Enhancing Your Layouts Part six: More Custom Shadows
by Ruby Rynne
in Photoshop

In this final tutorial of the Enhancing series, we’ll finish the layout by adding a custom drop shadow to the photograph. I’ll show you another way to create the shadow, and then use the techniques from part five to make it look realistic.
Let’s start with our layout as it was at the end of part four.

In my stack, the photograph (which I have flattened to make the stroke permanent) is Layer 1. I have that layer selected, and I will click the fx icon at the foot of the layer palette to bring up the styles dialog, and create a drop shadow with the standard, default settings. I’ll OK that, and then right click on the style in the layer palette and choose Create Layer from the pop up menu.

This creates a new layer with the drop shadow on it. I’ll press CTRL+T to get a transform outline, and right click and choose Warp from the menu. And warp my shadow a little bit. Then I can finish with the eraser and smudge tools.

Notice how the shadow is smaller where the photo tucks behind something that is ‘holding it down’ and larger where the photo has bent away from the page slightly. I’ve reduced the opacity and increased the blurriness in these areas too. I’ve also gone back to the title word art and made a custom shadow for it using the exact same technique. To increase the realism, I also used the Dodge tool to gently add some highlights to the areas of the title that were most lifted from the page.
And here is the finished layout! I hope you’ve enjoyed the series, and that you have learned some ways to enhance your layouts.

Supplies: Sisterology Page Kit by Ruby Rynne, Sisters photo courtesy of Photoshop Creative.
© 2009 Ruby Rynne