Damn you Gus and your drop shadow!!!

DoctorIt

I had some time to kill this morning, so I was fixing up my entry for the shadows, and I saw how much impact Humungus and his shadows had on the forum (nice work mate :thumb).

I decided that against my usual nature, I'd give it a try for fun. I knew how to do it without checking the thread, so off I went. I expanded my canvas only 5% or so, then did yadda yadda and had my drop shadow. Eh, not enough extra canvas I decided. So I went ahead and expanded it some more. Drop shadow gone... Doh. What happened? I stepped back, everything, something got fouled.

No big deal, its an easy process, so I closed the image, and reopened the version with final edits before the border attempt. But this time I opened up PF's thread and made sure I wasn't forgetting something. NO drop shadow. NO way. I opened up another image. NO. I tried restarting photoshop. NO. I tried restarting the machine. NO!
WHAT GIVES??!!! :splat

Did I mess up some layer attributes or preferences or something? I have opened fresh images and followed PF's tutorial to a T, and the result is no drop shadow whatsoever. I've changed the colors and everything. Can I reset PS or something? UGH. I'm sure my Mac wouldn't give me this hassle! Or maybe thats my lesson to not goof off in the lab. :wxwax

pathfinder

DoctorIt wrote:

I had some time to kill this morning, so I was fixing up my entry for the shadows, and I saw how much impact Humungus and his shadows had on the forum (nice work mate ).

I decided that against my usual nature, I'd give it a try for fun. I knew how to do it without checking the thread, so off I went. I expanded my canvas only 5% or so, then did yadda yadda and had my drop shadow. Eh, not enough extra canvas I decided. So I went ahead and expanded it some more. Drop shadow gone... Doh. What happened? I stepped back, everything, something got fouled.

No big deal, its an easy process, so I closed the image, and reopened the version with final edits before the border attempt. But this time I opened up PF's thread and made sure I wasn't forgetting something. NO drop shadow. NO way. I opened up another image. NO. I tried restarting photoshop. NO. I tried restarting the machine. NO!
WHAT GIVES??!!! :splat

Did I mess up some layer attributes or preferences or something? I have opened fresh images and followed PF's tutorial to a T, and the result is no drop shadow whatsoever. I've changed the colors and everything. Can I reset PS or something? UGH. I'm sure my Mac wouldn't give me this hassle! Or maybe thats my lesson to not goof off in the lab.

???? Calm down first, Doc! We'll figure it out somehow. Not sure, but I'd start here. You must have hit a button somewhere and this is my first guess. Check on your foreground and background colors in the tool box( you need black as the foreground color - hit the 'D' key for this) and check the colors you have checked in the canvas enlargement dialogue box ( you get a new drop down dialogue box to set this of course.)

Check the dialogue box for the drop shadow also and make sure you are using the proper layer for each step of the workflow.

Let us know what you find out.

A second thought occured to me - the DS did not diasappear until you enlarge the canvas further - but did you enlarge the background layer or the smaller copy of the original above. If you enlarge the upper layer you will not cast a shadow on the lower layer because the shadow will fall off the lower layer outside your canvas. Can you see what I am saying? I think this may have been the problem originally. Just run through the steps again after taking a deep breath in and out But pay strict attention to which layer you are acting on at each step.

Andy

actions
i have them saved as ps actions, have done so for over a year now. if i knew where to pull out the atn file from, i could email it to anyone who wants it?

pathfinder wrote:

???? Calm down first, Doc! We'll figure it out somehow. Not sure, but I'd start here. You must have hit a button somewhere and this is my first guess. Check on your foreground and background colors in the tool box( you need black as the foreground color - hit the 'D' key for this) and check the colors you have checked in the canvas enlargement dialogue box ( you get a new drop down dialogue box to set this of course.)

Check the dialogue box for the drop shadow also and make sure you are using the proper layer for each step of the workflow.

Let us know what you find out.

A second thought occured to me - the DS did not diasappear until you enlarge the canvas further - but did you enlarge the background layer or the smaller copy of the original above. If you enlarge the upper layer you will not cast a shadow on the lower layer because the shadow will fall off the lower layer outside your canvas. Can you see what I am saying? I think this may have been the problem originally. Just run through the steps again after taking a deep breath in and out But pay strict attention to which layer you are acting on at each step.

ginger_55

Actions?


I know I say I use Pathfinder's technique for drop shadows, maybe I don't.

1) extend the white canvas 12% (don't even think about layers, just do the canvas at 12% so you have something to write on. That is my figure, smaller might work for something else. The white does come from the background color in the tool box, however you get it, put the black on top, the white on the bottom.)

2) Use the rectangle tool in the upper part of the tool box. Put it around the image. Don't put the white part in that, just the image. Then you will have ants going around your image.

3) Push keys, in PC, Ctrl and J down together, the ants go away.

4) go under the layers on the top of the screen, click on layers style, click on shadows

5) a box with choices comes up. One important one is the circle, another is the one, I think it says diameter, says something, is a slide thing towards the top and it determines how far your shadow goes out. Push that up a bit til you see shadow somewhere, adjust how much shadow you want. Then in the circle thing, that determines where the shadow goes. I push the little line over to 10 o'clock for a normal shadow frame.

All those can be adjusted as you get used to what they do and why.

Then you have to merge all that under layers, as you have actually been using layers without having to think about it.

After I do that I write on it..........I have already said how I do that.

Maybe this makes sense, only thing that did to me.

ginger (If you mess up, it usually helps to start over, so save the image, before you do something where you might mess up. In other words, I would save, I would do it anyway, as you do want a clean image in case you would want to print it in order to frame it, save it before you put the frame on. If you mess up, you can go back and use that. Then save it again after the frame, so you can use that for the Challenge, or whatever.) I do a lot of saving, especially on a new technique.

DoctorIt

Thanks Ginger - I'm not tootin' my own horn, but I'm actually quite good with PS, so that's why this is killing me. I knew all the steps without having to look at PF's method. Anyway... thanks.

PF - I have set and reset back/foreground color about 100 times. I've even tried to fool around with the drop shodow style once its in place, to manually give it the right color. So the style shows up as there, but I can't see it. I've flopped the layers around and everything. I just don't know whats going on!

pathfinder

DoctorIt wrote:

Thanks Ginger - I'm not tootin' my own horn, but I'm actually quite good with PS, so that's why this is killing me. I knew all the steps without having to look at PF's method. Anyway... thanks.

PF - I have set and reset back/foreground color about 100 times. I've even tried to fool around with the drop shodow style once its in place, to manually give it the right color. So the style shows up as there, but I can't see it. I've flopped the layers around and everything. I just don't know whats going on!

Have you tried hitting your monitor firmly with the side of your hand? Whack!!! I always find machinery more cooperative after we mutually decide who is in charge. Helps to settle things in!

cletus

Did you manage to change any of the Blending Options in the Layer Style Dialog??? - Make sure Transparency Shapes Layer is checked.

DoctorIt

well, i got it to work. turns out that my selections somehow weren't working, or i was in space. All my duplicate layers "included" the border so obviously, no shadow was showing. I've fixed it, but I still feel like my magic wand tool is broken. I've had to just use rectangular marquee and eyeball it.

No matter. It's done. Thanks for the input.

pathfinder

DoctorIt wrote:

well, i got it to work. turns out that my selections somehow weren't working, or i was in space. All my duplicate layers "included" the border so obviously, no shadow was showing. I've fixed it, but I still feel like my magic wand tool is broken. I've had to just use rectangular marquee and eyeball it.

No matter. It's done. Thanks for the input.

Doc, Doc, DOc........

If you review the thread I wrote for 'gus with my newer method - the FIRST step is duplicating the image by pressing ctrl-j - BEFORE you increase the canvas size. There is no need nor use for the magic wand in the newer thread here http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=4087&page=1 Give it a try.....

As I said earlier, I thought that the reason you could not see the drop shadow was that is was falling outside of the canvas space of the original image plus its white border. Sounds like I was pretty close.

DoctorIt

pathfinder wrote:

Doc, Doc, DOc........

If you review the thread I wrote for 'gus with my newer method - the FIRST step is duplicating the image by pressing ctrl-j - BEFORE you increase the canvas size. There is no need nor use for the magic wand in the newer thread here http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=4087&page=1 Give it a try.....

As I said earlier, I thought that the reason you could not see the drop shadow was that is was falling outside of the canvas space of the original image plus its white border. Sounds like I was pretty close.

Yeah well

To save some face, I was doing borders basically the same way as you did originally - figured out on on my own (makes sense that way, don't it?) and it had worked. The blown out corner of that image was giving the wand some trouble - so the selection looked right, but was actually wrong. I ended up selecting everything all the time. Oh well. I haven't looked at this new "method", but I get it. slicker approach, you're right.

back to your regularly scheduled programming.