Shadow Manipulations in Paint Shop Pro 9 or X

Making a certain element in a photo or image stand out can be achieved using several different effects. One technique involves creating shadows around the part you want to emphasize. This method can be used alone or included with other blending manipulations. The steps are compatible with Paint Shop Pro versions 7 and up, though in some cases the interface may have changed between versions. Tools and commands may be in different locations, and some may need to be added back through customization in order to be accessible.

Open Paint Shop Pro, and then open any image (that you own, have permission to use, or is in the public domain) and decide which element you wish shadow.

Click on the Selection Tool and change it to Freehand Selection. Set the Selection type to Point to Point and make the mode Add (Shift). Change the Feather setting to 0 and add a Smoothing setting of 5 - 10. Put a check in the box beside Anti-alias.

Choose a starting point on your image, and then click with your mouse to start the selection, moving around the edges of the part of the image you want to shadow and clicking to add more points. Be careful not to leave anything out. When you have selected everything, right click to end the selection.

Click on Selections, go down to Modify, and then click on Feather. Make the Number of pixels about 75 - 100, depending on the size of your image. Click on Selections again, and then click on Invert. You should see the selection taking up only a small part now.

In the Materials Palette, set the foreground color to black, and then click on the Flood Fill Tool. Click on your image to add the fill. Repeat this step as many times as needed until you are satisfied with the result.

You can also add a further subtle focus by clicking on Layers and clicking on Duplicate, then following the steps to select and shadow another part on the duplicate layer. Adjust the opacity by moving the slider bar in the Layers Palette until you are satisfied with the appearance.

Once you are finished, be sure your image is saved with a different name than the original.

Use this technique alone or with other photo manipulations to create unique images for use in web graphics, digital scrapbooks, and more. You're only limited by your own imagination.