Adobe Photoshop CS6 Top 100 Simplified Tips and Tricks by Lynette Kent

Create a realistic COLORED SHADOW
When you apply a drop shadow to text using a Layer
Style drop shadow, the shadow is gray. Actual
shadows of text or other objects are not gray and do
not always have the same opacity. Shadows reflect the
colors of the objects they cover. If you select another
color for the shadow in the Layer Style dialog box, the
shadow appears unnatural and uniform in color.
You can add type to a photo and have the shadow
appear with the same colors that occur in the real
world. Create a selection and add a Brightness/
Contrast adjustment layer. Then, link the shadow
layer to the text layer, and reposition the text in the
image. The shadow follows the moved text,
automatically adjusting itself to the colors in the
image below.
You can use the same technique to add a realistic
shadow to text or to any object in an image. Add
depth to natural-light shadows under a tree or
increase the shadow of a person in a sunlit photo. The
greater the number of colors and textures the shadow
affects, the more natural your colored shadow
appears.
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1 With an image open, click the
Type tool.
2 Select the font style, size, color
and alignment in the Options bar.
Note: You can click in the Size field
and type the size.
3 Click in the image and type the
text.
4 Click the Commit button.
Note: You can optionally press
Ô+T (Ctrl+T) and drag the corner
anchors to adjust the type.
5 Ô+click (Ctrl+click) the type layer
thumbnail to select the letters.
6 Click Select.
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7 Click Modify.
8 Click Feather.
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8
The Feather Selection dialog box
appears.
9 Click in the Feather Radius field
and type a small amount such
as 10.
0 Click OK.
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! Click the Type tool.
@ Press the right- and down-arrow
keys multiple times to make the
light source appear to come from
the upper left.
Note: You can change the light
source to the upper right by clicking
the left- and down-arrow keys.
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