how do I create a shadow that ‘gradually blurs’?

How about add a mask then throw on a gradient, gaussian blur. "ken grant" wrote in message

I want to make an object cast a shadow along the ground. How do I make that shadow hard when it’s near the base of the object, then gradually blur as it gets further away – the way real shadows do?
Thanks in advance

Ken

"Tracy Pori" wrote in
news::

How about add a mask then throw on a gradient, gaussian blur. "ken grant" wrote in message

I want to make an object cast a shadow along the ground. How do I make that shadow hard when it’s near the base of the object, then gradually blur as it gets further away – the way real shadows do?
Thanks in advance

Ken

shift [ ] for hard soft brushes

—
Youth is wasted on the young!

I don’t think you can do what you want to do with the drop shadow layer effect in Photoshop. What you may have to do is make a copy of what you want to cast the shadow zero the contrast and use the transform function, Edit >Transform > Distort or Skew, to position the new "shadow". Placing the layer correctly in relation to the shadow-casting layer would be wise too. Once positioned, add a layer mask with a gradient and/or blur as Traci suggests.

I remember using Adobe PhotoDeluxe and you could adjust the drop shadows in this fashion much more easily.

Peadge 🙂

"ken grant" wrote in message

I want to make an object cast a shadow along the ground. How do I make that shadow hard when it’s near the base of the object, then gradually blur as it gets further away – the way real shadows do?
Thanks in advance

Ken

Peadge wrote:

I don’t think you can do what you want to do with the drop shadow layer effect in Photoshop. What you may have to do is make a copy of what you want to cast the shadow zero the contrast and use the transform function, Edit >Transform > Distort or Skew, to position the new "shadow". Placing the layer correctly in relation to the shadow-casting layer would be wise too. Once positioned, add a layer mask with a gradient and/or blur as Traci suggests.

I remember using Adobe PhotoDeluxe and you could adjust the drop shadows in this fashion much more easily.

Peadge 🙂

Rather than duplicate the layer you can break out the drop shadow by using Create Layer and manipulate the shadow on its own. Layer>Layer Styles> Create Layer or right-click on the "f" in the palette. —
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http://www.sover.net/~hannigan/edjh.html
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(ken grant) wrote in message news:…

I want to make an object cast a shadow along the ground. How do I make that shadow hard when it’s near the base of the object, then gradually blur as it gets further away – the way real shadows do?
Thanks in advance

Ken

is there not a brush that you can use to blur the imgae

Cool! I knew here had to be a way to get the effects into their own layers. Thanks for the tip. Now, if original poster Ken skews or distorts the shadow in it’s own layer, sharpness and blur can occur a bit more naturally at each extreme.

It’s weird though, I tried to add a drop shadow to the drop shadow, and it showed up in the layer effects, just not visually.

Peadge 🙂

"edjh" wrote in message

Peadge wrote:

I don’t think you can do what you want to do with the drop shadow layer effect in Photoshop. What you may have to do is make a copy of what you want to cast the shadow zero the contrast and use the transform

function,

Edit >Transform > Distort or Skew, to position the new "shadow". Placing

the

layer correctly in relation to the shadow-casting layer would be wise

too.

Once positioned, add a layer mask with a gradient and/or blur as Traci suggests.

I remember using Adobe PhotoDeluxe and you could adjust the drop shadows

in

this fashion much more easily.

Peadge 🙂

Rather than duplicate the layer you can break out the drop shadow by using Create Layer and manipulate the shadow on its own. Layer>Layer Styles> Create Layer or right-click on the "f" in the palette. —
Comic book sketches and artwork:
http://www.sover.net/~hannigan/edjh.html
Comics art for sale:
http://www.sover.net/~hannigan/batsale.html

I want to make an object cast a shadow along the ground. How do I make that shadow hard when it’s near the base of the object, then gradually blur as it gets further away – the way real shadows do?

Step 1: Create the shadow on its own layer.

Step 2: Use the Lasso to make a large, loose selection around all but the edge of the shadow closest to the object.

Step 3: Feather the selection.

Step 4: Blur the shadow a small amount.

Step 5; Move the selection away from the edge of the object.

Step 6: Blur the shadow again.

Repeat steps 5 and 6 until you’ve gradually blurred the shadow all the way to the end.

Remember that a shadow that gets softer as it gets farhter away from the object also gets LIGHTER. In the real world, shadows cast from a single light source do not get more blurred the farther they are from the object unless there’s ambient light or light from other sources, in which case they become less dark as well.

—
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http://www.xeromag.com/franklin.html

On 1 Nov 2004 05:37:49 -0800, (ken grant)
wrote:

I want to make an object cast a shadow along the ground. How do I make that shadow hard when it’s near the base of the object, then gradually blur as it gets further away – the way real shadows do?
Thanks in advance

Ken

I am a bit confused here. (but I am getting USED to it! ;o). You mention the ground and I tend to assume that the light source is the sun, is this correct?

If not, please stop reading and post the source of illumination. Thanks

If so….

I have done a lot of studio and outdoor photography throughout the years and learned early on that when the light source is very close to the object casting the shadow (withing inches/feet etc.), it can be fairly blurry(depending also upon difussion and size). However, when considering the source is approximately 93 MILLION miles away, I have never noticed a natural fade of focus in any sized structure’s shadow. Unless by a far stretch it is affected by haze and/or clouds etc. If I ever saw such a drop off in a picture supposedly illuminated by the sun, I waould assume it was digitally done….. however I cannot fathom a reason why one would do that.

In article ,
(ZONED!) wrote:

I have done a lot of studio and outdoor photography throughout the years and learned early on that when the light source is very close to the object casting the shadow (withing inches/feet etc.), it can be fairly blurry(depending also upon difussion and size). However, when considering the source is approximately 93 MILLION miles away, I have never noticed a natural fade of focus in any sized structure’s shadow. Unless by a far stretch it is affected by haze and/or clouds etc. If I ever saw such a drop off in a picture supposedly illuminated by the sun, I waould assume it was digitally done….. however I cannot fathom a reason why one would do that.

You seem to be assuming that the Sun is a point-source of illumination, but in actuality it has an angular diameter of about half a degree. This makes shadows slightly soft around the edges, _viz_ with a "penumbra", because there’s a zone between the fully shaded and fully lit areas that receives light from just part of the Sun’s disk. This graduated fringe is quite narrow, but it’s always there; on seeing a shadow with a perfectly hard edge I’d assume it to be artificial.

—
Odysseus

On Wed, 03 Nov 2004 00:23:07 GMT, Odysseus
wrote:

In article ,
(ZONED!) wrote:

I have done a lot of studio and outdoor photography throughout the years and learned early on that when the light source is very close to the object casting the shadow (withing inches/feet etc.), it can be fairly blurry(depending also upon difussion and size). However, when considering the source is approximately 93 MILLION miles away, I have never noticed a natural fade of focus in any sized structure’s shadow. Unless by a far stretch it is affected by haze and/or clouds etc. If I ever saw such a drop off in a picture supposedly illuminated by the sun, I waould assume it was digitally done….. however I cannot fathom a reason why one would do that.

You seem to be assuming that the Sun is a point-source of illumination,

Yes, albeit a large point.

but in actuality it has an angular diameter of about half a degree.

Yes, about 30 arcminutes

This
makes shadows slightly soft around the edges, _viz_ with a "penumbra", because there’s a zone between the fully shaded and fully lit areas that receives light from just part of the Sun’s disk.

As also occurs within most controlled studio work. I never thought about it that much before, but it seems like much of the difference in shadow density to be affected by reflected and refracted light. I did not read that into the original post when I read: "…shadow hard when it’s near the base of the object, then gradually blur as it gets further away…"

This graduated fringe
is quite narrow, but it’s always there; on seeing a shadow with a perfectly hard edge I’d assume it to be artificial.

—
Odysseus