Drop Shadows on black background

N
Posted By
noydini
Sep 14, 2006
Views
765
Replies
7
Status
Closed
Hi there,

I am creating a logo for work using photoshop CS and am very much a novice user.

I have tried to apply a grey drop shadow to the white text on the black ground but it does not show up because of the background (I can tell this is the case when I change the opacity of the background).

I suspect there is a simple way around this. Could anyone tell me?

Many thanks in advance.

Regards,

Antony

How to Improve Photoshop Performance

Learn how to optimize Photoshop for maximum speed, troubleshoot common issues, and keep your projects organized so that you can work faster than ever before!

EH
Ed_Hannigan
Sep 14, 2006
What Blending do you have set on thee Drop Shadow (in the Layer Styles dialog)? Try something other than the default Multiply.
DM
Don_McCahill
Sep 14, 2006
Black shadows tend not to show up on black backgrounds. Wouldn’t really be a shadow then. Perhaps you want a glow, which works better on black.
N
noydini
Sep 14, 2006
Thanks for this. I will check the blending when I get back.

It is a grey shadow I am attempting to add to the text. Can the glow effect be positioned in the same way as a shadow? I didn’t think you could change the angle…
HB
Heather Bell
Sep 14, 2006
Just change the color of the shadow to a lighter color, like white, and the blending mode to normal, and the opacity to 100% or close to. You now have a white shadow on a black background, or red, or yellow, or whatever.
WN
Wesley_Norman
Sep 14, 2006
noydini, the default blend mode is usually set to Multiply when you open the Layer Style window and the color is usually black. As others have stated, make sure the Blend mode is set to normal and the color is set to what you want. It should work that way.
JS
John_Slate
Sep 16, 2006
If you want the shadows to look like shadows, then the background must be lighter than black.

A shadow is where light is blocked from illuminating a surface due to some object doing the blocking.

Key word there: light

Black, being the absence of light, would logically make shadows disappear.

When you turn the lights off in a room, the shadows go to the same place as your lap does when you stand up… they go to that little guy inside the fridge that turns the light on and off.
JS
John_Slate
Sep 16, 2006
Even simpler: Shadows are darker than their surroundings. What is darker than black?

How to Master Sharpening in Photoshop

Give your photos a professional finish with sharpening in Photoshop. Learn to enhance details, create contrast, and prepare your images for print, web, and social media.

Related Discussion Topics

Nice and short text about related topics in discussion sections