Manipulate drop shadow

[Guest]

Hi all,

I'm hoping to make a graphic similar to this. In particular, I'm struggling with the shadow.

How do I make a shadow like this?

Thanks!

[Creamer Training]

I don't think it is a drop shadow, but a separate shape with blur and opacity applied. 

[Bill Silbert · Accepted solution]

Using a drop shadow effect will only act as an extension of a shape so it won't work to make a shadow that does not reflect the contour of the shape. It needs a workaround. In the screen shot below I made the custom shadows by first drawing an ellipse to roughly the shape I needed, filling it with black and applying the Directional Feather Effect using the settings shown. I then moved the shape backward in the stacking order to be behind the shape that needed the shadow and applied the opacity and Multiply as shown in the Effects Panel. 

[Guest]

Ok, thank you. I'll give that a try.