Plugin for adding shadows(NOT drop shadows)

[painter84]

Hello,

I am very new to paint and trying to put a shadow underneath a toy on a transparent background. I don't want a drop shadow but rather a shadow only at the bottom of the toy so that it looks like it is sitting. Is there a plugin for this?

 

Thank you for your help!

[AgentGoodspeed]

Try the Shadow Effect plug-in. It's a little slow on large images but it does a great job.

http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/1900-shadow-effect-plugin-updated-for-40-on-2015-03-23/

[painter84]

Hi,

thanks for your reply but the plugin doesn't seem to work...it takes forever and in the end it does not even aplly any shadow.I am not sure what version I need to download(I have paint.net version 4.0.5.) and I tried the newest from March 30th as well as Midora's, but Midora's is the old version without the new added effects...

[AgentGoodspeed]

I have version 4.0.5 and the latest version of the plug-in I linked to above as well and it works for me.

As I said, if your image is large it is going to take some time so you have to be patient and let the plug-in do its thing.

Also, the object you want to apply a shadow to must be on its own layer, this is very important. If it isn't, it won't work. Play with the settings to make sure the shadow moves to where you want it to be.

Edited May 16, 2015 by AgentGoodspeed

[painter84]

Ah, I got it to work! I think the image was just too big. One more question though: I was able to move the shadow, but is it possble to stretch or shorten it also? Right now it doesn't look like a "sittng shadow" but more of a drop shadow because the shadow is too large.

[AgentGoodspeed]

I'm not sure, you should ask in the plug-in thread for more precise advice; I haven't really played with this plug-in to its full potential.

I will say that playing with the angles as well as Opacity and Diffusion Factor will give you different effects. I think it also helps when your object is right at the bottom of the canvas (note my example above) otherwise the shadow goes pretty much underneath.

[Cc4FuzzyHuggles]

An alternative is you could just add a new layer under your object layer.
Use the shapes tool with the ellipse shape and draw a black spot under the object.
Blur the black spot with gaussian blur and lower that layer's opacity to your liking.

Or you could duplicate your object.
Turn the duplicate black (Menu bar > hue/saturation > lightness -100).
Move the duplicate's layer under your object's layer.
Draw a selection around the black shape with either the rectangle select or ellipse select tools and squish and move the black shape to be like a shadow.
Blur the black shape and lower the layer's opacity to your liking.

 

 

If you need more help or pictures just ask.

Edited May 16, 2015 by Cc4FuzzyHuggles