This tutorial is going to teach you on how to go from this:

To this:

1. Start by opening up a new blank canvas, like this:

2. Now click on the big ‘A’ that is in your gimp toolbox.
3. Make a decent size rectangle box inside the small white canvas.
4. Begin typing in your username or name. You can fiddle with the options in the tool text options box underneath the gimp toolbox. You can also fiddle with the options with the text control box that hovers above the text while you’re typing. I prefer the tool options over the text control box because it is much easier, but that’s just me.
5. Now click out of the text box by going over to the layer palette by clicking on the Text layer which should be above the background layer. Now you should only see a dashed box around your text.
6. Now go up to your options toolbar and click on Filters > Light and Shadow > Drop Shadow like this:

7. Try and copy my settings in your drop shadow control pop-up:

Viola! You now have a drop shadow under your text! If you mess with the controls in the drop shadow control box, you can alter the shadow.