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You are here: Home / Design / Images / Slides that pop! Using the 3rd dimension on a slide–Part I: Shadows

Slides that pop! Using the 3rd dimension on a slide–Part I: Shadows

May 23, 2012 by Ellen Finkelstein 1 Comment

READ LATER - DOWNLOAD THIS POST AS PDF >> CLICK HERE <<

You probably think of slides as a 2D surface. After all, you project slides on a screen or wall.

But you can make them look 3-dimensional using several techniques:

  • Shadows
  • Bevels
  • Depth and 3D rotation
  • The bulletin board or collage look
  • 3D scenes — creating a surface (like a table) and putting things on it

The result is much more interesting and adds a professional touch as well — as long as you don’t overdo it. In the post, I’ll show you some examples of using shadows to make objects appear to pop off the slide.

Here’s a slide with no shadows. It’s from an updated presentation I give called Slide Design for Non-Designers.

powerpoint-tips-shadows-1

Here’s the same slide with shadows. Do you see how the top books appear to hover above the slide?

powerpoint-tips-shadows-2

Here’s another example, a happy girl — but no shadow.

powerpoint-tips-shadows-3

Now you see her with a dramatic shadow and she appears to pop off the slide. In fact, she looks like she’s hopping!

powerpoint-tips-shadows-4

I have several tips that explain how to create and format shadows, so instead of repeating myself, I’ll just give you the links:

  • Basic instructions for shadows in PowerPoint 2007 and later
  • A very cool technique (also mentioned in the first tip) for creating contour shadows
  • A workaround for creating soft shadows in PowerPoint 2003

Start adding shadows to your slides and I’m sure you’ll love the results! Leave a comment to share your experience with shadows.

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READ LATER - DOWNLOAD THIS POST AS PDF >> CLICK HERE <<

Related posts:

  1. Create soft shadows
  2. Controlling Text Shadows
  3. Cool contour shadows
  4. Winning entry in the Shadows contest

Filed Under: Images Tagged With: 3d effects, shadows

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[…] Part I of this series, on shadows, I showed you how to use shadows for both subtle and dramatic 3D effects. The second 3D technique I […]

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