Step 11: Drag the resulting Solid
Color fill layer beneath the masked
subject layer. To move (offset) the
color fill, unlink it from its layer
mask by clicking the tiny chain-
link icon (circled at left) between
the Color Fill layer thumbnail and
the mask. Click the layer mask
(circled at right) to make it active;
you should see little brackets
around the mask corners.Step 12: Press V to grab the Move tool and then tap the Arrow keys on your key-
board to scoot the colored shadow away from its original position, so it’s offset
from your subject. Be sure to save the document with your layers intact by choosing
File>Save As and picking Photoshop as the document format.As you can see, this technique is effective for drawing the viewer’s eye to a sub-
ject, while incorporating a nice punch of color. Remember, you can easily experi-
ment with the background and shadow colors by double-clicking the Color Fill layer
thumbnails (here that’s the blue and orange thumbnails). For extra credit, try this
technique on more than one photo in the same Photoshop document to produce
multiple subjects with the same treatment. The subjects don’t have to be animal
or human; this technique works equally well on inanimate objects. Until next time,
may the creative force be with you all! n› › HOW TO> PHOTOSHOP USER>^ MARCH 2020[ 66 ]