Here are the general steps taken to create a gradient fill pattern:
1. Select the text.
Gradient fill works best on titles and perhaps on a caption or another graphical element. It would look horrid if applied to a heading or body text.
2. Press Ctrl+D.
3. Click the Text Effects button in the Font dialog box.
4. Click the Fill and Outline tab on the Format Text Effects pane.
Refer to Figure 1-10 for the tab’s location.
5. Expand the Text Fill area.
6. Choose Gradient Fill.
7. Select a fill from the Preset Gradients button or create your own fill.
8. Click OK to apply the fill, and then click OK again to close the Font dialog box.
If you opt to create your own fill (refer to Step 7), you set two or more stops on the Gradient Stops bar, selecting a color for each stop: Click on the bar to set a stop, and then choose a color from the Color button menu.
To remove a stop, use the mouse to drag it from the Gradient Stops bar. You can also use the Remove Stop and Add Stop buttons, illustrated in Figure 1-11.
Four types of gradients are available, as chosen from the Type menu. In Figure 1-11 you see a Radial gradient, which fans out from a center point. The Position box is what sets the center point. Use the Direction button to see how the gradient is applied to the text.
A font has both a fill color and an outline color. The Font Color command affects only the fill, not the outline. To add an outline or a border to text, you apply the Text Outline effect.
Obey these steps to add a text outline:
1. Select the text.
The text doesn’t need to have a fill color; the Automatic color (usually, black) works fine. You can, however, set No Fill as the text color, in which case only the outline shows up.
2. Press Ctrl+D and click the Text Effects button in the Font dialog box.
3. Ensure that the Fill and Outline tab is chosen in the Format Text Effects pane.
4. Expand the Text Outline area.
5. Choose Solid Line or Gradient Line to set the type of outline.
For Gradient Line, you can configure the gradient color stops and other options, as discussed in the preceding section.
6. Use the Width gizmo to set the outline width.
Width is measured in points. Larger values show a heavier outline.
7. Set other options to customize how the line looks.
8. Click OK, and then click OK again to view your effects.
The text modifications may not show up in the Font dialog box’s Preview window, so you must return to the document to view your efforts.
In Step 7 you can further manipulate the line’s look, depending on which line attribute you choose:
Compound Type: Use the Compound Type menu to choose line styles, such as a double line, thick and thin lines, and more.
Dash Type: The Dash Type menu sets whether the line is solid or composed of dashes or dots in various patterns and lengths.
Cap Type: Items on the Cap Type menu set how the border goes around a curve. The options are Square, Round, and Flat. This effect doesn’t really show up unless the text is quite large or the outline is thick.
Join Type: The Join Type menu determines what happens when lines meet. As with the cap type, this effect requires large text or thick lines to show up.
As with other settings in the Format Text Effects pane, you must set your options and then click OK to view the results in the Font dialog box.
The Shadow effects can help a title or graphical element stand out, almost as if it’s hovering on the page, as illustrated in Figure 1-12. This effect is applied from a gallery of preset options, or you can toil on your own with various settings in the Format Text Effects pane.
FIGURE 1-12: Text with a shadow attached.
The Shadow effect is found in the Format Text Effects pane. Obey these directions to apply the effect to selected text in your document:
1. Select the text.
The Shadow effect works best on titles and perhaps decorative text elements.
2. Press Ctrl+D to bring up the Font dialog box.
3. Click the Text Effects button.
4. Click the Effects tab in the Format Text Effects pane.
Refer to Figure 1-10 for the tab’s appearance and location.
5. Expand the Shadow area.
6. Choose an item from the Presets menu button.
7. Use the remaining items in the Shadow portion of the Format Text Effects pane to make fine adjustments to the preset options.
8. Click OK, and then click OK again to view the shadow effect.
You may have to repeat these steps a few times to get the effect just right, but choosing a preset shadow (refer to Step 6) really helps to expedite the process.
The Reflection and Glow text effects work similarly to the Shadow effect, covered in the preceding section. These effects and their settings are illustrated in Figure 1-13.
FIGURE 1-13: Reflection and glow text effects.
To best apply text reflection and glow effects, first select text and then choose a preset from the Presets button. (Refer to Figure 1-13.) You can make further adjustments to the effects, which requires that you click OK (twice) to view the text and then return to the Format Text Effects pane to jiggle the various controls.
❯❯ The Reflection effect does increase the text’s line height. Again, this type of effect works best on a chapter title or other graphical element, not on body text.
❯❯ The Soft Edges effect doesn’t apply to most text (if any). It’s an echo of the Soft Edges effect applied to other graphics in a document. See Chapter 12.