How to Add Shadows in Photoshop

Learn how to cast realistic shadows in photoshop. Create shadows in photoshop that are natural-looking.

Hello, everybody. My name is Charles. In today’s video, I’m gonna show you how to create realistic shadows in Photoshop. So in this example here, we have a model that’s standing in the middle of a park. So this is actually a composite. I’ve cut out the subject already and put her in this park. Now we need to put a shadow underneath her.

How to Create a Shadow Layer for Shadows in Photoshop

So the first thing I want to do is hold down the Command or Control and click on the subject and get the selection around the model. And now we want to create a layer with a shadow. So I’m gonna hold Command and Shift and click on the New Layer icon and that created a new layer beneath the subject. I’m gonna call this shadow. And now, something that’s important is to get your shadow to be basically the same color as shadows in the image. You don’t want to just have a shadow that is completely black. Shadows do have colors depending on the environment. So I’m gonna zoom in and I’m gonna come up here to my eyedropper tool. I’m gonna select alter option and sample. That color right there, that looks like a good shadow color. So now this is the background color and with the shadow layer selected, I’m gonna press Command or Control and the Delete key, ’cause I’m on a Mac, and that filled my shadow layer right here with a color that is similar to the shadow in the image. Now I’m going to press Command D to deselect the selection around my subject and I’m gonna zoom out just a little bit. And then we need to transform the shadow, so Command T to transform. And now I want to hold down the Command or Control key and get the center handle and bring the shadow down. And we want to try and match the angle these other shadows in the image are. The shadows of the trees, they’re kind of at a angle and so that looks about right. So we always have to take into consideration the light source, which direction it’s coming from and position your shadow accordingly. So, we had these guidelines of the trees to help us decide how to position. And if I zoom in here a little bit and I can move this shadow a little bit closer to where I think it should go, hit the check mark to commit the changes. So now we want to get the shadow right underneath the heel of the shoe.

Using Puppet Warp for Shadows in Photoshop

One good way to do that, we come up here to Edit, Puppet Warp and I’m gonna use the Command key and plus and I’m going to make a point right on the end of each heel in the shadow and I’m just gonna drag that right underneath both sides. If I hold Alt or Option right near a selected point, you can rotate everything. So again, you can check your position, make sure that it is underneath the points that you want and you just click the checkmark. Now zoom back out.

Blending the Shadows in Photoshop

So now we need to work on the shadow, we need to make it kind of blend in a little bit more. So I’m selecting the shadow layer and I’m gonna drop the opacity to something like, oh, 60 for now. And on the shadow layer, I’m going to add a white layer mask and I’m going to use the gradient tool on that layer mask so I’m going to hit G for the gradient and I want to make sure that I’m on a linear gradient, opacity, let me put that to about 60 and I’m gonna click on the third gradient right here which is black to white. Now I’m gonna start, zoom in again a little bit here. I’m gonna start back here and draw just behind the shoes here and let’s zoom out. And so we’ve got a fade of our gradient there. The shadow is stronger and more in focus the closer to the subject. And as the shadow goes away from the subject, it is lighter and less in focus. And now we can change the blend mode to multiply. And before we apply any blurs here, I’m going to change the shadow layer to a smart object. Hey, if you’re getting the idea of this so far, hit that like button.

Using the Field Blur for Shadows in Photoshop

Now we’re going to blur our shadow layer. So with the shadow layer selected, I’m gonna come up here to Filter, Blur Gallery, Field Blur. Bring this point here down to the bottom here near one shoe, click and make another point near the other shoe, and another point out here at the end of the shadow. Now I’m gonna make one point of the blur to five pixels, make the other point near the shoe to five pixels, and the point for this side I’m gonna leave at 15 and say OK. Zoom back out a little bit, zoom in a little bit and there’s the blur on our shadow. Shadows in Photoshop.

Create the Contact Layer for Shadows in Photoshop

Now we need to create the contact layer for the shadow. So let’s make another layer, blank layer below the shadow layer, Command + Shift, and click on the add new layer and we’re gonna call this contact shadow. And I’m gonna zoom in here, B for the Brush tool and I’m gonna use my brush, hardness could be around 50, and zoom in here and just draw my contact shadow around the bottom of the shoe. And if I get messy, I can just hold down the tilde key and I can erase just like that. And there’s my contact shadow underneath there.

And if I wanted, I can come up here and put a blur, Filter, Blur, Gaussian Blur and just say one pixel. And there’s our shadow. There’s before, and there’s the after. Do you want to know more about Photoshop? Click on this playlist here. If you haven’t already, subscribe and like this video. And remember, it’s never too late to learn. Thanks for watching. See you in the next video. That’s shadows in photoshop.

See my photography website here 👉 https://www.charlescabreraphotography.com

Check out the previous tutorial here 👉 https://charlescabrera.com/how-to-create-realistic-rain-in-photoshop/