To create the effect of a light below and to the left, you would draw the black shadow text slightly above and to the right of the foreground text. After the shadow is placed, you can draw foreground normal text in the usual way. Although the logic behind creating the shadow text is simple, you want to be able to automate it. Still, having those lines concealed in a function makes your code more readable. You can get more dramatic effects by increasing the absolute value of the shift distance.
Larger numbers make larger shadows.
If you experiment with different shadow colors, you'll find that you can create a raised or embossed look. For example, using black as the text color and a lighter color for the shadow will give a raised appearance. In Figure 1, the URL for the Web Techniques site uses this effect. Not all colors work equally well for this effect. You'll have to experiment with the background color and the text color you want.