photoshop drop shadow???

[domromer]

I'm building a web page and wanted to add some drop shadows to my photos to make them pop a little. I googled how to add a drop shadow, but I still can't figure it out.

1.First way was I selected the entire photo and tried a layer effect. Didn't work.

2. Then I created a new layer that was a rectangle. put it behind the background copy and tried to add the dropshadow to the rectangle thinking it might show up from behind the bg layer. I couldn't even add the drop shadow to the rectangle.

3. Some help would be appreciated.

[DanTaylor]

more detail please. Are you looking to just put a shadow behind the entire photo or a certain part of it?

Heres what im talkking about for a certain part of a image.

Original looks like this



After I edit it and do with what I want to it it looks like this. (noticde the slight shadow behind Alton)


If that is what your looking to do then youve got some photo editing to do, by cutting out the part you want the shadow behind and creating layers etc etc

If not then all you have to do is select the layer and then drop a shadow behind it.

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[domromer]

You'll have to isolate the object that is to be shadowed. For instance, if you have a yellow smiley face on a field of white, only the edges of that field of white will be shadowed. It finds the edge between pixels and transparency and shadows that overall shape.

So just get the object isolated on its own layer (whether it's text or a shape) and then do the layer effect. Easiest way to isolate your object is to copy that layer so you can chop it up, then use the Eraser tool to cut out the excess. With a copy on top of the original, you can have the object shadow onto the original, complete image.

If you have something like a family photo, and you want shadows behind the people, you'll have to edit the image quite a bit just to achieve that. Drop shadows only work with the overall shape of that layer's pixel field.

What I mean to do is put a drop shadow behind the photo to make it more 3d like it's sitting off the page. Like how a paining looks when it's mounted on a wall

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[domromer]

thanks, I'll try that and report back.

[IowaDiscGolf]

If you're working in photoshop, you gotta do this.

1.) Open the image (assuming it's a JPG, if it's .gif, open it and Image->Mode->RGB) in Photoshop
2.) Double click the image to make it a layer
3.) Image->Canvas Size and using the Relative option there give it a buffer on all four sides...your canvas needs to be bigger than the image for the shadow to appear (you understand this, right?)
4.) Layer->Blending Options
5.) In Blending Options select Drop Shadow and then tweak the Distance, Opacity and Size attributes to get that "I just got Photoshop!" drop shadow look you're after
6.) Knock yourself ou

[domromer]

ok, I've tried it a few times. I still can't get it to work. I've taken a screen shot so maybe you can see where I've screwed up...

By domromer

[IowaDiscGolf]

Tiny screenshot.

You gotta make the canvas bigger than the image you're trying to dropshadow, and it looks like you may or may not have pulled that much off, but the screen snag you posted is either 25% the size of your actual snag, or you're working on a munchkin-sized Mac.

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[IowaDiscGolf]

Get rid of the white border on that layer and it should work. Your layer is still as big as the frame because of the white border. Next time, double-click/unlock/rename the Background layer before you increase the Canvas Size. If you change Canvase Size, it adds your background color to the new space, but only in the locked Background layer. Any other layer and it adds transparent space, which is what you need for this.

Like he said, double-click the layer (to make it a non-background layer) BEFORE you increase the canvas size.

[domromer]

So here goes another try. I got the drop shadow to work, but when I save it to a jpeg. The clear background becomes white when I put it on the website. Same photo, just saved for web into a jpg from a psd

Oh be nice about the website. I'm learning xhtml. I know it looks like crap!


By domromer


By domromer

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[k-os]

Otherwise you can do Save For Web and choose .gif and add transparency. So no matter what color the background, it will always match.

[domromer]

Sweet thanks guys. I'm slowly figuring it out.