Today’s 30 Days of Aviary Tip: Matching Shadows

This effect is useful for when you want to import an image into a picture that already has really obvious shadows. You’ll want to match the shadows correctly or else the new object will stand out too much.

The first step is to create a solid black copy of the object you’ve imported. You can do this by clicking the Color Wand Tool outside of the object, then going to Select -> Invert Selection, then, on a new layer, color that selection black using the Paint Bucket Tool.

Now that you have your basic shadow, you’ll want to use the Distortion Tool to try to skew the black silhouette of your object until it seems to match the angle of the most apparent shadows in the picture you’re placing it on. Once it looks right, adjust the alpha until the two layers have a similar transparency.

But you’ll probably notice the shadow doesn’t look quite right! The shadowed areas might actually appear somewhat bluer in the photograph, rather than just simply darker. To remedy this, use the Color Picker to sample a color from the original shadow and use then use the fill tool to change the color of you black shadow. You may want to adjust the alpha, hue, saturation, and lightness until your shadow starts to “match” the existing shadow.

There are a other subtle effects you can add, such as using a gradient to diminish the strength of the shadow the further it is from the base, which you can read about in the full tutorial. If you use this effect in any of your creations, let us know!

Tagged: 30 Days of Aviary