Comments on: Cast Shadows in InDesign

By: 30 Tutorials That Will Teach You InDesign | Arbenting

30 Tutorials That Will Teach You InDesign | Arbenting — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:08:32 +0000

[...] Casting Shadows [...]

By: Mandla Mguni

Mandla Mguni — Fri, 25 May 2007 15:25:39 +0000

Hey everyone!!! That’ s true….it really does look a bit more realistic in InDesign CS2 when you “add noise’ from the option for dropshadows. try it also…

By: Anne-Marie

Anne-Marie — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:07:07 +0000

Everyone, you can learn more about Rufus on our Contributors page, where we just added his picture and bio.

By: woz

woz — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 05:44:26 +0000

@david; woops! I still use CS at my daily job. The advantage: we will be buying CS3 a.s.a.p.

By: Bob Pilato

Bob Pilato — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 19:47:12 +0000

Thank you for this and all your future contributions. I look forward to more of that Florentine light in this piazza. Great job, too, on your new layout of The inDesign magazine.

By: David Blatner

David Blatner — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 19:26:30 +0000

Welcome, Rufus. That’s a helpful tip! Mordy’s comment is all very well and good except for two things: This trick is good for a lot more than just bitmapped images; and Photoshop images that have a drop shadow that is set to Multiply don’t blend properly into InDesign backgrounds.

Woz: There is a Noise feature in InDesign’s drop shadows. I completely agree that adding a little noise (perhaps 3 or 4%) helps a lot.

By: woz

woz — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:54:16 +0000

Benvenuto, Rufus!
Nice tip, it’ll save me some time. I hope InDesign CS2 will have a ‘add noise’ option for dropshadows to make them look a bit more ‘real’.
Arrivederci!

By: JC

JC — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 15:28:44 +0000

You can isolate a drop shadow by putting a large feather on the image, this will not be applied to the shadow. Then use the shear tool to adjust the cast.

This way the drop shadow options are still available and will work with colored backgrounds.

By: Mordy Golding

Mordy Golding — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:52:26 +0000

Good tip Rufus (and welcome!), although I still feel more comfortable creating shadows like this in Photoshop. Not for quality purposes mind you, but oly because it is easier to manipulate and control (i.e., using dodge or burn tools to make small adjustments). Users might also consider setting the shadow object to the Multiply blend mode if using a background other than white.

By: Rich Sohanchyk

Rich Sohanchyk — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:45:51 +0000

Great technique if you have tons of silhouetted images but of little use if you want quick shadows for object that haven’t been silo’d. I find drop shadows in ID very limiting. I usually end up with what looks like a series of ##### where there should be a shadow. If I continue to blur to get rid of the hash marks I get a blurry mess that doesn’t position as I want it to. I stopped using ID drop shadows for jobs running through my copier and rarely use it for offset. I should add that it may very well be user lack of knowledge (PBTKB).