Karla's tip/technique

Hello guys! Well, I'm here with another Photoshop trick to make your photos pop for your blogs with the use of drop shadows! It's a subtle way to add a little whimsy to any post.

So lets just get to the nitty gritty of it shall we? :)

1.) Start off by opening up a new canvas and opening up your picture. Then drag your picture on top of your canvas.(I do it by dragging the picture layer onto the canvas itself) Rename it if you want. I named mine picture.

2.) Select your picture layer (so that it has 'marching ants' around it) by pressing the apple key while clicking the picture in the layer pallet. (hold down the Ctrl for windows).

3.) Create a new layer (rename it shadow) and drag it under the picture layer. With the 'marching ants' still around the picture layer and with the shadow layer active, fill it in black with the paint bucket tool.

 

4.) Deselect the picture layer and click on the shadow layer. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Make it so the edges are good and hazy. I usually choose a setting of 8.5 - 9 but adjust to your taste.

 

5.) Now with the shadow layer still active. Go to Edit > Transform > Warp. Handles will appear. Take the two middle handle on each side and drag them until they almost hit the edge of the picture.

 

 

6.) When you are done with those then pull the very corners out some.

 

7.) Lastly drop the opacity down some if it's a bit too dark. I did mine to 70. And this is the final look :)

 

Play with it too. Here I made the corner of Chloe's picture super funky.

With her all I did was pull the handle of the bottom left of the shadow layer out and up. Then I pulled the bottom left corner of the picture layer out and down. Like you see here:

 

 

I dropped the opacity of the shadow layer and that was it ^_^ Just a little way to make your extra special pics on your blog look snazzy!

***One more tip...Try adding a thin border to your photos along with this technique. It's super easy. All you need to do is:

1.) Make sure your picture layer is active.

2.) Go to your Layer Styles. (it's the cursive 'F' on the bottom of your layer pallet) And go down to Stroke.

3.) Enter a stroke size of about 4 (adjust according to taste). Choose color (I usually go white) and set it to Inside.

You will end up with a nice clean border that will make your photo stand out even more. It is especially nice on darker photos. Here, take a look:

I hope you enjoy and happy posting guys!

-Karla

Comments

[Jenneke]

WOW, thank you so much for sharing this trick!!! It's GREAT and I'm certainly going to try this!!

[Kim P]

I absolutely LOVE this tip for photoshop shadowing. Can't wait to try it out.

[Stefanie]

Thanks so much for the fantastic tip.
All I need is more time in the day and just imagine the fun I could have...?

[EssenseVibez]

you're fantastik, karla--and so is this tip/technique--i wll be referring to it a lot--thanx a bunchezz of O's

[Julie]

Wowwwwwwwwwwwwww....thanks for this AWESOME tip!! LOVE IT! :):):):):):):):):):)

[Jan]

Excellent, Karla! :)

[Ronda Palazzari]

So very awesome karla!

[Revlie]

ahhhh i NEEDED this! thanks a million you genius!

[Francine]

This is great! I've always wondered how to do this! Thanks!

[Julie GM]

LOVE IT! Thx so much for these step-by-step instructions!! =)

[Kim]

Thanks for sharing this technique - I love it!

[Donna]

Wow. Thanks for the mini tutorial - I have always wondered how drop shadows were made...

[emily pitts]

karla, you are so cool. i love the warp tool. i never thought it was how people did this to photos or cards. amazing. thank you!

[rach]

Great tip, thanks for sharing :D x