hi, am new to this site/forum and the whole photoshop thing.
i got a project to do, and i have to produce an image that shows what makes me happy, or what makes a group of people happy, i decided to focus on myself, i decided to make a collage of my girl, and turn that into a cinema screen and then a drawing of me standing in front of it looking up at it, but u can only see me from behind.
the question i have about this is that since am going to scan in a drwaing of me from behind, is it possible for me to create a shadow on the scanned in image stretching backwards? so that the light source is the big projection screen of my girl?

is this post confusing? oh and i want the back goorund to be in all white
any help would be appreciated : )

Yep, thats quite easily possible, firstly you have to figure out the angle of light, and after that its just a case of duplicating the layer (with you) and Free Transforming it till it fits where the shadow should be. And then finally adjusting the color/contrast/brightness to suit.

That method will produce a crisp shadow which is a dead replica. To make it more realistic you may want to blur the shadow, or even just sketch it using the airbrush tool.

I hope that helps, and welcome.

your help appreciated ill give it a shot its just that i thought i would need to do something along the lines of creating a drop shadow, but hey! ive learnt sumat new now :)

Nah, drop shadow implies that the image is motionless and flat on the page. The cast shadow, which I described, implies that the entity/shape is 3d and casts a true shadow.

it would look like this http://www.newelysium.com/forum/shado.jpg

except there would be a second shadow.
what adam has produced is showing only the reflected light off the cinema screen. From what you describe there would be a second shadow from you standing in the projector beam. This second shadow would be stronger than the reflected light due to it being direct not refracted.

Also for composition i would recommend placing "yourself" in the left third, this way the shadow will be at an angle and quite strong, and will lead the eye into the picture of your girl.

oh I thought it was just supposed to be a monitor type thing where the light source is the screen, not and actual projection. The light source wouldnt be the screen then, all light would be coming from behind and only diffused light would reflect back which only creates a glow, which isnt strong enough for a real shadow.

The only shadow visible would be on the screen and the floor between the person and the screen. And since its like a spotlight kind of light source there would be no blurring at all (as long as the object is somewhat close to the screen). Just a large black sillouette on the screen.

eh?!

um u guys are wierd (no offence) speak english! would it be easier if i posted up an artist impression of what i got in mind?
then point out what am after?
and um how would i attach the piccy?
SOZ BOUT ALL THE QUESTIONS AM NEW TO THIS WHOLE THINGY MAJIG and whoops about the caps thats the stinky girl whos sitting next to me fault : )

No worries. We try to be as helpful as possible based on your request. We will try to put things into laymans (joe average, simple, etc) terms for you. :) You could send a link to an example ofr attach a file for us to see.

You can attach a file as an option in the thread posting, however there are a few restrictions (size, file type, etc).

Cheers.

ill have to post the really really rough sketch later as i cant change the image size on the uni computers, their a load of crap so hang on!