Way back in 2013 when I started my Etsy shop, I used to make my product images with a black background behind my printables. Not only because I like that black goes with anything, but also because I didn’t actually know how to add drop shadows behind images. These days I make my shop images using Canva which is easier (I think), to add a drop shadow than in Photoshop (which I eventually figured out how to do).

You can easily add a drop shadow via the edit menu in Canva. But the edit menu only appears for certain things. It does not appear when using a frame (which is very frustrating as frames make it much quicker to make promotional for sale images for your shop). So here are some workarounds for how to add a drop shadow to your images in Canva.

To enlarge the screen of the video, click the square icon in the bottom right hand corner of the video (it will say ‘full screen’ when you hover your mouse over the icon).

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The printables shown in this video are available in my shop:

Option 1: use an existing mockup and replace with your own images

If you want the easiest option, do this one. If you search mockups in Canva, other people have already created frames with drop shadows – exactly what we need!

Is this cheating? No, I think it’s just making life easier for yourself and you’ll see why if you keep scrolling down this post to the other options. Canva doesn’t make it super easy to add a drop shadow to many images at once.

To find a template with a drop shadow already on it, some keywords you can search are ‘product mockup with drop shadow’ which is how I found these templates:

Here’s a template already set up for 2 printables.

There are plenty more templates to choose from! You might consider using one of the iPad / tablet mockups to show people they can open your printables on more than just a computer.

Here’s what one of the templates could look like if I was using it for my shop, after a few quick edits,

Get this cleaning checklist here

You can open these templates in a new document, select the elements with the drop shadows set up, then copy and paste to a new page in that same document, or copy and paste to your existing document you’re working in within Canva.

Note: a lot of these mockup templates are included in the Canva pro plan (I.e. you’ll need to pay for them). If you don’t have a Canva pro subscription, here are some other options:

If you search ‘dropshadow’ in the elements menu you can also add the dropshadow at the bottom of the printable.

If you use a dropshadow like this, you may choose to add some color behind the printable e.g. light grey, beige, light pink or light blue. Otherwise here’s what it looks like with a white background:

Option 2: Use the edit menu

If you’re using your own photos or stock photos, you can add the drop shadow via the edit menu.

Click on the image
Click ‘edit’ in the menu that appears above the image
Go to Effects > Shadows
Select ‘drop’ from the pop up menu
I like to change the color from default black to grey to reduce the intensity. You can see the other settings I select in the screenshot below

I think it’s easier to resize things after you add the drop shadow. You can click and drag over all of your images to select them, then press CTRL on your keyboard, click on one of the corners of everything selected, and drag your mouse in to make it smaller, or out to make it bigger.

If only Canva had a ‘format painter’ tool like in Microsoft Word so you can copy and paste the drop shadow settings onto images – it would make it so much faster!

You can use the same edit menu to add a drop shadow to text as well.

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Option 2a: Add a frame

If you’re going to be making a lot of copies if you have a big bundle of products like I do in my printable sets, then after you follow the steps in option 2 continue on with these steps:

Go to elements > frames > choose a rectangle frame (make sure you find a rectangle with square corners as some of them have rounded corners)
Resize the frame over the top of the image you added the drop shadow too
Group the frame and image together so you can move them as one piece
After grouping, resize the images at the same time by clicking one of the corners and dragging your mouse in to make it smaller, or out to make it bigger

Now you can drag and drop images onto the frame.

Get this packing checklist printable here

Option 3: Use a rectangle

Create a rectangle
Make it light grey (choose a light shade of grey. I chose #e3e4e4)
Send to back (behind the image or frame)

I don’t like this method as it doesn’t have the same ‘blur’ / realistic looking shadow as the other options.

This method can be used if you want the drop shadow to appear on a particular side and if you don’t like the look of Canva’s drop shadow effect.

You can rotate a shape in Canva by clicking on it. Then from the extra buttons that appear above, left click and drag the arrow symbols that will appear in the middle (I’ve circled them in the screenshot below).

You can download this habit tracker printable for free here

Other information you could add to your listing photos

Printable page size
If the printable is editable
What program people need to use it e.g. adobe reader
If the printable can be used on an iPad e.g.
Color options available (and add color swatches)
Your shop name
Your shop URL

I’d also add images to your listing for:

A preview image with multiple printables if the printable has come from a set
Printing tips
Your social media links
FAQ’s E.g. if the printable can be resized

I never used to split my printable bundles due to the time it takes to set up separate listings (and the extra Etsy listing fees). But I’ve individually listed popular printables and have found some people would rather just pay for the single printable than the entire bundle (even though the bundle is much better value).

You can use those listings of the single printables to drive traffic to the bundle, by showing a picture of the bundle that the printable is from, and adding a banner such as ‘also available’ on the image, with a link to the full bundle in the listing description. Like this listing:

How to make printables

If you want to learn how to make printables like the ones I added a dropshadow to in this tutorial, I teach how to make them in my ecourse: How to make printables in Affinity Publisher