Photoshop Effects: Telling Stories With Shadows
Learn Photoshop with Photoshop Effects at Photoshop Essentials.com
Step 7: Drag The Shadow Image Between The Background Layer and "Layer 1"
We have the image we want to use as our shadow inside the original photo and we've filled it with black. So far, so good, except of course for one small problem. The shadow is currently in front of the boy. I need it to appear behind him. This is where layers come in.
To move the shadow behind the boy, all I need to do is drag the shadow's layer below the boy's layer in the Layers palette. If I look in my Layers palette, I can see that I now have three layers - the original Background layer on the bottom, the copy of the boy from the original photo on "Layer 1", and the shadow image at the very top on "Layer 2":
The reason the shadow appears in front of the boy in the document is because its layer is above the boy's layer, blocking the boy from view wherever the two layers overlap. To fix that, all I need to do is click on "Layer 2" in the Layers palette and drag it down below the boy on "Layer 1", which will place it directly between "Layer 1" and the Background layer (Photoshop won't allow you to drag any layers below the Background layer, since it wouldn't make much sense to have something behind the background). Click on "Layer 2" and drag it down until you see a black horizontal line appear between "Layer 1" and the Background layer. Release your mouse button when that line appears and Photoshop will move "Layer 2" below "Layer 1":
Now that the shadow's layer is below the boy's layer in the Layers palette, if we look back in the image, we can see that the shadow now appears behind the boy:
Step 8: Move And Resize The Shadow With Free Transform
With "Layer 2" still selected in the Layers palette (the currently selected layer is highlighted in blue), press Ctrl+T (Win) / Command+T (Mac) to bring up Photoshop's Free Transform box and handles around the shadow and move it into position by clicking anywhere inside the Free Transform box (anywhere except the small target icon in the center) and dragging the shadow into place with your mouse. You can resize the shadow by dragging any of the handles. To constrain the proportions of the shadow as you drag it larger or smaller, hold down Shift and drag any of the corner handles.
If you're having trouble seeing all the Free Transform handles because some of them extend out beyond the sides of the document window, press F on your keyboard to switch your screen mode to Full Screen Mode With Menu Bar.
If I look closely at my image, I can see that the boy's left arm (his left, our right) is up a little higher than the other one, but the super hero has the opposite arm higher. To fix that, I'm going to hold down my Ctrl (Win) / Command key, then click on the left middle handle of the Free Transform box and drag downward with my mouse, which will skew the image, bringing the left side of the super hero down below the right until his arms are more in line with the boy's arms:
Press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) when you're done to accept the transformations.
Still scrolling through web pages? Download our Photoshop tutorials as print-ready PDFs!
