Shadow Color

Shipped

What Is It

Shadow Color adds a per-light and per-world color property to Blender Cycles that tints the shadow regions cast by each light source. Instead of shadows being purely the absence of light, you can give them a specific color — a common artistic technique in film and animation lighting.

Why Use It

• Artistic control — Match the shadow tint to your color script without affecting the light color itself.
• Per-light granularity — Different lights can cast differently colored shadows in the same scene.
• World shadow color — The world lighting can also have its own shadow color.
• Non-destructive — Shadow color only affects shadow regions; lit areas remain unchanged.

How To Enable

Per-Light Shadow Color

1. Select a light in the viewport.
2. Open Properties > Object Data Properties (light icon).
3. Find the Shadow Color property.
4. Click the color swatch to choose a shadow tint color.

World Shadow Color

1. Open Properties > World Properties.
2. Find the Shadow Color property.
3. Set the desired world shadow tint.

Artistic Use Cases

Scenario	Shadow Color	Effect
Warm sunset scene	Blue / purple shadows	Cool contrast against warm light
Underwater scene	Deep teal shadows	Reinforces depth and water color
Stylized animation	Saturated complementary	Bold, graphic shadow look
Moonlight	Deep blue shadows	Classic night exterior feel

TIP

Start with subtle, desaturated shadow colors. A little tint goes a long way. The effect is most visible in areas of soft shadow falloff.

Known Limitations

• Shadow color affects the shadow contribution of the specific light only. It does not alter the shadow behavior of other lights in the scene.
• The effect is purely additive color in the shadow region — it does not simulate colored translucent shadow casters.

See Also

• RNA Properties (API) — Light.shadow_color and World.shadow_color property reference.
• Blender Manual: Light Properties — Standard Blender light settings.