Beautiful Long Shadows in Photoshop

In this quick tip, I will show you an awesome way to create Clipping path and cast shadows in Photoshop. So, let's jump right into it. So, this is the document that I'm working with. As you can see, it's just two simple layers: a colour fill with a texture created by a Layer Style and an editable text layer with a Layer Style that creates that effect that you see there.

You can create cast shadows by using Layers Styles. For example, with that layer selected, I'm going to create a drop shadow. And you can see that I can add a new drop shadow, and I can reset it to default just so that I have a black shadow, and I can click-and-drag this and move it around. And even though this looks OK, it doesn't

could you give me the effect that I'm going for? 

I want a long shadow effect, which is what the tip will be all about. So, I hope that this tip is new for you. So, what I'll do now is hold Ctrl on Windows Command on the Mac and click on the layer thumbnail to load the layer as a selection. Then I'll create a new layer and fill it with black. Black is my foreground colour so, I'll tap Alt and backspace to fill with black. Then, I'll press control D and Command D to deselect. And I'll drag the layer below the shadow text layer.

There it is. What I'll do now is convert it into a Smart Object so that I can have an opportunity to edit the shadow later. Then I'll go into a Filter. Blur Gallery and select Path Blur. And with this blur, we're going to create a cool shadow. You can click-and-drag on this arrow, and you can see the shadow here next to the text. But I want a long shadow.

To create that effect, uncheck the Centered Blur checkbox. And increase the Speed.

And you can see that long shadow effect. See that super. Super cool! So, in my scene, I have the light coming from the left. 

You can see that the S here is brighter than the 

Where on the bottom. So, the shadow will be going this way. And you can click-and-drag it accordingly to find something that works for you and adjust that any way you want.

 

I hope you enjoy this cool technique to create a long shadow effect on text layers and other elements in your design. My name is Sue Celis from The Photo Fix. I look forward to seeing you again in the next tip.