The Shadow group needs no presentation, although there are a couple of effects you would be really impressed by, particularly Long and Curved shadows.
As with the Artistic effects, they are rather a shortcut to the otherwise complex and time-consuming matters.
Curved Shadow
The curved shadow creates a bent shadow effect as if it is cast by the material with pilled corners. It might be a sheet of paper lifting off the desk, for example.
No matter what object you are trying to simulate, you have tons of controls to fine-tune the shadow:
The bend slider(1) controls how much it would be bent.
The radius slider(2) sets the distance between an object and the shadow. High radius value creates an illusion of the hanging object.
The softness slider(3) controls how blurry the edges would be.
The coverage slider(4) controls the distribution of the effect. Low coverage makes the shadow very faint into the middle.
The angle slider(5) controls the position of the shadow. While dragging, you get the feeling as if you are rotating the source of light around the object.
You can control the opacity of the shadow by typing inside the opacity text field(1).
Select the color of the effect by clicking the color picker icon(2). You are free to select among the solid color, linear gradient, radial gradient, and angular gradient options.
Drop Shadow
The drop shadow effect helps an object to rise up above the surface by drawing and offsetting a blurry dark duplicate behind.
You can control the offset value and amount of blur throughout the drop shadow interface:
- Use X text field(1) to move the shadow horizontally. The positive values move the shadow to the right, negative – to the left.
- Use the Y text field(2) to move the shadow vertically. The positive values pull it down, negative – push it up.
- The blur text field(3) controls the spread and smoothness of the shadow. The low blur value makes it almost solid.
- The opacity text field(4) controls the transparency of the effect.
- Click to the color picker icon(5) to bring up a color picker menu and select the color.
Inner Shadow
The inner shadow effect creates an offset shadow within an object. It simulates 3D depth of the 2D object, thus it is perfect for letterpress, cut-out and engraved text effects.
The inner shadow shares the same interface with the drop shadow effect.
- Use X text field(1) to move the shadow horizontally. The positive values move the shadow to the right, negative – to the left.
- Use the Y text field(2) to move the shadow vertically. The positive values pull it down, negative – push it up.
- The blur text field(3) controls the spread and smoothness of the shadow. The low blur value makes it almost solid.
- The opacity text field(4) controls the transparency of the effect.
- Click to the color picker icon(5) to bring up a color picker menu and select the color.
Contact Shadow
The contact shadow effect creates a small elliptical shadow on the horizontal surface.
It simulates the shadow cast by the object standing on the horizontal surface or hanging above the ground while the light coming perpendicular to the surface.
The effect’s panel provides plenty of controls to fine-tune the shadow.
The offset text field(1) controls the distance between the shadow and the object.
The angle text field(2) controls the position of the light source and influences the shape of the shadow. Its value varies from 5 to 35, from a narrow ellipse to the near circle.
The blur text field(3) starting from the 5 going makes the shadow to appear fuzzier. Control how smooth the contact shadow is by typing in this field.
The opacity text field(4) controls the transparency of the contact shadow.
Change the color of the shadow by clicking the color picker icon(5). You can select only a solid color, no gradient available for the contact shadow.
Long Shadow
The long shadow effect simulates the dramatic long shadow, created by the low sun during sunset or sunrise.
The long shadow is trendy but not new. It was a long time employed by professional photographers and film editors to add drama to the scene. In Graphic design, it found its way as part of the flat design aesthetics.
The long shadow by default rests at a 45-degree angle. You can change it by typing inside the angle text field(1).
The length field(2) controls the length of the effect.
Technically the long shadow is a blend of the duplicates of the object. You can control the number of duplicates involved in the fusion by typing inside the density text field(3). High density makes the long shadow very smooth when the low one allows each individual duplicate to be seen.
Click the color picker icon(4) to bring up the color picker and select the color. Your choice is not restricted by a solid color only. You can pick up the linear, radial or angular gradient.
The opacity text field controls the transparency of the effect.
When the fade radio slider is on, the long shadow is growing faint and blurry at the end, so the fade slider makes the shadow’s tail transparent.
