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In this post, we will show you how to make a Natural Shadow for a composite image under an Object or Person in Photoshop. You can improve shadows to make them more realistic with lighting. Shadows are more important to artwork than you may think. The correct shadow in relation to the light source and the subject’s movement and posture can make your work look more realistic. If the subject and lighting are not matched with a correct shadow placement, the whole artwork can look fake.

How to make Natural Shadow for a composite image in Photoshop

The natural shadow can be added to an image already on a background. You may also put together a person or object on a background and then add the shadow.

Place object or objects in Photoshop

Place objects in order

Resize the images

Create a new layer below the subject image

Use the Quick selection tool to create a selection of subject

Make the selection black and place it on the new layer

Turn off the selection

Rotate the shadow

Change the shadow’s color, color mode, and opacity

Match shadow and subject’s perspective

Convert the shadow to a Smart object

Blur the shadow

Add a Layer mask to the shadow layer

Apply a gradient to the shadow

Save

1] Place object or objects in Photoshop

The shadow can be placed on one image, or it can be placed on a composite image (an image made from a combination of images). One image could be a photo that you want to add some perspective to. A composite image could be taking an image, removing the background, or full surroundings. You then place a different background and other things on the image. You may want to add a shadow to make the image look more realistic.

In this article a composite will be used, a mixture of different images will be put together then the shadow added.

Here is image 1

Here is image 2

You can have one or more images for your project. In this case, you can remove the background from one or all the images to make them fit in naturally with each other. This article will show you how to remove backgrounds in Photoshop. This article will show you how to remove backgrounds in Illustrator.

Read: How to create a 3D pop-out effect in Photoshop

2] Place objects in order

Images in order

Troubleshooting

This is the layers panel with the layers in order. You will also notice that the layers are named. Giving the layers descriptive names will make them easy to find and work with.

3] Resize the images

In this step, you will resize the images so that they fit properly. Depending on what the images are, you will have to resize them properly so that the images can be in proper proportion. Images that are not in proper proportion to each other will not look very realistic.

Know what the realistic perspective of the images would be in comparison to each other.

4] Create a new layer below the subject image

This is where you will create the layer for the shadow. The shadow layer would be below the subject image. The subject would be the image that is casting the shadow. Note that based on the things in the artwork, the objects in the artwork should have shadows that correspond with the light source.

Related: How to get Realistic Shadow for an Image in Photoshop

5] Use the Quick Selection tool to create a selection of subject

Now you want to get the shadow of the image onto the new Shadow layer. The shadow is a copy of the subject layer that has other effects applied to make it look like a shadow. To create the shadow, use the Quick Selection tool to select the subject.

Quick selection tool

The quick selection tool is located on the left tools panel. The Quick Selection tool is in a group with the Magic Wand tool.

With the image selected and the Quick Selection tool active. Draw the mouse on the image to select its outline.

When you have outlined the image with the Quick selection tool, press Q to create a Quick mask.

The Quick Mask will show you all the parts selected by the Quick Selection tool. The dull red parts represent the parts not selected and the vibrant color parts are the parts selected by the Quick Selection tool. Here you will see if any important pasts are missing. The Quick mask. Press Q again to turn off the Quick mask.

6] Make the selection black and place it on the new layer

You will see the shadow appear on the shadow layer.

7] Turn off the selection 8] Rotate the shadow

When you look at the image you will not see the shadow, however, you see it on the layers panel. You will need to rotate the shadow so that it is at the bottom of the subject, turned in the opposite direction. There are a few ways that you can rotate the shadow.

Rotate using the Flip option

You can rotate the image by using the Flip option.

To use the flip option select the shadow layer and go to the top menu bar and press Edit then Transform then Flip Vertical.

Rotate using the transform then drag option

This is the shadow below the subject image. You will notice that the shadow is not fitted perfectly with the image. This will be fixed further down in the article.

9] Change the shadow’s color, color mode, and opacity

An important part of making the shadow realistic is the color. When shadows are analyzed, they are not completely black. Depending on where they are they can have a mixture of dark blue, a little brown, etc. These may not be detectable by the eyes separately, however, they add to the realistic look of the shadow when mixed.

Change the color

This is the shadow with the color changed. You will notice that the shadow is not as black as before.

Change the mode

Lower the opacity

This is the image with the shadow color changed, the color mode changed to multiply and the Opacity changed to 70%.

10] Match shadow and subject’s perspective

This step is very important, you will need to fix the shadow so that it looks like a real shadow. You need to change the perspective of the shadow to the subject. You can do this using Free transform or Puppet warp. Note that the shadow would always touch the bottom of the subject if the person is on the ground. If you want the subject to look like it is in the air then you can leave a space between the shadow and the subject.

Free transform

The free transform allows you to use your hand and judgment to transform the image the way you want. Before using the Free transform, ensure that the image and the shadow are both aligned properly.

When you are ready to Free transform, select the shadow layer then go to the top layer and press Edit the Free transform or press Ctrl + T.

You will see the transform box appear around the image. these are what you will use to transform the image. The little squares are the handles and you use them to move any of the sides. If you want to move just a point and not the whole side hold Ctrl while you drag any of the handles. In this case, you want to transform the sections close to the lower part of the subject.

Note that if the shadow needs to be at an angle based on the lighting, you will need to slant the image in that direction.

Puppet warp

The Puppet warp is another way to transform the shadow to fit the perspective of the subject.

To use the Puppet warp select the shadow layer then go to the top menu bar then press Edit then Puppet warp.

You will see some mesh appear in the shadow, these will help you to easily warp the image.

If you want to turn off the mesh then unselect the show mesh option.

Using puppet warp is quite easy, any part that you want to remain unchanged you add pins, and these pins will keep those parts from moving. The rest of the image will rotate around the anchored parts.

You may have to move the image and also use the Free Transform to make the shadow fit the subject.

This is the image with the shadow changed to fit the perspective.

11] Convert the shadow to a Smart object 12] Blue the shadow

This step is where you will blur the shadow to make it more shadowy. Shadows are not plain, they have blurred and are more like gradients. In this step, you will learn how to blur the shadow.

To blur the shadow go to the top menu bar then press Filter then Blur then Gaussian blur.

The Gaussian blur menu will appear, adjust the slider to a satisfactory blur value. Keep the preview on so that you can see live changes as you make them. When you have the blur value that you want press Ok to keep the changes and close the window.

13] Add a Layer mask to the shadow layer 14] Apply a gradient to the shadow

This is the final image with the shadow applied. Your image may look different based on the image used. You can keep experimenting until you get the look you desire.

15] Save

After all that hard work, you want to save the image for whatever uses you have for it. Before saving it as any other file format, you want to save it as a Photoshop PSD file so that you can edit it later. After saving it as a Photoshop PSD file, you will want to save it as a file format that is good for printing and sharing. The JPEG file format will compress the file so that it is easy to share and use digitally. The PNG file format will retain the high quality of the image. It will even keep from showing a background if you had disabled the background in Photoshop.

Adding shadows to your artwork will make it look more realistic. Shadows will add interest and can make the image look more believable especially if there is a visible light source.

Read: How to use Layer Blending Modes in Photoshop

How to give texts a shadow in Photoshop? How do you add an inner shadow in Photoshop?

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