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Upload your photos through the client dashboard, Dropbox, Google Drive, WeTransfer, or FTP, with your guidelines and a sample of your catalog lighting if you have one.
Shadow Creation
Shadow Creation Services for Natural Depth and Grounding
When a product is cut out from its background, its original shadow is lost and the product can look flat or floating. Shadow creation rebuilds a natural shadow matched to the product and its lighting, so it sits naturally on its new background.
Shadow creation services that add natural drop, cast, and contact shadows so cutout products look grounded, not floating.
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The basics
What Is Shadow Creation?
When a product is cut out from its background, its original shadow is lost and the product can look flat or floating. Shadow creation rebuilds a natural shadow matched to the product and its lighting, so it sits naturally on its new background.
It is used by online stores and marketplaces where cutout products need to look grounded and real. A good shadow adds depth, and a missing shadow makes even a clean cutout look pasted on.
Shadows are built by hand. The direction, length, and softness must match the light in the photo and the rest of the catalog, or the product looks out of place. Our editors match each shadow to the product and its lighting.
A shadow creation service for product photos is used by online stores, marketplace sellers, and studios that publish cutout images. Sellers use a drop shadow service for Amazon listings to keep products grounded on white backgrounds, while a product shadow service for e-commerce adds depth to catalogs, lookbooks, and advertising. Furniture, footwear, and electronics brands use it most, since their products look flat without a shadow.
Our shadow creation service builds shadows that match the light, direction, and softness of each photo, so products sit naturally on their background. A well made shadow adds depth and weight, and it keeps a cutout from looking pasted on. With consistent shadows across a catalog, every product looks grounded and professional.
Proof, not promises
Before and After Examples
Real edited samples. The original is on the left, the edited result on the right.
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Simple by design
How It Works
Four steps, from your photos to finished images.
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We build the shadow by hand
An editor creates the shadow type you need, drop, cast, contact, or floating, matched to the product and its lighting.
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Quality check
Every file is checked before delivery, so the shadow looks natural and matches your guidelines.
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Delivery
Finished files come back as layered PSD or TIFF files with shadows on separate layers, plus the export format you specify.
What is included
What Is Included
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Natural drop shadows with soft falloff
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Directional cast shadows matched to the light direction
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Ambient contact shadows where the product meets the surface
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Floating shadows for products shown raised above the surface
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Reflection and shadow combinations for glossy presentations
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Original shadow preservation where the real shadow is kept
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Product cleanup and finishing with the shadow
Shadow creation rebuilds each shadow to match the product and its lighting: natural drop shadows, directional cast shadows, ambient contact shadows, and floating shadows for raised products, with reflection and shadow combinations for glossy presentations. Where the real shadow is worth keeping, it is preserved, and finished images are delivered as layered PSD or TIFF files with shadows on separate layers, plus transparent PNGs and pure white JPEGs.
Who it is for
Who Needs Shadow Creation?
E-commerce brands
Online stores that need cutout products to look grounded instead of floating.
Marketplace sellers
Sellers who need natural shadows on white backgrounds for Amazon, eBay, and Shopify.
Photographers and studios
Photographers who cut products out and want realistic shadows rebuilt by hand.
Jewelry and watch brands
Brands with small, reflective products that need soft, believable shadows.
Furniture and home brands
Brands with large products that need contact shadows where legs meet the floor.
Design and advertising teams
Teams that need layered shadow files they can adjust for different layouts.
Why us
Why Choose Image Editing Asia?
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Hand-done shadows, not automated. Every shadow is built by hand, matched to the product and its lighting.
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Two-tier quality check. Every file is checked before delivery, so the work matches your guidelines.
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High-volume catalogs. Single images and full catalogs are handled to the same standard, file after file.
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Editable deliverables. Layered PSD or TIFF files keep shadows on separate layers, ready for future changes.
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Free trial first. Send a few sample photos and judge the work on your own images before you place a paid order.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Shadow Creations Services?
Shadow Creations Services are professional Photoshop post-production techniques that add realistic, three-dimensional shadows underneath or behind isolated subjects. When product images undergo clipping path or background removal, their original shadows are stripped away, leaving them looking flat and disconnected. Our retouchers reconstruct realistic light-and-shadow dynamics-including natural drop shadows, directional cast shadows, and ambient contact occlusion-grounding the product naturally onto white, grey, or transparent commercial backgrounds.
What shadow techniques are typically included?
We offer five core shadow disciplines tailored to your exact aesthetic: 1. Natural Drop Shadows (soft overhead ambient falloff directly beneath the product), 2. Ambient Contact Occlusion (tight dark crevices where product surfaces meet the floor), 3. Directional Cast Shadows (angled silhouettes following studio key-light coordinates), 4. Floating Levitation Shadows (diffused elliptical shadows simulating suspended products), and 5. Reflection & Shadow Hybrids (combining specular glassy reflections with grounded contact shading).
Can you match the lighting angle of my existing product catalog?
Yes, absolutely! Maintaining catalog consistency is crucial for high conversion rates. Simply send us a sample reference photo or your brand style guide. Our retouchers will measure the exact light source coordinates (e.g., 45° top-left), calculate matching shadow length, set proportional Gaussian blur radiuses, and match the penumbra softness across your entire batch.
What file formats do you accept and deliver?
We accept all major camera RAW formats (.CR2, .CR3, .NEF, .ARW, .DNG), TIFF, PSD, PNG, and JPEG. For final delivery, we provide layered PSD or TIFF files with shadows isolated on separate transparent layers-giving your art directors total freedom to tweak opacities or change background colors later-as well as web-ready transparent PNGs and Amazon-compliant pure white JPEGs.
Do you preserve the original shadow when it is worth keeping?
Yes. Original shadow preservation keeps the real shadow where it is worth keeping, rather than rebuilding it.
Can you add shadows that match my existing catalog lighting?
Yes. Shadow direction, length, and softness are matched to your catalog's lighting angle, using a sample reference photo or brand style guide.
How long does a shadow creation order take?
Turnaround depends on the number of images and the shadow type needed. Send your images with your guidelines and we will confirm the delivery time before we start.
What file formats can I send?
You can send your images in any standard format, including JPEG, PNG, TIFF, PSD, and RAW. Finished files come back as layered PSD or TIFF files, or in the format you specify.
Which shadow type should I choose for my products?
It depends on the look of your catalog. A soft drop shadow suits most listings, a cast shadow suits directional studio light, and a floating shadow suits products shown raised above the surface. Send a sample of your catalog and we will match it.
Can shadows be delivered on a transparent background?
Yes. Shadows can be kept on a separate layer in a transparent PNG, so the product and its shadow can be placed on any background.
Do you offer free revisions?
Yes. If a shadow needs adjusting, we fix it until it matches your guidelines.
Try It Free Before You Order
Send sample images and judge the quality yourself. No card, no commitment.