shadow effect

In this Photoshop text effects tutorial, we'll learn how to create a popular, classic effect by giving text a perspective shadow as if a light source behind the text was casting a shadow onto the ground in front of it. I'll be using Photoshop CS5 throughout this tutorial, but any recent version will work.

Here's what the final result will look like:

The final "perspective shadow" text effect.

Let's get started!

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Step 1: Duplicate The Text Layer

To begin with, I've gone ahead and added some text in front of a background filled with a simple black-to-gray gradient. You can create this perspective shadow effect with any background colors or image you like:

Add your text to the document.

If we look in the Layers panel, we see that my text is sitting on its own text layer above the Background layer:

The text appears on its own layer above the background.

We need to make a copy of the text, so with the text layer selected in the Layers panel (selected layers are highlighted in blue), go up to the Layer menu in the Menu Bar at the top of the screen, choose New, and then choose Layer via Copy. Or, for a much faster way to choose the same command, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac):

Go to Layer > New > Layer via Copy.

Nothing happens in the document window, but a copy of the text layer appears above the original in the Layers panel:

A copy of the text layer appears above the original.

Step 2: Drag The Copy Below The Original

Click on the copy of the text layer in the Layers panel and drag it directly below the original text layer. When you see a highlight bar appear between the original text layer and the Background layer, release your mouse button to have Photoshop snap the layer into its new position:

Drag the copied text layer between the original and the Background layer.

Step 3: Rasterize The Text

In a moment, we're going to reshape the text so it looks more like a perspective shadow, but Photoshop won't let us do that while the text is still text. We need to first convert the text into pixels, which is known in Photoshop-speak as rasterizing it. To do that, go up to the Layer menu, choose Rasterize, and then choose Type:

Go to Layer > Rasterize > Type.

Step 4: Flip And Move The Text

With the copy of the original text now converted to pixels, go up to the Edit menu and choose Free Transform, or press Ctrl+T(Win) / Command+T (Mac) to access Free Transform with the keyboard shortcut:

Go to Edit > Free Transform.

This places the Free Transform box and handles (little squares) around the text in the document window. Right-click (Win) / Control-click (Mac) anywhere inside the document window and choose Flip Vertical from the contextual menu that appears:

Choose Flip Vertical from the menu.

This flips the text upside down in the document window:

The image after flipping the text vertically.

Next, click anywhere inside the Free Transform bounding box, hold down your Shift key, then drag the text down below the original text. Holding the Shift key as you drag limits the direction you can drag in, making it easier to drag straight down. I'm going to add some space between the original and flipped versions of the text so it will appear as if my original text is hovering in the air above the shadow:

Hold Shift and drag the flipped text below the original.

Step 5: Stretch And Reshape The Text

Click on the handle in the bottom center of the Free Transform box and drag it downward to stretch the text vertically:

Stretch the text by dragging the bottom center handle straight down.

Then, with Free Transform still active, once again right-click (Win) / Control-click (Mac) anywhere inside the document window and choose Perspective from the contextual menu:

Choose Perspective from the Transform options.

With Perspective selected, click on either the bottom left or bottom right handle and drag it outward horizontally. As you drag one of the handles, the other handle will extend out in the opposite direction, giving the text a 3D perspective. Press Enter (Win) / Return(Mac) when you're done to complete the transformations:

As you drag one bottom corner handle outward, the other moves in the opposite direction.

Step 6: Fill The Text With Black

Press the letter D on your keyboard to quickly reset Photoshop's Foreground and Background colors if necessary, which will set your Foreground color to black. Then press Shift+Alt+Backspace (Win) / Shift+Option+Delete (Mac) to fill the flipped and reshaped text with the Foreground color (black):

Fill the transformed text with black.