Tip of the Week: Better Drop Shadows

David Blatner and Anne-Marie Concepcion

This InDesign tip on making better drop shadows was sent to Tip of the Week email subscribers on August 2, 2018.

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Want better-looking drop shadows? Normal drop shadows are cool, but they’re too pure, especially when printed. You’ll get a much more natural drop shadow if you increase the Noise value in the Drop Shadow dialog box a little—you only need 5 or 6 percent to help. That adds a little randomness to the pixels as the shadow fades.