Expert: Amy - 1/21/2009

Question
I have a complex illustration and have created drop shadows for many of the
individual elements. All of these effects have the same attributes (i.e. angle, blur,
distance, etc.). I have tried to rotate the entire illustration 270 degrees as that's
how it will appear when printed. When I do that, the drop shadows all change
direction. How can I rotate without that happening?

Answer
Andy,

I believe you will need to re-create those drop shadows using the Filter > Stylize > Drop Shadow command instead of the one found under the Effects menu.

Effects will be reapplied each time the object is modified (like you saw when you rotated your artwork). Filters are a one-time shot, creating a new object (the gray blur).

If you want to rotate what you've got without this happening, you'll need to flatten the artwork first. I don't recommend that unless your artwork is done and ready to go to print.

Hope that helps!
-Amy