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The Design Center, DT&G / Photoshop Department / Common Shadow Mistakes / Shadows on Color  

From Commercial Photoshop Retouching: In the Studio...

Drop Shadow Mistakes

with Glenn Honiball

There are a variety of common shadow mistakes; in this article I'll go over a few and give you some tips on how to avoid them.

Shadows on a colored area

Occasionally when creating shadows on a colored area, it may not make sense to have the shadow on a multiplied layer because too much color will then be added to the background area.

In this case, just make sure that the color you brush in for your shadow contains at least as much color information as the background behind the shadow itself, or else it will have a negative look to it as well. You can see this effect here...

incorrect shadows
Incorrect: a shadow added to a colored area with less color than the object being shadowed

For example, if I have a red strawberry and the red portion of the image is
100 magenta,
85 yellow,
30 cyan, and
10 black,
... make sure the color information in your shadow has those values, plus whatever extra color you add to create the darker shadow color. (The only things you will have to keep in mind are the ink density specifications, which will be covered in the book.)

For now, just make sure the color is there and the shadows look natural.
Here's the way the corrected image will look.

incorrect shadows
Correct: the proper look of the shadow with full color in it

Next NEXT: Building Correct Shadow Shapes

 

Learn to modify photos like the pros...

cover Written by 20-year photo retouching veteran Glenn Honiball, Commercial Photoshop Retouching: In the Studio is the only book to deliver advice for the photographer and artist working with Photoshop CS 2 in a real world commercial environment.
      Honiball offers incomparable technical and artistic guidance for professionals, graphic artists, photographers, and just about anyone involved in creating and manipulating digital images.
      All the tools, techniques, and skills you need to achieve consistent, professional results with Photoshop CS2 can be found in Commercial Photoshop Retouching: In the Studio. Anyone with intermediate-to-advanced Photoshop skills--whether you want to explore photo retouching personally or as an imaging professional or student--can use Commercial Photoshop Retouching: In the Studio to produce sharp, expert, extraordinary photos that don't look retouched.

Commercial Photoshop Retouching: In the Studio
by Glenn Honiball
List Price: $44.95 - Amazon Price: $29.67 You Save: $15.28 (33%)
Paperback: 270 pages Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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