PowerPoint pain point: Drop shadows

Ah, PowerPoint, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

Today's PowerPoint-makes-it-easy-to-be-ugly discussion: drop shadows.

Drop shadows are meant to present the illusion that an object is sitting off the plane that is the PowerPoint page. They are designed to add visual interest and impact to a presentation.

Do they? No, not really. Unfortunately, they are yet another thing that PowerPoint makes too easy. Easy and ugly. Ugly and ineffective. But just because it makes it easy, does that mean we should be using it, gentle reader? (HINT: You should be shaking your head "no," right now. Emphatically would be nice.)

Now, ideally, you divorce your drop shadow creation from PowerPoint, entirely, and opt to take care of your drop shadow needs with a program that is capable of rendering effective drop shadows (I tend to use Adobe/Macromedia Fireworks, because it was designed for building on-screen graphics). But if you must use PowerPoint for drop shadows, read on.

And so, we come, ever so meanderingly, to the topic of today's tactical PowerPoint discussion...

Rendering more realistic drop shadows using Microsoft PowerPoint

Now, when one chooses to apply a drop shadow to an object in PowerPoint, one would think that it would be as simple as pressing the "Shadow" button. One would think.

Stop thinking that way.

Pressing the shadow button renders something ugly, like this.

PowerPoint Drop Shadow

But I can improve it, you say. Look it's a (oooh) semi-transparent shadow, now. And look, I can move it around with these little arrow thingees. Look, it's moving.

No, just stop. Move away from the shadow button.

Truth of the matter is, the shadow button is fraught with reality distortion. For example, except when you've been standing in front of the bright, bright lights of a police line-up (and I know you have), have you ever seen a shadow cast with a perfect border? I mean, seriously?

No. The answer is no.

Shadows do not have perfect borders. They have borders that degrade, imperfectly. Yet, our "friend" the PowerPoint shadow button with all his "I'll make this easy for you! Just give me a press!" sweet talk, gives you a perfectly rendered duplicate of the object it is attempting shadowing. As if it were standing in a police line-up.

I think you see where I'm going here? That's right, the criminal element.

So, now I hear you talking again. Piercing whining like fingernails on the chalkboard. But how, you screech, am I supposed to make a drop shadow without one of those fancy schmancy image editing programs?

Calm down. Here's how.

Select the circle drawing tool. (But my object is a square, I hear you saying. Pipe down, you should hear me saying, and stay tuned.)

Draw a large circle

Remove the line (Select circle object, select line tool (paint brush), select No Line)

Now, let's get to fixing that fill... Select the circle object. And then select the fill tool (paint bucket)

Choose Fill Effects

From the Gradient tab, select the One Color radio button

From the Color 1 drop down, select the color black

Drag the slider all the way to Light

Under the Transparency area, drag the To slider to 100%

Under the Shading Styles, select the From Center radio button.

Hit Ok

I can see your lip quivering, again. No back-sass now. Just do it.

You should wind up with something that looks like this.

Revised PowerPoint Drop Shadow

That's so many steps, you screech. Well, listen here. Ugly is easy. If you want to stay ugly, then stay easy. That and I was overly descriptive. Once you get this down, it will only take you a couple of seconds. And I promise, it will be well worth those extra seconds.

Now, you have the start of a nice drop shadow, regardless of the shape casting the shadow. Try distorting the perspective. Play with the transparency. Change the color. (This also, by the way, makes a very nice glow.) You may even want to try it in shapes that more closely match the shape casting the shadow. All I'm saying is go ahead and experiment like you were still in college. You know what I'm talking about. Have some fun.

Once you've mucked around with it a bit. Try applying it to shapes. Have those shapes sit on the slide. Have them float a bit. Work with it.

Applying the revised PowerPoint Drop Shadow

Hopefully, this has helped a bit. And hopefully, it has motivated you to avoid the easy (read ugly) way out with that good-for-nothing-ne'er-do-well shadow button.

Next up? Something equally critical to improving your application of the drop shadow. That's right. You guessed it. Next time, it will be the PowerPoint drop shadow's best friend: the PowerPoint light source.

Technorati tags: PowerPoint, dropshadow, drop shadow, shadow