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How to make text with a dropshadow in 5 steps!


InteractiveBuddy

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This tutorial is available as a PDF. Click here to view or download it

OK ive seen a lot of people that have tried to explain how to make a shadow on any piece of text. Ive found that a lot of them are wrong so im making a tutorial to teach people that don't know how to make shadows on text or anything else in paint.net:

To start you will need 2 plugins. They are...

Outline Object

Drop Shadow

If you dont know how to install plugins go here

Ok lets get started:

1. Open Paint.net ( :pdn: ) and create an image of any size. Ill be choosing 300 x 300 pixels:

ay7d6w.png

2.Now choose the magic wand tool ( :MagicWandTool: ) and click on the white area. Then press the cut button ( :EditCut: ) or press Ctrl+X on your keyboard:

2lwrwop.png

You now have a Transparent Background

3. Click on text ( :TextTool: )in the toolbar to the left. choose your font, size, color etc. then type your desired text:

ixa9ut.png

4. Go into Effects>Object>Outline Object and change the Width Value to 1 and change the color to black unless your text is black. If it is you can make it white or red or anything else:

rswk0g.png

2regu48.png

5. Go into Effects>Object>Drop Shadow and change the values to the following:

214bngw.png

Your Done!

Heres an example of what it can look like at the end:

2utkpwj.png

You can use drop shadowed text in signatures, avatars or just about anything. Just make sure its not over the size limit!

2d6nosh.png

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Don't assume others are wrong just because you haven't experimented long enough...

You can use either plugin to get the same effect, if you know what you're doing.

11001_4c63ed9caa91d6874aaa5b3c7688875a

11001_886247e52c4b0bb6e8675fb36eaaa7d8

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Don't assume others are wrong just because you haven't experimented long enough...

I have experimented long enough. Ive used 20 or so techniques that people said for about 3 hours and only 1 worked but it was in a reply to a question so i decideed to to put it in my own words with pictures and stuff in a tut

2d6nosh.png

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I like the outcome but my drop shadow doesn't work.. But it looks really nice..

The post above probably has crappy art.. Just look past that

:D
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haha for my avatar i just took the wings from the gohtic font and changed the layer blend mode to color burn then thats what it made. and i see from your signature u watch wwe. i watch it too but i like tna way more

2d6nosh.png

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Easy and pretty cool way too...

Make some text.

Add a new layer. Write the same text, but in the color of your shadow.

Move it down and right five pixels each.

Frosted glass plugin, but not too much.

Then gaussian blur, or any blur really.

"Being calm can work wonders"

Signature-1.png

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

For the outline, I advise using Anti-aliasing and then outline object with your set preferences as...

Width: 2+

Softness: 255 - your width = what you must choose.

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  • 4 months later...

@TheYoungLogo, for information on installing plugins, read this thread: viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2023

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is a nice tutorial but I was looking for a plugin information.Ego I saw the link you have mentioned but some error is coming on that page.Can you post me any other information or link on plugin installation so that I can try this tutorial.

Signature edited by Rick: Removed spam link

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All the links are broken in my Plugin Index. I am working with Pyrochild to get them back up as soon as possible.

Until then, here is the plugin you are looking for, it's one of this pack by KrisVDM: http://forums.getpai...ted-2010-03-15/

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OK ive seen a lot of people that have tried to explain how to make a shadow on any piece of text. Ive found that a lot of them are wrong so im making a tutorial to teach people that don't know how to make shadows on text or anything else in paint.net

I personally haven't made any tutorials on text shadows, but I still find that offensive. There is no "wrong" in photo editing, just a quality scale from bad to best. This said, I'm placing your tutorial somewhere in the "ok" section. Let's go through your tutorial step by step.

1. Open Paint.net? Even a noob would know to do that. However, if you didn't add that, you would only have 4 steps and five sounds better than four in your title.

2. This is a legitimate step here. I wonder, though, why you used "cut" to delete the white. You don't need the white for anything later, so why not just hit "delete?" I do like how you added the "you now have a transparent background" in there. Recently, I've been seeing some complaints like "I want to delete the gosh darn checkered background, but PDN won't let me"

3. So now, we added our text. You say some things about choosing font, color, etc. Seeing as to how noob the people you seem to be talking to are, you may want to add a little "how to" on changing those options.

4. Why does everyone use outline object on their text? It only makes certain texts look nicer. I'd put an "optional" on this step.

5. So we went through 4 steps so that we could do this one step on some text...To tell the truth, I think you could have just left this with the title and you would have been just as informative as with the tutorial. You have 3 obvious steps and one optional and one that matches the title. Why bother working so hard then?

Here's what I got...WITHOUT using anything but the basic PDN tools (layers, text, blur, brightness and contrast, and even the pencil tool).

textshadow.png

All this tutorial seems to be is an advertisement for the drop shadow plugin. As I said before, why bother?

No, Paint.NET is not spyware...but, installing it is an IQ test. ~BoltBait

Blend modes are like the filling in your sandwich. It's the filling that can change your experience of the sandwich. ~Ego Eram Reputo

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