from the shadow on the outer edge of the element ends up darkening the middle. There is is super quick fix for this situation, though.
You can see the tulle flower elements on the layouts below (created primarily with goodies from today’s SOSN sale):
Here is the fix. Add the drop shadow of your choice to the semi-transparent element. Once have it the way you want it (focusing on the effect around the edges of the element, not in the center), separate the shadow onto its own layer. You can do this in Photoshop by right-clicking on “Effects” on the element’s layer and choosing “Create Layer” from the pop-up menu. This will move the drop shadow to its own layer right below the element.
Now, all you need to do is delete the part of the drop shadow that appears directly underneath the element (leaving the part that extends beyond the edges). To do this, simply hold down the Ctrl key while clicking on the thumbnail of the element in the layers palette. You should now see “marching ants” appear around the element. Make sure the drop shadow layer is activated and hit “Delete.” This will delete only the part of the shadow that you previously selected (the part within the marching ants), leaving the shadow that goes beyond the edges of the element (which is what we normally see when a fully opaque element is shadowed). Below is a comparison showing the full drop shadow and the selectively deleted drop shadow. Notice how the flower on the right is brighter and more realistic than the one with the full shadow on the left?
And that is all there is to it! I hope you find this tip useful when using transparent or semi-transparent elements on your digital pages!
Until next time ~
Judie (HeyJude)
Karen Ross says
I have just completed a short course on shadows and this tied in well with what I learned from the course.