why drop shadows are da bomb

Drop shadows are really big in the digital scrapbooking world. The shadows are the key to making something look 3D- making it look like it's not digital, but like there's a real element on the page. I didn't get into drop shadows until recently and I feel like it's a game changer. Now, I don't use a lot of elements typically like a traditional digital scrapbooker would. My pocket page style is very minimalist and empty of too many doo-dads. BUT, here's where drop shadows come in handy. I like to use a lot of white text or photoshop brushes on top of pictures or patterned paper, but sometimes the white is a bit tricky to see. This is where a subtle drop shadow comes in. This is the title card I am currently working on. I wanted to use this light tan color paper with a slight texture from the One Little Bird Suncatcher paper set with white text, but the text was a little bit lost:

So for each layer (the text and the box around it) I added a drop shadow- used the linear burn mode, and did a 15% opacity with a 3px distance and size. Just eyeball it until it looks right. I try to keep it nice and subtle.

So here you have the finished card. Clean, simple and slightly easier to read than the first version.

As an FYI, this font is called AW Conqueror Carved and I have been using it all the time because I love it so much. I set the tracking to 100 to space the letters out a little more. I like the look it gives. Happy scrapping and shadowing!

If you're looking for a detailed post on shadowing, check out THIS from the OLB blog.