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Outer Shadow - Fill knocks out shadow... ... not


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Hi all,

Having some issues in understanding, how the layer effect "outer shadow" works.

According to the manual: "Fill knocks out shadow—when checked (default), if the fill is semi-transparent, the option prevents the effect from showing through the fill and contributing negatively."

From that description I would assume: When drawing a fill, which is semi-transparent (e.g. a brush with soft edges or comparable) and not solid (e.g. plain white), the outer shadow should not shine through the semi-tansparent parts and should be only visible at the edges?!

I tried this out on the latest version of AP on Windows in every possible way I could imagine, but it simply won't work for me.

What I did:

  1. Painted some semi-transparent fill
  2. Go to the layer effects
  3. Choose "outer shadow" with:
    • Radius: 10px
    • Offset: 20px
    • all other settings: Default, inklusing "fill knoks out shadow" (turned on)

I can see the outer shadow (or drop shadow, if you like to call it like that), which is fine. BUT: I can see the shadow of the fill shining through the fill itself as well. Which is not fine..

Ticking the checkmark for the option "fill knocks out shadow" does not do anything, it's always looking the same way: shadow shines through the semi-transparent fill.

 

So, either I am misunderstanding the way that effect/function works or I am simply doing something wrong here. In both cases: help is aapreciated very much!

 

Thanks all and kind regards!

 

 

Attached, some Screenshots:

 

Just the semi-transparent fill (drawn with a brush), no shadow

1709175943_Anmerkung2020-04-21142815_01_NoShadow.thumb.jpg.0ee1de90a1c67ed665c71dc7584640e8.jpg

 

Outer Shadow turned on, with knock out option ON

451061961_Anmerkung2020-04-21142815_02_ShadowKnockoutON.thumb.jpg.a29128a5df3cf258ec3f9e307acdc48b.jpg

 

Outer Shadow turned on, with knock out option OFF

952365585_Anmerkung2020-04-21142815_03_ShadowKnockoutOFF.thumb.jpg.ee78aa5a23d894f33b5aed66e03e135a.jpg

 

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Hi mr_rnfr,
Welcome to Affinity Forums :)
The fill transparency refers to the Fill Opacity control in the bottom right of the Layer Effects panel. For example draw a red rectangle, apply a dropsahdow, set the Fill Opacity on the bottom right of the Layer Effects panel to 25 % to make the fill semi-transparent. Turn the Fill knocks out shadow on and off - you should see the shadow disappearing (on)/appearing (off) respectively from the filled red area.

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25 minutes ago, GarryP said:

I don’t know if it’s working the way it should but there is a workaround.
* Duplicate the layer you want the shadow on.
* Put the Shadow Effect on the lower layer and set the Fill Opacity of the Effect to 0%.
My attached video shows what happens.
Not an ideal situation but it sounds like it might work for you.

Thanks for your input @GarryP, I will check out later, if I can somehow use that kind of workaround for what I am trying to achieve.

 

13 minutes ago, MEB said:

Hi mr_rnfr,
Welcome to Affinity Forums :)
The fill transparency refers to the Fill Opacity control in the bottom right of the Layer Effects panel. For example draw a red rectangle, apply a dropsahdow, set the Fill Opacity on the bottom right of the Layer Effects panel to 25 % to make the fill semi-transparent. Turn the Fill knocks out shadow on and off - you should see the shadow disappearing (on)/appearing (off) respectively from the filled red area.

Thanks @MEB, understood so far. I guess, that will work fine, if the fill itself is rock-solid, e.g. like a plain red. The problem here is, that the fill is already semi-transparent  due to it nature, that it is drawn with a brush. Some areas are rather solid (high pressure on the brush respective multiple brush strokes on the same spot) and some are less solid (low pressure an the brush respective just one stroke on the spot).

Or to put it the other way around: My expectations are the wrong ones as it seems.

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