# Add Your Own Shadow Presets to the Editor

> Adds soft, medium and lifted shadow options to the editor's Shadow control for buttons, images, groups and columns, next to the theme's own shadows.

- Type: PHP
- Runs: Run everywhere
- Category: [Block Editor](https://wpide.com/library/category/gutenberg/)
- Tags: theme-json, shadows, design-system
- Author: WPIDE Team
- Installs: 0
- Updated: 2026-10-28
- Page: https://wpide.com/library/themejson-shadow-presets/

## Code

```php
// Shadow presets: slug => [name, CSS shadow].
$wpide_shadows = array(
    'wpide-soft'   => array( 'Soft', '0 1px 3px rgba(0,0,0,.08), 0 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,.06)' ),
    'wpide-medium' => array( 'Medium', '0 6px 16px rgba(0,0,0,.10)' ),
    'wpide-lifted' => array( 'Lifted', '0 18px 40px -12px rgba(0,0,0,.25)' ),
);

add_filter( 'wp_theme_json_data_theme', function ( $theme_json ) use ( $wpide_shadows ) {
    $data    = $theme_json->get_data();
    $current = isset( $data['settings']['shadow']['presets'] ) ? (array) $data['settings']['shadow']['presets'] : array();
    $current = isset( $current['theme'] ) ? (array) $current['theme'] : $current;
    $by_slug = array();

    foreach ( $current as $preset ) {
        if ( isset( $preset['slug'] ) ) {
            $by_slug[ $preset['slug'] ] = $preset;
        }
    }

    foreach ( $wpide_shadows as $slug => $shadow ) {
        $by_slug[ $slug ] = array( 'slug' => $slug, 'name' => $shadow[0], 'shadow' => $shadow[1] );
    }

    return $theme_json->update_with( array(
        'version'  => WP_Theme_JSON::LATEST_SCHEMA,
        'settings' => array( 'shadow' => array( 'presets' => array_values( $by_slug ) ) ),
    ) );
} );
```

## Notes

Shadow controls need WordPress 6.5+ and blocks that support shadows.

## How to use it

Install the free WPIDE plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpide/), find "Add Your Own Shadow Presets to the Editor" in its snippet library and add it in one click; or create a new PHP snippet in WPIDE (or any code snippets plugin) and paste the code above. More snippets: https://wpide.com/library/