• Adobe Illustrator

  How do I make a drop shadow in Illustrator

  Posted by Scott Di lalla on January 11, 2008 at 6:40 pm

  application: Illustrator cs2

  I tried doing some research on this before posting because it sounds like it could be a just a click of a button like PS, but I know it’s not.

  First, can I drag a vector object (in this case a text based logo) and add the kind of drop shadow I want in Photoshop (cs2) then bring it back into Illustrator?

  If not what are some good techniques to do this in Illustrator? I once made a darker layer and placed it under the main text to give the illusion that there was a drop shadow.

  Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

  Scott

  Scott Di Lalla

  https://www.choppertown.net

  https://www.brittown.net

  Scott Di lalla replied 18 years, 5 months ago 2 Members · 2 Replies
• 2 Replies

• 

  Vincent Rosati

  January 11, 2008 at 7:52 pm

  Illustrator Drop Shadows with the Click of a Button!
  Illustrator drop shadows are under…
  Filter/Stylize/Drop Shadow or
  Effect/Stylize/Drop Shadow

  Both options create a raster object underneath the target, which can be controlled by…
  Effect/Document Raster Effect Settings.

  Using Effects (my prefernce), as opposed to Filters, allows you to access the modification within the Appearance palette…
  Window/Appearance, in case you want to make further adjustments.

  If you drag a Photoshop text object, with a drop shadow Later style, into Illustrator it will rasterize. It would be, kind of, going in reverse.
  My workflow generally considers Illustrator to be more fundamental. That is to say, build your vectors in AI, than go to PS if necessary.
  From Photoshop, you can File/Export Paths to Illustrator, where necessary. Or, you can use the text tool to copy text data out of PS, than paste into an AI text object.

  Your last solution of creating additional vector objects underneath the main object, of different values, is a good solution.
  You might like using…
  Object/Path/Offset Path
  …to compliment this technique, but you must first outline the type before this option becomes active.

  Vince
• 

  Scott Di lalla

  January 11, 2008 at 8:21 pm

  Vince,

  Thanks alot!!

  Wow, it is just a button. I guess I got use to the older version of Illustrator…but it’s possible I over looked it even then.

  Good point about going from ps to ill…that would defeat working with vectors.

  Thanks again..i will give it a go.

  Scott

  Scott Di Lalla

  https://www.choppertown.net

  https://www.brittown.net

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