FX: shadow rotation with object (Affinity V2)

[ADRlAN1988]

If I create an object and create a shadow below the object with FX, then rotate the object by 90°, the shadow still remains below. I want the shadow to rotate 90° along with the object.

How can i do it?

[David in Яuislip]

Change the angle

[GarryP]

One alternative to the above advice would be to rasterise the layer which the shadow is applied to but that would mean that the shadow is now ‘baked in’ to the layer and cannot be easily changed/removed.

Another alternative would be to duplicate the layer, add the shadow to the duplicate layer, rasterise the duplicate layer and then group the two layers together with the rasterised duplicate underneath the original.

Neither of these is an optimal solution.

[laurent32]

Strange… I tried it in the 3 Affinity v2 apps and for me the shadows are following the objects without any special action…

Am I the only one or am I missing something ?

[GarryP]

The normal expected behaviour is that the shadow always points in the direction set by the angle in relation to the top-left of the page, no matter what the rotation of the layer – see attached image 1. Do you get something different?

(I think) ADRIAN1988 wants the shadow to (hopefully optionally) rotate with the layer.

For example, if the shadow points to the bottom-right of the page, and the layer is rotated by 90 degrees anti-clockwise, the shadow will now point to the top-right of the page – see attached image 2.

[G13RL]

With v.2, you can use the "Offset Tool" button to manually move the shadow, then enter the same values as the original shape.

[GarryP]

The Offset Tool is just a fancy way to set a combination of some of the other settings but it needs to be used manually.
What I think ADRIAN1988 wants is for the rotation of the shadow to (hopefully optionally) happen automatically.

[laurent32]

This is what I get in standard :

 

 

[GarryP]

Yes, that’s what I get too, and that’s expected.
What’s being asked for is that the shadow rotates with, and stays oriented with, the layer, see my earlier image for an example.

[laurent32]

OK, i understand what you mean.

True, it could be interesting to have an option to make that shadow stick 📌 to the object.

[GarryP]

Agreed, as long as it’s optional so that people who rely on it working the way it has done for years don’t have to change their workflows or existing documents.

In the same area, but in a different direction (pardon the pun), I’ve been wondering if it might be good if we can (optionally) set the ‘sun’ or ‘shadow origin’ independently of the layers.
By doing so we could move the ‘sun’ and cause the shadows to move for all layers which were ‘following the sun’.
However, I have a feeling that this might cause further confusion and could have all kinds of complications.

[laurent32]

37 minutes ago, GarryP said:

I’ve been wondering if it might be good if we can (optionally) set the ‘sun’ or ‘shadow origin’ independently of the layers.
By doing so we could move the ‘sun’ and cause the shadows to move for all layers which were ‘following the sun’.

Yes, would be very nice 👍

[carl123]

The shadow represents a light source hitting an object.

Why would the light source's direction change if, say, a person was lying down or standing up.

 

[carl123]

3 minutes ago, N.P.M. said:

Creative freedom.

Thanks, I'll email XaraDesigner and VectorStyler and let them know that they are stifling creative freedom. 

I'll let you know what they reply but I suspect it'll just be 2 words

[Pšenda]

2 hours ago, GarryP said:

I’ve been wondering if it might be good if we can (optionally) set the ‘sun’ or ‘shadow origin’ independently of the layers.

Global Light is a fairly standard matter of assigning a common light/shadow source to all objects, and then modifying all objects at once by setting it.

 

[Mr. Sam]

Resurrecting an old post here, but I'm surprised this hasn't been addressed, and I'm getting tire of adjusting drop shadows one by one.

I just wanted to throw out an example of when this issue becomes very tedious work.

If I have a piece of art that has many layers, of which maybe 50 have drop shadow. The artwork has been designed on a vertical plane/canvas (normal).

I go to send the art piece to print (fabric, cardstock, etc.) and the manufacturer gives me a template and states "Do Not Adjust Template" for print reasons.

Sometimes the manufacturer will have a horizontal templet, but my design was designed vertically... I now have to adjust every single drop shadow. Ugh! I can't just simply rotate the design as the shadows rotate with the "sun angle."

I often will adjust one layer, then paste effects on the other drop shadowed layers, but not all layers have the same effects, so it's still crazy tedious, not to mention difficult to get the same exact shadow angle from a now different angle.

The global light mentioned above could be one solution, but I think a little check box in the drop shadow effects panel that states "Lock shadow on rotation" would be so nice.

[loukash]

If the shadows all share the same attributes, then rather than applying them to each object individually, you can apply the shadow to their parent layer. Then you have only one FX instance to change.

[loukash]

Alternatively, even if each shadow has different attributes, you can still change any one parameter globally as long as you don't touch the others:

1. select all objects that have the shadow FX applied
2. click the FX button at the bottom of the Layers panel
3. change the angle
4. all other all parameters except Offset (and Angle, logically) will remain intact

[Mr. Sam]

21 hours ago, loukash said:

Alternatively, even if each shadow has different attributes, you can still change any one parameter globally as long as you don't touch the others:

1. select all objects that have the shadow FX applied
2. click the FX button at the bottom of the Layers panel
3. change the angle
4. all other all parameters except Offset (and Angle, logically) will remain intact

This is very helpful and I appreciate the reply, but wouldn't we all agree that having a checkbox with "Lock shadow on rotation" be super convenient, I mean, it's kinda there when you rasterize it? I often will forget that the FX are not rotating with the layer, and I'm like "why does this look so off". It is annoying when I'm designing something like a box/packaging, where the Logo or Design goes on all sides with a drop shadow or 3D effect, I have 2 options:

1. Convert the Layer to raster (not my preference) & uncheck "Preserve Layer FX"
2. Rotate the FX for every single side to match the shadow of the other sides

I really appreciate your step by step reply, unfortunately it doesn't seem work in circumstances where there are different viewing angles.

[loukash]

43 minutes ago, Mr. Sam said:

having a checkbox with "Lock shadow on rotation" be super convenient

Sure. But at this time you'll have to work with what we have.

You may want to post a feature request in the corresponding forum section.

[loukash]

47 minutes ago, Mr. Sam said:

when I'm designing something like a box/packaging, where the Logo or Design goes on all sides with a drop shadow or 3D effect

How about saving these elements as external Designer files and then placing them into your mockup?