Ok, I would like to know how to make shadows. I know how to do drop shadows, but if there is something with the sun on it how do i create a shadow of it, projected onto a surface. See what i mean??

make a copy of the something > turn it black/grey > distort to angle and place you want it > use gausian blur and transparancy till you get the effect you like.

or

learn how to do a gradient mask, i've got a tut' for that somewhere

I sent you a PM of a tutorial that explained it well for me.

I almost always do shadows by drawing where I want shadow with a blurry tip thats black or near-black, depending on the color of object the shadow is on. Then I use gausian blur to blur it depending on how far the shadow is from the object projecting it. then I set the transparency according to how dark it would be. I also use the burn tool a lot.

you can adapt the gradual_focus tutorial for shadow work
http://www.hallcross.co.uk/flash/magic_tut.htm

Cheers Guys will look into it

my honest opinion... go for a walk... I mean it... be an observer... look at the benchs, how their shadows are casted, where is the sun, to check where the light comes from, check for other light sources around... look around you dude... the answer is closer to you than you ever could expect...

Brazilian dude, he wasnt asking where he could find a shadow...he wanted to know how to make one.

using you logic, he should just go stand in some light somewhere and look in the opposite direction from where the light source is coming from. TADA! he has made a shadow!

What he wanted to know was how to duplicate that look in ps, which requires some ps knowledge, not just what a shadow looks like. sheesh.

Good thing others have replied, cuz other than this, I got nothing further to add. Good Luck!

(ps, most of my shadows are done with duplication of the item casting the shadow, filling it with black, skewing/distorting it to fit where the shadow should be, then I gaussian blur it...if you cant find gaussian, perhaps try guassian thats all I got)

shadows aren't black

oh yeah...I meant to say I adjust transparency of some sort too...
supa, now you're being crazy! Im just taking baby steps here. work with me!

what color exactly, is a shadow then? I didn't know shadows actually had a color, I thought that it was just an area on an object that isn't being illuminated as much as other parts of it, so it just appears as a darker shade of color that the object is already.

And, yes, Arcaico does have a point. To better learn how shadows "work," you should study them while you do whatever you do. I know that whenever I'm walking somewhere or driving, or just sitting around, I'm always looking at how shadows are cast during the day, and how lighting works at night. Its a good habit. (well, to you, maybe. Others might think you're crazy if you're standing there staring at shadows all day )

Showmoron... in reply to your absolutely senseless attack to my person, I would say that looking at real shadows is a start to know how they´re casted AND THEN try to reproduce them at PS. Once shadow in the absence of light, I believe a shadow does not have a color... but once objects have colors, that are shown by the presence of light, you just calculate the amount of light where you want the shadows to be, and darken enough over the object where the shadow is being casted. And there are plenty of ways to do that... but the most important is not how you do it, but how it will look like... hence the fact to LOOK AROUND AND SEE HOW THE LIGHT INTERACT IN THE REAL WORLD... now, if you could quit being a bitch and go back to your little house in nancers yard, I´d be thankful. Good day sir.

I was nowhere near your person. Had I been, my shadow would have, most certainly, been much bigger than yours.

I was simply trying to point out that you, my little brazilian cupcake, have quite the temper. If I ever get away from here, I shall help you develop some techniques to keep it under control.

oh and that little house you refer to...it casts a shadow...when she lets me, I look at it. It looks like gaussian blur with a 20% or so transparency to me. Good Day to you, crankypants!