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Chapter 5 you learned about applying the Shadow effect to a text box, but you can also apply a shadow to any object, including any AutoShape. Further, the shadows you apply to these objects are much more versatile than the shadows that you apply to text. There are lots of special effect options. You can control the positioning of the shadow, control how far it appears to be away from the text, change the shadow color, and more.
On some object types, when you apply a shadow it clings to the object itself. For others the shadow clicks to the rectangular outer frame around the object. For some object types it depends on the transparency setting for the object background too.
Here are some general rules:
AutoShapes and WordArt: The shadow always clings to the shape, not its frame. If the shape is transparent, the shadow will change so that it's a shadow of the border around the outside, rather than of a solid shape (see Figure 7-27).
Bitmap images: Photographs and other imported bitmap pictures always apply the shadow to the frame around the picture.
Clip art, text boxes, and charts: If any of these have transparent background (no fill), the shadow applies directly to the object, but if there is a background, the shadow is then applied to the outer frame instead.
Figure 7-27: Results of applying a shadow to transparent and non-transparent AutoShapes and WordArt.
| XREF | Clip art is covered in Chapter 9, and charts are covered in Chapter 11. |
To apply a shadow to an object, click the object and then click the Shadow button on the Drawing toolbar. A pop-up menu appears, as shown in Figure 7-28. Click the button for the type of shadow you want, or to turn off a shadow, choose No Shadow.
Figure 7-28: Apply a basic shadow from the Drawing toolbar.
Besides the simple buttons on the Shadow shortcut menu shown in Figure 7-28, there are several more sophisticated shadow controls. To see them, choose Shadow Settings from the pop-up menu. A Shadow Settings toolbar appears, containing controls that help you fine-tune the shadow. See Table 7-3 for an explanation of these controls.
Button | Name | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
Shadow On/Off | Toggles the shadow on/off | |
Nudge Shadow Up | Moves the shadow up slightly | |
Nudge Shadow Down | Moves the shadow down slightly | |
Nudge Shadow Left | Moves the shadow to the left slightly | |
Nudge Shadow Right | Moves the shadow to the right slightly | |
Shadow Color | Opens a drop-down list of colors for the shadow |
Once you apply a basic shadow to an object, the Nudge buttons can help you increase or decrease the height and width of the shadow. For example, you might want to make a shadow more prominent, to make it more obvious that the shadow exists. The larger the shadow, the greater the effect of the object floating on the slide.
| Caution | If you change the shadow color, make sure you stick with a color that is darker than the object. Lighter-colored shadows do not look realistic. (The exception is that for black text, you should use a gray shadow.) |
The Shadow Color button opens a drop-down list of colors in the scheme, as well as the More Shadow Colors option. It also contains a Semitransparent Shadow command (an on/off toggle which is On by default), so you can make the shadow more or less opaque.
If you want to experiment with the shadow feature, try the following experiment:
Create an AutoShape or some WordArt, and select it.
Click the Shadow button and then pick the first shadow on the first row.
Click the Shadow button again and click Shadow Settings.
On the Shadow Settings toolbar, click the Nudge Shadow Up button twice and then the Nudge Shadow Left button twice.
On the Shadow Settings toolbar, click the Shadow Color button and select a different color for the shadow.
Delete the object when you are finished experimenting.
