Affrinity Publisher inner shadow

[Iztok]

that is no inner shadow - the shadow is all over the border in all direction, shadow should be in two sides not four

[PaulEC]

So, just adjust it - "bug" solved! (FYI: There's no reason why an Inner Shadow shouldn't be on all four sides!)

[Hangman]

51 minutes ago, Iztok said:

that is no inner shadow - the shadow is all over the border in all direction, shadow should be in two sides not four

Your offset is only 1.3 px... As @PaulEC mentioned, increase the offset value...

[Iztok]

I work in larger format and as you see in video I use inner shadow and 200px radius, so in small photos work in larger don't?

[Pšenda]

18 hours ago, Iztok said:

shadow should be in two sides not four

If the shadow is huge - see your 200 px, and the offset is minimal - see your 1.3 px, then the shadow is quite naturally and logically on all four sides, because all sides cast a shadow that is not hidden behind the sides due to the small offset. If you want a shadow on only two sides, then the offset of the shadow must be larger than the actual size of the shadow.

[Iztok]

So as I tell doesn't work OK, if you have large formats px increas, but percentage of dimension remain the same, so desn't work proper

[thomaso]

1 hour ago, Iztok said:

but percentage of dimension remain the same, so desn't work proper

Where do you see & set a "percentage of dimension" ? Shadow radius and offset are both absolute values, not relative (in px, not %).

If you want to scale the shadow when scaling the object you need to activate the scaling option.

[PaulEC]

On 3/13/2025 at 8:23 AM, Iztok said:

I work in larger format and as you see in video I use inner shadow and 200px radius, so in small photos work in larger don't?

Use bigger numbers! (or try using the Offset Tool.)

[thomaso]

On 3/13/2025 at 9:23 AM, Iztok said:

as you see in video I use inner shadow and 200px radius

What video, where? You screenshot shows Radius 200 px and Offset 1.3 px. Note, in this case the offset is less than 1% of the radius. Like so:

[Iztok]

do you see shadow in tge right and down the frame, tah should not be there

[Iztok]

scale with object, the same

[PaulEC]

If you only want the shadow on two sides  ADJUST  THE  OFFSET !!!

("Scale with Object" won't do anything to the shadow, or any other FX, unless you scale the Object!)

[thomaso]

1 hour ago, Iztok said:

do you see shadow in tge right and down the frame, tah should not be there

It is useful to adjust both values, radius AND offset, to achieve a desired result.

–> 

[Pšenda]

1 hour ago, Iztok said:

do you see shadow in tge right and down the frame, tah should not be there

It's a shame that you are unable to perceive the information explicitly stated here, or for some reason you don't understand it.

On 3/13/2025 at 1:43 PM, Pšenda said:

If you want a shadow on only two sides, then the offset of the shadow must be larger than the actual size of the shadow.

The fact that this is exactly how it works (there is only one physics) is demonstrated in the second screenshot of the previous post.

[Iltirtar]

2 hours ago, Iztok said:

do you see shadow in tge right and down the frame, tah should not be there

You need more offset and less radius. The offset is, in a way, the portion of the shadow that is hidden, out of the object's bounds. If you have more radius than offset, there will always be a part of the shadow visible —because you are not hiding the whole shadow. Scale with object has nothing to do here.

 

1 hour ago, PaulEC said:

ADJUST  THE  OFFSET !!!

We could agree on things regarding the matter at hand, but there is no need to shout, man. One can just ignore the conversation if feeling fed up.

[PaulEC]

9 minutes ago, Iltirtar said:

We could agree on things regarding the matter at hand, but there is no need to shout, man. One can just ignore the conversation if feeling fed up.

I think I'll do that, there are only so many times you can try to explain something to someone and they just keep repeating the same nonsense!

[Pšenda]

1 hour ago, PaulEC said:

("Scale with Object" won't do anything to the shadow, or any other FX, unless you scale the Object!)

 

 

[PaulEC]

Sorry, maybe I should have been clearer. What I meant was that just clicking/unclicking "Scale with Object" doesn't do anything by itself, it only affects the inner shadow (or other FX} when the object changes. As you show in the video, the shadow only changes when you change the rectangle, not as soon as you click "Scale with Object". Iztok seemed to think that just clicking it would make two sides of the shadow disappear!

Anyway, I'm out of here! As usually happens, trying to explain something that should be simple (like, just adjust it!) to some people is more trouble than it's worth!

[Pšenda]

40 minutes ago, PaulEC said:

Sorry, maybe I should have been clearer.

The video was just a visual interpretation of what you wrote so that it would be understandable to everyone (hopefully).

[R C-R]

@Iztok, if you still do not understand what has been explained about adjusting the offset, try clicking on the Offset Tool button & dragging that tool around in the document window. This should make it clear how this works.

[Iztok]

I wasn’t scaling anything; I was working on this large document, so it has no connection to the problem. If it's an inner shadow, not all edges can be shaded—this is a bug, and I have pointed it out. When working with small objects, it works, but since my object was large, the issue became apparent. In fact, this behaves more like an inner glow rather than an inner shadow. So what’s the actual difference between the two?

[Iltirtar]

Looking closer at your problem, I believe your issue is not that the shadow is on four sides instead of two,  as this can be achieved with offseting the shadow. I believe that your problem is that you want the shadow to be larger, and you already have the radius at maximum. Am I correct? If that is the case, you can type larger values in the text box, instead of using the slider.

In any case, to have only two sides, you only need to have offset larger than radius (or equal). There's not really much more to this.

[Iztok]

Yes, but in basic this situation should be if i set inner glow, if I set shadow, then  shadow shoud never be inside the frame, I think this is mistake

[Iltirtar]

17 minutes ago, Iztok said:

Yes, but in basic this situation should be if i set inner glow, if I set shadow, then  shadow shoud never be inside the frame, I think this is mistake

What it is considered a «basic situation» depends on the needs of different people. There are instances where a shadow in all four sides is preferred. I have done this myself many times. The fact is that the shadow effect allows to have the shadow on all four sides, or just on two. You just have to adjust the parameters correctly. I don't think this can be considered a bug —and I can tell you, I myself have very little tolerance to bugs.

Regarding the glow/shadow. Certainly, in some situations you can use glow or shadow to have the same effect. But they are not the same tool: in principle, what defines «shadow» is that it darkens the object, while «glow» normally lightens whatever is around. The word shadow is related to lack (subtraction) of light. The word glow is related to presence (addition) of light. But the tools are not the same by design, also: Shadow has an offset parameter, which Glow doesn't have —because it wouldn't make sense. Glow has center/edge parameter, which Shadow doesn't have —because it wouldn't make sense, neither.

You could argue that it would be possible to have one single tool for generating both shadows and glows... but, well, that would still not be a bug, but just a poor design choice —at least in your opinion.

[thomaso]

2 hours ago, Iztok said:

I wasn’t scaling anything;

I mentioned the effect option "Scale with Object" because of your complaint, mentioning "percentage" …

On 3/14/2025 at 8:49 AM, Iztok said:

So as I tell doesn't work OK, if you have large formats px increas, but percentage of dimension remain the same, so desn't work proper

… which is not an available option, neither for radius nor offset, so I just assumed you scaled the object by a certain percentage.

2 hours ago, Iztok said:

If it's an inner shadow, not all edges can be shaded—this is a bug, and I have pointed it out.

Of course it is possible to have shadows in multiple directions, as in real life it is just a matter of light sources.

2 hours ago, Iztok said:

In fact, this behaves more like an inner glow rather than an inner shadow. So what’s the actual difference between the two?

Glow and Shadow are indeed quite similar (as in real life, too). They mainly differ in their colour + blend mode: While a shadow darkens a glow brightens. So in Affinity the two options mainly differ in their default colour / blend mode settings (and different direction options). By changing colour + blend mode you can use both in quite the same way.