Curved Shadow in Illustrator

Did you know that there are multiple different types of shadows? There are shape shadows, drop shadows, and even curved shadows. This tutorial will show you how to make a curved shadow in Illustrator.

Step 1 - Make a Rectangle

Select the Rectangle Tool (M) and create a rectangle in the center of the artboard. Ours is 880 px by 350 px.

You can align it to the center of the artboard by clicking on the Horizontal and Vertical Align Center icons in the Control panel at the top. If your icons are hidden like ours, you can click on Align to see them.

Step 2 - Edit the Rectangle’s Fill and Stroke

Apply a Fill to the Rectangle

Double-click on the Fill icon in the left toolbar to open the Color Picker dialog. Then pick the color you want to fill the rectangle with.

Apply a Stroke Color and Increase Stroke Weight

Double-click on the Stroke icon and pick the same color as the Fill. Before closing the Color Picker, select a dark shade of that color. Increase the Stroke Weight in the Control panel. We set the Stroke Weight to 8 pt, but you can set it to whatever you like.

Step 3 - Duplicate the Rectangle and Fill It With Black

Select the rectangle. Then Copy (Ctrl/Cmd + C) and Paste in Front (Ctrl/Cmd + F). This rectangle will become the shadow so change the Fill color to black. Next, select the Stroke icon and click the None icon to remove the Stroke color.

Step 4 - Apply a Gaussian Blur to the Shadow Rectangle

Go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur.

In the Gaussian Blur dialog, mark the Preview checkbox to see the changes in real-time. Enter 65 for the Radius and click OK. The Radius can always be modified later on if needed.

Step 5 - Apply a Horizontal Arch Warp to the Shadow Rectangle

We’ll show you another way to access the different effects you can apply to objects. Open the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance) and click on the Add New Effect (fx) icon at the bottom. Then go to Warp > Arch.

Make sure Horizontal is selected and enter 13% for the Bend. Leave the rest of the settings and click OK. These settings can also be modified later on if needed.

Step 6 - Edit the Shadow

Move Shadow Down

Hold down Shift, then click + drag the shadow to move it down a little bit.

Send the Shadow to the Back

With the shadow still selected, right-click and go to Arrange > Send to Back. This will place the shadow behind the colored rectangle.

Lower the Opacity

Open the Transparency panel (Window > Transparency), and lower the Opacity of the shadow to about 60%.

Scale Down Shadow a Little Bit

Now hold the Shift key and click + drag the top middle handle on the bounding box of the shadow to slightly scale it down.

Change Applied Effects and Properties

If you want to change any of the effects or properties applied to the shadow, you can do so by opening the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance) with the shadow selected. Then simply click on anything you want to edit in that panel, such as the warp, Gaussian Blur, opacity, etc.

Step 7 - Add Text to the Rectangle

Select the Type Tool (T) and click on the artboard outside the rectangle and shadow. Type your text. You can edit your text in the Character panel (Window > Character). Set the fill color of the text to be the same color as the Stroke on the rectangle.

We used the font, Better Grade, for the top line of our text and the modern sans serif font, Patchouli, for the bottom line. For the bottom text, we horizontally shorted it a little.

For even more information on fonts, check out our guide on how to use fonts in Illustrator.

Create Outlines of the Text

Once you have finished editing your text, select the text objects, right-click and choose Create Outlines (Shift + Ctrl/Cmd + O). Creating outlines is destructive as you will no longer be able to change what’s written.

Group Text If Needed

If you have separate text objects, as we do, select all of them, and go to Object > Group (Ctrl/Cmd + G).

Align the Text to the Center of the Rectangle

Select the text and rectangle, then click on the rectangle again. The selection outline on the rectangle should be thicker now. Click on the Horizontal and Vertical Align Center icons in the Control panel, but Align to Key Object should be active this time.

Step 8 - Optional Edits

The following edits are optional but can help make your design look even better.

Apply a Horizontal Arch Warp to the Rectangle and Text

You can apply a horizontal arch warp of -1% to the rectangle and text. The change is minimal, but it adds to the overall design.

Apply a Linear Gradient to the Rectangle

Select the rectangle and open the Gradient panel (Window > Gradient). Click on the Fill icon and then the Linear Gradient icon in the Gradient panel. The gradient will consist of three colors. Click below the Gradient Slider to add a third color stop (circle icon). Our color stops are at Locations 0%, 50%, and 100%. The diamonds on top are called mid points. Our left mid point is at 30%, and our right mid point is at 70%.

Double-click on the center color stop, and pick the color you’d like the rectangle to be. This should be the brightest color. The left and right circles should be a slightly darker shade of the center color.

Add a Gradient Filled Background

Using what you have learned in this tutorial, you can add a gradient filled background. Create a rectangle that’s the size of the artboard and align it to the center. Then fill it with a linear or radial gradient. Lastly, send the rectangle to the back like we did the shadow.

Your design with these optional edits should look similar to ours below. The gradient in the background uses the color white and a very light gray.

You can always use different colors, like the following example or the first image in this tutorial.

We hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Making a curved shadow in Illustrator isn’t difficult. It can make the object and/or the background look like they’re bending, which adds a cool effect to your design.