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Easy Text Effects: Part 1

By: Linda Rathgeber-Stewart

Page 2 of 2

Set for printing

Previous

Variety is the Mother of Invention

Open a new, 240 pixel wide by 125 pixel high canvas. Make the canvas color dark green # 003333.

Type the letters VIP in a Serif font. Use all caps and set the size to around 66. Fill with any color you like. Click in the stroke color box on the Property inspector to open the stroke swatches pop up. Click on the Stroke Options button.

1. Set the stroke color to white.
2. Set the stroke style to Basic > Soft Rounded.
3. Set the stroke width to 1 pixel.
4. Move the stroke softness slider to the bottom position.
5. Set the stroke position to Centered on Path.

Add the characters ".com" next to the first letters, using a sans serif font in a small size.

Figure 4: Text in two sizes

To Add the Gradient

Select the Vector rectangle tool and drag out a largish rectangle over the VIP text.

Figure 5: A gradient over the text

1. With the rectangle still selected, click on the Chrome2 swatch in the styles panel.
2. Choose Edit > Cut to cut the rectangle to the system clipboard.
3. Select the text and choose Edit > Paste Inside.

Adjust the gradient inside the text so some of the darkest color in the gradient is visible in all three letters.

Let's add some interest with a drop shadow.

A Drop Shadow

Press Shift and select both the VIP and .com text. Click on the Add Effects button [+] on the Property inspector and choose Shadow and Glow > Drop Shadow.

1. Choose 19 for distance
2. #66FFFF for color
3. 54% for opacity
4. 20 for softness
5. 315 degrees for angle

Figure 6: Chromed text with drop shadow

In the last section of this tutorial, I'll show you how to add sparkles to the chrome text.

A Little Bling Bling

I have added the Chrome3 style to a logo design, and then increased the Brightness and Contrast of the image. The levels are 22 for brightness, and 26 for contrast.

Figure 7: Chromed logo

Play a movie to learn how to turn a Star Auto Shape into a sparkle.

Position the sparkle over the brightest spot of your gradient. To add a glow to the sparkle:

1. Select the Vector Ellipse tool and drag out a small white circle. 15 pixels x 15 pixels work well.
2. Set the edge type to Feather by 20.
3. Position the glow over the sparkle shape.

Clone the sparkle and glow shapes and position them in appropriate places over your chromed objects.

Figure 8: Chromed logo with sparkles

Things to Try

Experiment with the gold gradient included with the styles package you downloaded. Test the effects of different background colors, stroke colors, and shadow colors. See what happens when you add the EyeCandy 4000 Motion Trail effect to the mask group.

What's Coming?

In Part 2 of Easy Text Effects you'll explore techniques for creating distressed and grunge styles. See you soon!

To view the video offline, download the support files, unzip to a location on your computer and open up video/index.htm in your favorite browser.

Approximate download size: 767k

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Download Support Files

Keywords
Text Effects, Fireworks, chrome text, graphic text