DaVinci Resolve includes a native drop shadow effect that you can apply to any imported image on the Fusion page, with separate controls for horizontal offset, vertical offset, blur radius, opacity, and color. The effect is built into the standard Resolve toolset, so it works on PNGs with transparency, on JPGs, and on WebP files the same way, and it does not require any third-party plugin or extra download. Because the shadow is rendered as part of the node tree, you can keyframe its parameters, layer it with other effects, and combine it with Resolve's built-in glow, color, and transform tools.
For editors who only need a single static image with a clean drop shadow, there is also a faster route. You can bake a shadow directly into a transparent PNG using a browser-based tool like Add Shadow to Image, then drop the resulting file straight onto the Resolve timeline or Fusion composite. Both paths produce a usable result, and the right choice depends on whether you want the shadow to live inside Resolve (so it stays editable and animatable) or baked into the file (so you can place the image anywhere without rebuilding the effect).
Inside DaVinci Resolve's Built-In Shadow Effect
Resolve's drop shadow lives in the Fusion page as a standalone effect node that you can attach to any image. When you import a still and switch into Fusion, the image loads as a MediaIn node by default. Adding a Shadow node, or applying a drop shadow through the Effect Library, wires a shadow generator into the merge chain. From that point, every parameter behaves the way designers expect: offset pushes the shadow left, right, up, or down; blur softens the shadow's edge; opacity dials in how dark the cast reads; and color sets the tint.
The native effect plays well with Resolve's color management, so the shadow picks up the same gamma and gamut as the rest of your grade. It also respects the alpha channel of transparent PNGs, which means a subject that has already been cut out keeps its hard edge while the shadow spreads underneath it. That is one of the main reasons people reach for Resolve instead of a still design tool: the shadow can be animated, motion-tracked, or retimed alongside the underlying footage without having to re-render anything in Photoshop.
Adding a Drop Shadow to an Image in DaVinci Resolve
The in-app workflow is short once you know where the controls live. The following steps cover the standard path on the Fusion page and assume you already have a project loaded with a still image imported into the Media pool.
- In the Media pool, drag your PNG, JPG, or WebP image onto the timeline on a new video track. Right-click the clip and choose Open Fusion Page to jump into the node-based compositor.
- Select the MediaIn node that represents your image. In the Inspector, confirm the image loads with the alpha channel you expect. If the alpha is missing, check the Loader's color space and channel settings before adding any effects.
- From the Effect Library, search for Shadow or browse the Tools list. Drag the Shadow effect onto the node graph and connect its input to the MediaIn output so the image feeds straight into the shadow generator.
- With the Shadow node selected, open the Controls panel. Adjust Distance to set the overall offset, then fine-tune the X and Y sliders to position the shadow precisely. Distance pushes the shadow diagonally; the X and Y sliders give you independent control.
- Use Soft Edge to soften the blur. Higher values produce a feathered, diffused shadow; lower values keep the edge crisp.
- Set Opacity to control how dark the shadow reads over the underlying clip. Anywhere from 30% to 70% usually looks natural for product or portrait stills.
- If needed, change Color to match a brand palette or simulate a warm or cool light source. The default is black, which is the safe starting point for most composites.
- Switch back to the Edit page and play the timeline to confirm the shadow looks correct against the background plate. If anything feels off, return to Fusion and adjust the same controls without rebuilding the graph.
For most stills, the default settings are too aggressive. A subtle offset (around 4 to 8 pixels in screen space), a soft edge in the middle of the slider's range, and an opacity around 50% will read as natural. If you are stacking the shadow under text or another graphic, drop the opacity further so the shadow supports rather than competes.
Prep a Clean Shadow PNG in Your Browser First
Sometimes you do not need an editable effect at all. Maybe the image is going onto a slide, a thumbnail, or a mockup where the shadow is part of the file rather than the project. In those cases, building a transparent PNG with a baked shadow is faster than opening Resolve at all.
The Add Shadow to Image tool runs entirely in your browser tab. You pick a local JPG, PNG, or WebP file, set whole-pixel horizontal and vertical offsets, choose a blur radius, an opacity percentage, and an exact six-digit hex color, and the tool draws the shadow through the browser's Canvas renderer. The file never leaves your machine. The decoded pixels are drawn once with the chosen shadow state, drawn again without a shadow to keep the foreground crisp, and then encoded back out as a new transparent PNG.
Because the output is a regular PNG, you can drag it straight into Resolve's Media pool and use it like any other still. The shadow is now part of the image, so it composites cleanly without the Fusion page and without any extra nodes. This approach is especially useful when you are placing an asset on top of footage shot at different resolutions or aspect ratios, where a baked shadow avoids any scaling artifacts that the live effect might introduce.
How to Use the Add Shadow to Image Tool
Because the tool is fully local and there is nothing to sign up for, the whole process takes under a minute once you know the controls. The steps below match the actual order the tool presents them.
- Click the file picker and choose a JPG, PNG, or WebP from your computer. The file must be browser-decodable and no larger than 25 MiB. The tool will surface a clear error if the file is the wrong type, empty, or oversized.
- Enter the horizontal offset in whole pixels. Positive values push the shadow to the right, negative values push it to the left. Acceptable values run from -500 to 500.
- Enter the vertical offset in whole pixels. Positive values move the shadow downward in the downloaded PNG, negative values move it upward. The same -500 to 500 range applies.
- Set the blur radius in whole pixels from 0 to 250. Larger values produce softer, more feathered shadows; small values keep the edge defined.
- Set the opacity as a whole percentage from 0 to 100. Start around 50 if you are not sure.
- Type a six-digit hex color such as 000000 for pure black or 1A1A1A for a softer neutral.
- Select Add shadow. The tool validates the inputs, allocates an expanded canvas, renders the shadow, and shows the resulting width, height, and encoded size.
- Verify the expanded dimensions look correct, then download the transparent PNG. The filename is generated from the source, so a portrait.png file becomes portrait-shadow.png.
Shadow Control Limits at a Glance
The table below summarizes the exact ranges the browser tool accepts and the canvas math it applies. All numbers come directly from the tool's documented behavior, so you can plan your artwork around them without guessing.
| Control | Accepted range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Horizontal offset | -500 to 500 px | Positive moves shadow right, negative moves it left |
| Vertical offset | -500 to 500 px | Positive moves shadow down in the PNG, negative moves it up |
| Blur radius | 0 to 250 px | Larger values feather the edge; precise pixels vary slightly between browser engines |
| Opacity | 0 to 100% | Whole percentages only |
| Color | Six-digit hex | No shorthand, no RGB triplets, no named colors |
| Input file size | Up to 25 MiB | Must be a browser-decodable JPG, PNG, or WebP |
| Output format | PNG with transparency | Filename pattern: source-shadow.png |
Why the Downloaded PNG Is Larger Than Your Source
If you compare the original file to the downloaded result, the new PNG will almost always be wider, taller, or both. That is intentional. The canvas reserves room so the shadow has somewhere to land before the image edge cuts it off. Specifically, the tool sets aside twice the blur radius on every side, then adds the absolute value of the directional offset on the affected side.
Worked example: a 40 by 20 pixel image with a right offset of 8, an upward offset of 4, and a blur of 6 produces a 72 by 48 pixel output. The left side gets twice the blur (12 pixels of padding), the right side gets twice the blur plus the 8-pixel offset (20 pixels), the top side gets twice the blur plus the 4-pixel offset (16 pixels), and the bottom side gets twice the blur (12 pixels). The original image is positioned inside that expanded area, so the shadow is never silently cropped at the source edge.
This automatic expansion matters for compositing. In Resolve, if you drop a baked shadow PNG onto a timeline and the underlying plate has a tight crop, you still get a usable shadow rather than a hard line where the old canvas ended. The Canvas shadow renderer behind the tool follows the standard browser model documented on MDN's Canvas shadowBlur reference, so the resulting shadow behaves like any other Canvas-rendered effect rather than a print prepress measurement.
When to Choose Resolve vs the Browser Tool
Pick the in-app effect when the shadow needs to move. If the underlying image animates, if you plan to retime it, or if you want the shadow to track a moving subject with a planar tracker, the Fusion approach is the right one because the shadow stays editable and responsive.
Pick the browser tool when the shadow is part of the asset. Thumbnails, social cards, product mockups, slide decks, and stickers all benefit from a baked shadow because the file travels with the shadow wherever it goes. You also avoid the slight rendering differences between Resolve's shadow node and other software that might display the same image later. For mixed workflows, you can bake a shadow once in the browser, import the PNG into Resolve, and use Resolve's transform tools to position the asset without rebuilding the shadow from scratch.
Whichever path you take, remember that the browser tool is strictly local. Nothing is uploaded, the source bytes are not retained, and the downloaded PNG is rebuilt from the decoded pixels. If you are working with sensitive assets such as unreleased product shots or private client work, that local-only model is a meaningful advantage over online shadow services that require a server round trip.