1- Open an image
2- Select something from the image
3- Drag the selection to another image
4- Ctrl + click at the thumbnail from the layer 1 (dancing ants will appear)
5- Return to the background
6- Select>feather I usually use 5 – but the correct is : divide the image resolution by 20 Example: an image with 300 ppi/20 = 15 feather
7- Ctrl+J
8- Shift + Alt + Del ---- IMPORTANT: THE FOREGROUND SET COLOR MUST BE BACK IF YOU WANT A BACK SHADOW/SHADE
9- Move the shadow/shade with the move tool . Here you can erase part of the shadow if it is necessary using the erase tool or mask
10- If it is necessary decrease the opacity
11- Ctrl + T (free transform) or transform screw>distort>flip …
12- If it is necessary use filter liquify


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Thanks for another tutorial, Claudio.
I like the way you created shadows for different perpectives.

an important part of "shadow" work is choosing a subject that has light hitting it in a way that works with the shadow you are wanting. Or, to say it better, make sure that the shadow you are giving the object makes sense with the way the light is hitting your subject.

And never, never look directly into the sun unless you've softened your eyeballs first with cheap American liquor.

You will have the same result if you do this:
-layer> layer style> drop shadow.
-then, create a layer for the shadow: ctrl-click on the effect symbol in the layer palette, and choose: "create layer".

Here is another idea:
- instead of "projecting" a shadow, (it's very difficult to get a realistic shape), you can try to use the existing shadow:
-When you select an object, you can also make a new selection of the existing shadow (or shadowS!), create a new layer, fill it with the color you want, add noise etc...
Don't forget that:
Shadows are almost never grey or black,
they are sharper and darker as they get close to the object (gradient tool!)
As i read somewhere: the best shadow is one that nobody notices.

Also, a 'shadow' is someone who stays close to you and hangs around all the time and doesn't give you your "personal" space. Even heavy flatulance will not remove this kind of shadow. Just thought i should warn you all.

in addition to thbegin and rein: Yes it is true that you can do more or less the same with the dropshadow command (not always that nifty though). and you have to bear in mind that you look where the lightsource is, but there you can adjust it a little with....inner shadow. Now I can hear you think, inner shadow? has he lost his mind

Let me show you:

Here is a hand. Just a photo against a plain white background



If you need a simple shade, you can use the Shadow command. As you can see below I've used a multiply (which is great for shadows) and altered the angle to 19 and the distance and size to 21, to get a neat, blurry kind of shade.



Whith the window still selected, you can drag the shadow with your mouse into the desired position to get something like this:



As you can see the lightsource is a bit different than the casted shadow. Now you can alter that by changing the shadow, or you can alter the light. To do the latter, I used inner shadow. But look at the changes I made:



At first you change the color to a bright light color ( I used a bright yellow). Than change the blend mode to screen, which is for lightening things. Be sure to use the same amount of distance and size and lower the opacity to your needs. As you can see you now added a nice new lightsource that matches the shadow:



If you keep global light checked, you now can drag the shadow as well as the inner shadow in one piece to see what suits best.


Happy hollidays