Quick start guide of Shadows  – © François Blateyron, March 2009 – www.shadowspro.com – page 1 of 4
I – Download and install Shadows
Shadows  is available from the Internet web site
 www.shadowspro.com . You can download for free on the page
 www.shadowspro.com/gb/download.htm .
One downloaded, launch the installation by double-clicking on the
icon of shadows.exe .
the language used during
installation, then click on
button I accept the
4.
installation is launched. 
Click on Finish 
Shadows is then automatically launched (unless in the previous step, you unchecked the option Launch Shadows).In case of trouble,
you will find advices on the page www.shadowspro.com/gb/faq.htm  
Later, launch Shadows from Start button > All programs > Shadows 3.1 > Shadows  
II – Installing a Shadows Expert or Shadows Pro license
Shadows Pro and Shadows Expert are two advanced levels of Shadows. The complete list of features of each level can be found on
the page  www.shadowspro.com/gb/functions.htm. The license can be bought by Internet on the page
 www.shadowspro.com/gb/order.htm . In case of trouble with the installation, you will find advices on the page
 www.shadowspro.com/gb/faq.htm. The following explanations are valid for version 3.0.2 and followings. If needed, download the
latest versions on the page www.shadowspro.com/gb/download.htm
1.
the attachment name
and select Open.
copy it by CTRL-C. 
the button Paste the
Quick start guide of Shadows  – © François Blateyron, March 2009 – www.shadowspro.com – page 2 of 4
III – Before starting
Before you start exploring Shadows, you can discover its features by reading the help
file which contains a lot of information. To open the help, launch Shadows, then go to
the Help menu and select Help content….
At the top left of each help page, a link allows you to come back to the main content
page. Another link drives you to the glossary of technical terms. At the bottom of almost
all pages, other links will give you further explanations.
You can search for keywords by selecting Search the help for a keyword  in the
Help menu in Shadows. Results are given as a list of links to relevant pages.
Do not hesitate to read this help when you have a question. In almost all dialogs of the
program, a Help button allows you to display the relevant help page.
IV – Create and configure a declining vertical sundial
1.
on the first button on the left
of the toolbar.
select Create a sundial... 
the location where you
intend to install the
 Add a location... 
3. 
In the following screen, select the type of sundial you want to create. Sundials with a polar style
are the most classical ones; they can be oriented and reclined as you wish. Analemmatic sundials
are large ellipses. The cylindrical sundials family contains the shepherd dial or the equatorial ring.
The following screens depend on the type of selected sundial.
Choose Plane sundial with polar style . Click on Next >  
4.
Click in the first list on Vertical, then on the right list Declining vertical .
In the box Wall declinaison enter the declination in degrees and minutes. Do not enter
negative values. Select the orientation between East and West. The declination is counted from
0° when facing South, until 180° crossing East or West. 
Click on Next >  
5.
The newly created sundial is then displayed immediately. Here the sundial is declining by 25°
towards East.
You can change the number of hour lines by clicking on the icons in the toolbar.
Declination arcs can be hidden or displayed by clicking on the icon . The color or the thickness
of drawings can be set by clicking on the icon . The size and style of characters used to scale
 
Quick start guide of Shadows  – © François Blateyron, March 2009 – www.shadowspro.com – page 3 of 4
6. 
When the sundial is created, it displays Local Solar Time. But Shadows  can display a lot of
different sort of drawings. To change them, go to the Configuration   menu and select
Information given by the sundial ... or click on the icon .
In this dialog, you can select for example the watch time (mean hour with longitude correction)
and superimpose special hours (italic, babylonic, sidereal, temporary), or even draw curves of
azimuth and altitude of the Sun.
Mean time of the Time zone, Italic and babylonic hours  Azimuth and altitude of the Sun  
Declination arcs are drawn, by
default, for each Zodiac sign
change; it is the usual way to
represent the path of the Sun
every 30° of ecliptic longitude.
Other settings are possible
Options...
menu Drawings  and
 Analemma Options...
In this dialog box, arcs can be drawn for the solstices and equinoxes,
for decans, for every 5° or 10° of declination of the Sun, or for days
of each month.
If you want an analemma curve at each hour, you need to select
a sundial indicating Mean Time (see above, step 6)
It is possible to add a motto on
the sundial from the menu
Frames  and Insert a Text
Frame.
the button: A motto... and
select a motto from the list,
and validate by clicking on OK .
Change the text appearance by
clicking on the button: Text
style...
resized with the mouse.
Quick start guide of Shadows  – © François Blateyron, March 2009 – www.shadowspro.com – page 4 of 4
Simulate the shadow cast on
the sundial by selecting the
menu Tools  and  Animate
the Style’s Shadow.
Control the animation from
the following dialog box:
change its orientation by
to change the inclination /
drawings onto the material, or
print the coordinate table of
hour lines to draw then with a
ruler and a protractor.
equation of time besides
correction between Solar
the left side of the tool bar.
Or got to the menu File and
select Create an
clicking and drag the point
located around 270° on the
ecliptic circle, or use the Up 
and Down  arrows of the
keyboard and maintain the
CTRL key pressed down. 
of the astrolabe by
clicking on or use
The on-line help: www.shadowspro.com/help/fr/contents.html  
A portal on sundials: www.cadrans-solaires.org