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Use Photoshop Drop Shadow Effect To Darken an Object

This is another fun thing to do with the Photoshop Drop Shadow effect. If you are building up a graphic from different images, sometimes you need to darken an object to blend it into the correct distance from the viewer. There are a number of ways to do this, but a quick way is to use the Photoshop Drop Shadow Effect on a layer above the object to darken it.

Try the following sequence:

  1. Duplicate the object layer Right Click layer, Duplicate Layer
  2. Click OK
  3. Under the layer tab, select the fx to Add a Layer Style
  4. From the list select Drop Shadow
  5. Click OK to accept defaults
  6. Right Click on Drop Shadow layer and select Create Layer (near the bottom)
  7. If a warning appears that aspect of Effects can not be reproduced with layers, click OK
  8. Finally, delete the temp layer above the new Drop Shadow layer

The original object will now reappear, but quite dark. Simply adjust the Opacity of the flying Drop Shadow layer to achieve the desired result.

So there you have it! A quick way to use Photoshop Drop Shadow Effect to darken an object to adjust its apparent distance in a picture. Experiment, and have fun.