Locked lesson.
About this lesson
The long shadow is a clean design look that can be created a few different ways in Photoshop; here we achieve the look by using 3D objects.
Exercise files
Download the Photoshop file used in the video tutorial and try the lesson yourself.
Long Shadow Effect.psd4.2 MB
Quick reference
Topic: Photoshop Long Shadows
Create the long shadow icon design look.
When to use
The long shadow is a clean design look that can be created a few different ways in Photoshop; here we achieve the look by using 3D objects.
Instructions
Create the basic document
- Consists of square white border.
- Square light blue layer.
- White bold text layer.
Convert to 3D
- With text layer selected.
- Menu/3D/New 3D Extrusion from Selected Layer.
Rotate view for correct shadow direction
- In the extra view window, switch the view to ‘Top’.
- Then click on the arrow in the right of the extra view window to switch the main view to that.
Rotate text for correct shadow direction
- In 3D panel (lower) select the text object.
- Go to the top of the properties panel and click the coordinate’s button.
- In the X Axis (middle number) change to 90°.
Lighting
- Make sure the properties panel is active (Menu/Window/Properties).
- In 3D panel (lower) select ‘Infinite Light’.
- Rotate to the top left corner.
Brighten the text
- In 3D panel (lower) select ‘Front Inflation Material’.
- Change the specular to white.
To change the text content
- In 3D panel (lower) select the text object.
- Click on the ‘Edit Source’ button.
- Change the text, font, and size.
- Press OK to go back to 3D project.
- 00:04 Hey, everyone. Howard Pinsky here with
- 00:06 a Photoshop tutorial on how to create a long shadow for your icons.
- 00:11 You may have seen this design trend making its way around the web,
- 00:14 especially if you've been on Dribbble for five minutes or so.
- 00:18 Personally, I think it's one of those trends that will come and
- 00:19 go quite quickly, but some people wanted to know how to create this effect.
- 00:24 Now, you can create it with a pen tool.
- 00:25 But because I like to do things a little bit differently, we're actually gonna be
- 00:29 using the 3D tools that are available in Photoshop CS6 Extended or Photoshop CC.
- 00:35 And as long as you have a text layer or
- 00:36 some sort of a shape layer, you should be able to follow along quite well.
- 00:40 So the document I am starting with is quite simple.
- 00:43 I have a rectangle on top for the border, I have a type layer that says Ps for
- 00:47 Photoshop, and I have the background, which is a nice bright blue.
- 00:50 So with said, I'm gonna grab my Type layer in my Layers panel.
- 00:53 And now we need to extrude it into the third dimension.
- 00:56 So under the 3D menu at the top,
- 00:58 I'm gonna choose New 3D Extrusion from selected layer.
- 01:02 And Photoshop is gonna give us a really nice extrusion for our text.
- 01:05 But in order for this effect to work, the text needs to be lying flat on
- 01:09 the surface, and the light needs to be coming from the top-left corner.
- 01:13 But when you're in your default 3D view,
- 01:15 rotating just your text isn't enough to get the effect that you're looking for.
- 01:19 You also need to rotate the whole view, which isn't as easy as it seems.
- 01:24 So let me show you a much simpler way of doing this.
- 01:26 Over to the left in the little view port,
- 01:28 we have the option of changing how we view our type.
- 01:31 With this little drop-down right here, we have all these different camera views,
- 01:36 Left, Right, Top, Bottom, Back, front, Vanishing Point Grid, and Default Camera.
- 01:42 Now, right now, it's set to the top, which is the exact view that we're looking for.
- 01:46 But it's not reflected in our main document.
- 01:49 So at the top-right corner of the viewport,
- 01:51 you can click on this icon right here, and it's gonna switch the views for us.
- 01:55 This will make it much easier to rotate our text and position the light.
- 01:59 So now that the view is set, we're gonna select our text.
- 02:02 And then, over in the Properties panel, we want to select this option right here,
- 02:06 which is our coordinates.
- 02:07 And when we click on that, we can move, rotate, or
- 02:09 scale our object using specific values.
- 02:13 And, in this case, we want to rotate,
- 02:14 which is the middle column, we want to rotate 90 degrees along the x-axis.
- 02:19 So I'm gonna enter 90, and we now have our text facing upwards.
- 02:23 And if your text or shape is a little bit too small, you can move your
- 02:26 text over top the little white box in the center, and then drag it upwards.
- 02:30 It'll scale it uniformly, just like that.
- 02:34 And now that the text is the size that we want it, we can go ahead and
- 02:36 position the light.
- 02:38 You'll notice there's an icon for
- 02:39 the light source, right at the bottom of your workspace.
- 02:42 Yours may be on the top or on sides as well.
- 02:44 And then when you click on that,
- 02:46 you now have a handle to rotate the light source anywhere you please.
- 02:50 In this case, I want the light coming from the top left corner of the icon.
- 02:53 So I'm gonna grab the handle, and then rotate it until it's in place.
- 02:58 And now, we're ready to give our scene a render to see what it looks like.
- 03:01 Over in the Properties panel, you can click on this icon right here,
- 03:04 which is going to render our icon and smooth out the scene.
- 03:07 Now taking a quick look at it, the text is a little bit too dark.
- 03:10 So I'm gonna press Esc to cancel the render,
- 03:12 and we're gonna make a quick change to make sure the text is nice and bright.
- 03:16 I'm gonna select the front inflation material,
- 03:19 which is the material that you see at the top of the text.
- 03:21 And I'm simply gonna set the specular to a nice, bright white.
- 03:25 And when I press OK, I can go ahead and render it one more time.
- 03:27 And this time, it's gonna look a lot brighter.
- 03:30 Of course, you can dial it back just a little bit if you want a little bit
- 03:33 of gray left in there.
- 03:34 But for the most part, I was looking for nice, white text.
- 03:37 And as the render progresses,
- 03:38 the noise that you're seeing will gradually start to fade out.
- 03:42 And the really nice thing about creating the long shadow using the 3D features is
- 03:46 that it's completely editable and is gonna update when you update your text.
- 03:50 So I'm gonna select the base text mesh material,
- 03:53 right over here in the Layers panel.
- 03:54 And if I scroll down to the bottom of the Properties panel, I can edit the source.
- 03:59 So let's say for instance, you want to create an Adobe Illustrator icon as well.
- 04:02 I'm gonna simply type Ai, and then I'm gonna change the font so
- 04:06 it looks a little bit better.
- 04:07 I'm gonna choose Helvetica.
- 04:09 Now, when you close and
- 04:10 save this document, it's gonna update your 3D mesh and the shadow along with it.
- 04:15 And in this case, because Adobe Illustrator is orange,
- 04:18 I'm going to hop back into the Layers panel, and
- 04:20 simply change the color of the background to a nice bright orange, just like that.
- 04:24 And I can grab my 3D mesh once again and render it out to see the final result.
- 04:29 And like I mentioned,
- 04:30 as the render progresses, it's gonna look better and better.
- 04:33 Now, you are noticing that the shadow is looking a little bit harsh
- 04:36 in this example.
- 04:37 So let me stop the render.
- 04:38 I am gonna hop back into my 3D panel, and then select my environment.
- 04:42 And when I am in my environment properties,
- 04:44 right down here at the bottom where the shadows are,
- 04:46 I just wanna turn the Opacity down just a little bit, somewhere around 25%.
- 04:50 And when I render it, the shadow's opacity is gonna be a lot lower.
- 04:56 And that will do it.
- 04:57 Using the 3D features in Photoshop CS6 Extended or Photoshop CC,
- 05:01 you can create your own completely editable long shadow for your icons.
Lesson notes are only available for subscribers.