Curving a shadow

**DaveC** · 13 February 2013, 04:08 AM

It is possible to take a floor shadow and curve it around an object? Or does it have to stay straight? Thanks

**Egg Bramhill** · 13 February 2013, 04:51 AM

Can you explain in more detail Dave?

**steve.ledger** · 13 February 2013, 05:22 AM

You can do anything you like with a vector shape, feather tool, transparency slider and clipview

The built-in shadow tool is limited.

**Albacore** · 13 February 2013, 09:00 AM

Do a copy of all the elements that you want a shadow of then colour them all black and if you want remove all lines surrounding any shapes. Use the Mould Tool, my thoughts would be to use floor perspective, would depend what you mean by curve as that mould is rectangular. Then get into into a rough position putting it behind your drawn elements and then feather the shadow with further nudging to get the position spot on. You might want to post the shadow elements up a give a slight better info on the word "curve around".

**gwpriester** · 13 February 2013, 12:39 PM

Dave - Can you show us an example of the kind of shadow you are thinking of?

As sledger points out, you can do this with solid shape and feather the shape and add Stained Glass transparency. Or you can create a blend, group the blend, then add Stained Glass transparency. Xara treats any group as a solid object, blends, contours, etc.

**DaveC** · 14 February 2013, 12:44 AM

I hesitate posting the image I'm working on. It's a Valentine card to point a general direction. The target (so to speak) or main subject consists of two roundish globes upon which the true valentine design is based. The arrow enters one of these globes, slightly, and I want to curve the shadow around the "globe". As you can guess, this is not crucial but I was mainly curious if it could be done. The straight shadow isn't all that bad. Thanks for any assistance offered.

**angelize** · 14 February 2013, 01:27 AM

Is this similar to what you are trying to achieve? I did this by creating a vector shape for my shadow and editing it with the shape tool.

**Egg Bramhill** · 14 February 2013, 01:29 AM

Best not to use the shasow tool here. See attached, I can't guarantee the shadow is correct Dave but it'll give you an idea if you pull it apart.

**DaveC** · 14 February 2013, 02:52 AM

Angelize, you've got the idea. In my case it's an arrow going into a buttock, hence the round shape. The feathered arrow makes the shadow complex. But I think your method is the way to go. Thanks for having a go at it.