Shadow Hint for Captions – Producer

I’ve seen it in magazines again and again and always been surprised at how it enhances a simple black-on-white caption.

Here’s a plain black caption on a white background:

And here it is with a hint of shadowing:

It gives a subtle boost to the caption that’s obvious only when it’s pointed out as it is here.

How to do it:

1. To a blank slide, add a white color solid.
2. Add the caption in black along with a light-gray drop shadow set to 215, 215, 215.
3. Add a gradient: mask, radial, 5th one in from left.
4. Move the white marker that’s on the right all the way to the far right.
5. Move the other white marker to the left (position: 13)
6. In Effects > Motion Effects, unlock X-Y and zoom them individually so the gradient barely covers the caption area.
7. In Layers > Editing, set the opacity to around 25% and blur to around 80%.