1) I would use Illustrator instead of Photoshop if you're capable. That way if something changes, it's easy to change

2) use transparency. I particularly like transparency set to "multiply" as it lets the black lines of the drawing show through clearly.

3) use layers

this is how i would do it.

i would creat a layer, and fill areas of desired shadow with black or dark gray, and play around with filter... (artistic?) i don't have photoshop around me right now. so...

I don't how to type it and not show it, but
-lock the line drawing layer.
-marquee the area to receive the shadow (so that the area creating the shadow stays clean
-new layer, take spray paint with a large soft spread and change the opacity to about 50% (or whatever looks best).
-Select a gray color and spray the perimeter of the selected area so that the heaviest/ most opaque part of the spray is right next to the thing casting the shadow and it fades out from there.
-use the same theory of where and how to put the shadows as indicated in the image you like above.
-if you want the cross-hatch affect (as the hand drawing above) play around with the Angled strokes filter or crosshatch filter and see if you like the look. Because the shadow is on a different layer, you can manipulate just that without ruining the rest of the drawing.

I don't know if that helps without showing...

and always put in a lens flare

is it sarcastic Wednesday?

I once had to spend 2 weeks making shadows on competition plans... As WhatToDo says,

- Marquee the shadow area (good tip, keep shift held so shadows are cast at 45 degrees - keeps everything consistent.
- On a new layer paint bucket it full with black (or - if you want to get subtle - a deep dark shade of the colour of the materials around)
- Set the layer blending option to multiply or darken as rationalist says. It'll let the drawing show through and offset the colours beneath realitsically. Lower the opacity.

A few things I'd watch out for...

- Avoid the filters. They are obvious to anyone who's used photoshop before and they don't look good.
- Don't have any manual gradient to your shadows (ie eraser around the edges). It won't be consistent. The best way to get the looking like above would be to have a few different layers. If you REALLY need fuzzy edges, go for layer style->inner glow->set a white glow. If your layer is on darken/multiply it should just give a consistent fade-out of the darkening effect. It'll be a pain though because you'll have to make the shadow bigger, set the layer style, flatten that layer, and delete the sides (because the inner glow will come from all sides).
- ALWAYS add lens flare. And use comic sans for your labels. ;)

thanks a lot guys, you've been a real help. a'll buy you a beer and some dental floss

it's pretty hard to get them accurate... ie keep the shadow distances hte smae by selecting a marque that is the perfect size for each element

anyone any tips on keeping the marque at exactly the right distance from the element catching the shadow each time you do a new shadow... if that makes sense lol?

if I understand you correctly,

make one shadow and copy paste it over and over...

To keep a uniform distance, trace directly on top of the walls then nudge the selection into position all at once. Keep track of how many times you hit the arrow keys and you can place the shadow in exactly the same place every time. I generally fill more than I need, then come back and trim out the extra portions. Saving your selection can speed that up.

I like to use a very subtle purple for shadows- it gives more life to the image than black.

I was faffing around with the shadows on a first year drawing.

you can see the inaccuracies, i have higlighted them in red. I think this explains my problem of inaccurate shadows with greater clarity.

When marqueeing at 45 degrees (using the shift key), its near enough impossible to guide it back to it hits the end of the object casting the shadow; so you end up with these gaps.

I know it's possible to clip the layer afterwards, but this is a bit of a pain isn't it?

The result is you end up with 'gaps' as shown in red circles.

despite the crap ness of the drawing, are the shadows looking similar to the one's you we're trying to explain?

bump

the shadow you're talking about should also have a small vertical edge above the bottom right hand corner.

but yes. similar to that. length of shadows should be proportional to the projection of the object.

and use guides to help you snap to things better.

illustrator would do the job for you much easier...

zacman - practice!! look at "professional" floorplans with shadows and mimic those. Understand the relationship between the object and the shadow. Knowing basic photoshop or illustrator will be sufficient - the gaps you're getting shouldn't occur. focus.

Yeah, and also...why do you need the shadows? Are you trying to convey a difference in height between the black and white walls (because as you've drawn it so far, the black wall is taller than the center white wall, and the other walls and objects in the drawing have no height, right?). Shadows are nice and all, but I wonder if they need more of a reason to be there besides to "beef" up the drawing. Shadows convey very specific information about heights and orientation that should not be taken lightly.

Why aren't you using shapes?

Vectors won't get "pixelized"

select shape (or draw shadow outline) create new layer and fill black, then change transparency or opacity. :)

Quick question, how does one go about doing those CGI/sketch hybrid drawings? Ie where you basicall redo the linework in pencil over a render. I assume you just print out the render, trace over it and rescan the trace. But are there any more tricks to it?


Sorry if this is a slightly tangential topic..

that's one way (and maybe the quickest), another is drawing over it with Illustrator (which can be tedious), yet another way would be to output the same view from your 3D program as a hidden-line image and then overlay that

Yea, I've done similar things to that in the past. However I think hand drawing it does give a much more organic element, and some more stylistic controll. Can have fun with things like paper etxture, vanishing points and smudges

Anyway off I go to experiment

ya stick to a vector program and merge raster elements later for custom material and shade

rhino illustator autocad intellicad or other