How to cast a text shadow onto a floor and wall in Illustrator
Draw the text twice: keep one as the face, and Object › Transform › Shear the copy to lean it back as a stylized floor shadow, then fade it with a gradient. JuicyType's Shadowpuppet does the same from a light position you drag around, and the shadow stays live with the text.
The manual way, in Illustrator
- Duplicate the text (Cmd/Ctrl+C, Cmd/Ctrl+B pastes it behind).
- With the copy selected, use Object › Transform › Shear and Scale (vertical only) to lay it back.
- Fill the copy with a dark colour and add Effect › Blur › Gaussian Blur or an opacity gradient for the fade.
This is a stylized floor shadow. A matching wall shadow needs a consistent projection with a seam that lines up at the floor line, which is more construction than a split and reflect. The sheared copy is a second object: retype the word and you retype the copy too, then adjust its fade. Blur rasterizes on export.
Menu paths checked against Adobe's current Illustrator documentation; hands-on verification and screenshots are still to come.
Shadowpuppet with JuicyType
Select the text, open the JuicyType panel, choose Shadowpuppet, and drag. It is a live effect, so the text stays editable and every control can be changed later.
- Light X / Y / Zthe light position: X and Y −500 to 500%, Z 0–1000%
- Light size0–100, how soft the shadow edge is
- Wall0–1000, where the wall behind the letters stands
- Floor onlyon/off, keep the shadow on the ground
- ColourTC1 / TC2 / Black / White or a document spot; default Black
- Opacity0–100%, default 85%
- Light poolon/off, a pool of light around the letters, with its own colour and opacity
- Cone0–100, the spread of the light cone
- Solid shadowon/off, a solid extruded shadow with its own depth
Common questions
Can the shadow fall on both the floor and a wall?
Yes. Shadowpuppet builds both from one light; the Wall control sets where the floor meets the wall.
Is the shadow vector?
Yes. It is built from the glyph outlines, so it prints and scales cleanly.