Inner Shadow

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Inner Shadow


The traditional use for an inner shadow is to simulate 3D depth in a 2D image. This is done by creating an offset shadow within a shape to make it look like it is cut out and casting a shadow on the object beneath it.

Below you will see an example of how an inner shadow can indicate how big the light source is and where it is coming from, as well as how far away an object is from the background. By changing only the settings of the inner shadow, you can dramatically change the look of an image.



Color

By default, the shadow color will be black, but you can add a tint of color or even try something outrageous to get special effects.

Adjusting the Alpha will modify the effect intensity.

Offset

This changes the apparent distance between the subject and the background.

The effect is achieved by altering the projected shadow in the X and Y axis.

Edge

How bigger or smaller is the shadow compared to the character size.

A good example of using this parameter is to make the Edge bigger to allow for bigger movements in the X and Y offsets.

Mask

This defines where the shadow is masked. Zero will make the mask match the character edge exactly, while smaller values will move the mask to the inside of the shadow.

Useful for masking not at the outside of the character's edge, but inside the outline.

Smooth

How soft or hard is the projected shadow.

Outer

This is similar to the smoothing, but will make the shadow softer to the outside. This can be tweaked to avoid hard mask edges and increase the blending between the shadow and the character.


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