Text Effects 1 - Part 3 - Soft Pillow Effect

SIMPLE TEXT EFFECTS TUTORIAL #1

This part of the tutorial shows how to make soft pillowed text or objects using a combination of the effects shown in part 1 and part 2. The effect can be reversed (as seen above in the words 'soft' and 'effect' to look more like toothpaste or a gel.

Since the effect is a combination of the methods shown in Part 1 and Part 2, it can be produced using either Part 1A (simplified method) or Part 1B (complex, multi-object method). Therefore, this part of the tutorial is divided into two sections - Simplified method and Complex method. Both are described without additional notes, which you can find in the original sections (Part 1A, Part1B, Part 2) if required.

SIMPLIFIED (direct emboss) METHOD Steps:

1. Create a new image. I used 200x200 pixels, 72 dpi and a background colour of 30% black.
2. Create a new text object and centre it to the image.. I choose the letter B, AvantGarde Bk BT, 150 pt. Centre the object to the image. (Object > Arrange > Align and Distribute or use the icon).
3. Duplicate the object twice then reorder and rename. Move the original to the top, then rename the next lowest 'Outer Shadow' and the lowest "Outer Highlight".
4. Lock the Transparency, then fill the duplicates with black and white colour respectively. Ensure that Lock Transparency is turned ON, then fill the Outer Shadow object with black and the Outer Highlight object with white.

5. Unlock the transparency, then Emboss the original object. Unlock the Transparency. The Emboss settings I used were: Depth = 4, level = 100, angle = 135 degrees, original color.
6. Turn on Lock Transparency then blur the object. Lock the Transparency. The Gaussian Blur effect was added with a radius of 2.0.
7. Turn off Lock Transparency and blur the Outer Shadow and Outer Highlight objects. Unlock the Transparency. I used a Gaussian Blur of 3.0 for each of these objects.
8. Reposition the Outer Shadow and Outer Highlight objects I moved the Outer Shadow object 3 pixels up and 3 pixels left, and moved the Outer Highlight object 2 pixels down and 2 pixels right.
9. To create the reverse effect: Reposition the Outer Shadow and Outer Highlight objects in the reverse manner to that described in step 9: OS = 3 pixels down and 3 pixels right, OH = 2 pixels up and 2 pixels right. This now appears to be raised because the Outside Shadow is now facing the same direction as the shadow inside the object (created from the blurred emboss). Note that the same reversed effect could have been created by leaving the positioning of the Outer Shadow and Outer Highlight objects where they are and changing the emboss angle from 135 degrees to 315 degrees in step 6. It will appear this way as long as both inner and outer shadows (ditto for highlights) face the same direction.

COMPLEX (multi-object) METHOD Steps:
(Note: The complex method is divided into to parts corresponding to the earlier tuts shown in Parts 1B and Part 2 - the creation of the inner soft emboss effect and the creation of the outer soft bevel effect. The first part is described in steps 1 - 8 and the 2nd part in steps 9 - 11).

Part 1: Create the inner soft emboss effect: 1. Create a new image. I used 200x200 pixels, 72 dpi and a background colour of 30% black.
2. Change the Paint colour to 20% Black.
3. Create a new text object and centre it to the image. I choose the letter B, AvantGarde Bk BT, 150 pt. Centre the object to the image. Check the Lock Transparency setting and make sure it is OFF.
4. Duplicate the object four times, reorder then rename. Rearrange the objects so that two duplicates are above the original and two below. Rename the top two "Inner Shadow" and "Inner Highlight", and rename the lower two 'Outer Shadow' and "Outer Highlight".
5. Create a mask from the original object and then invert it. If the Mask Marquee is visible you will see the 'marching ants' marquee surrounding both the character and the image border indicating that the area outside the character is selected.

6. Fill the Inner Shadow with black and the Inner Highlight with white. Change the Fill colour to black, select the Inner Shadow object and fill it with black. Change the Fill colour to white, select the Inner Highlight object and fill it with white.
7. Remove the mask and apply a Gaussian blur (3 pixels) to both ' Inner' objects. Hint: Use Mask > Remove, SHIFT+CTRL+R or on the Mask/Object Toolbar to remove the mask. Hint:Use CTRL+F to repeat the last used effect for the second object.
8. Clip both 'Inner' objects to the original using the paper-clip icon on each of these objects in the Object Docker, then reposition them to create the inner soft emboss effect. Using your arrow keys, reposition the Inner Shadow object 2 pixels up and 2 pixels left. Reposition the Inner Highlight object 2 pixels down and 2 pixels right. This completes the inner soft emboss effect.
Part 2: Create the outer soft bevel effect: 9. Lock the Transparency, then fill the Outer Shadow with black and the Outer Highlight with white.
10. Unlock the Transparency, then apply a Gaussian Blur (3 pix) to both the Outer Shadow and Outer Highlight objects. Hint:Use CTRL+F to repeat the last used effect for the second object.
11. Reposition the Outer object to create the soft outer bevel. Using the arrow keys, move the Outer Shadow 3 pixels up and 3 pixels left, move the Outer highlight 2 pixels down and 2 pixels right.
To reverse the effect, change the positions of the Outer Shadow and Outer highlight around so that shadows and highlights from both inner and outer effects correspond.

Some other examples using this effect with other objects:

TIPS & Notes:

1. To increase the size of the Outer Bevel, move the highlight and shadow objects one or more pixels further.

2. You can try different angles and object opacities to achieve variants of the overall effect.

3. You can 'reverse' the effect by reversing the positions of the highlight and shadow objects.

4. For an indented soft bevel effect, reduce the object transparency of the shadow object to about 70% and the highlight to about 90% (use the slider in the Object Docker) and move the shadow far enough so that none of it shows on the opposite side of the topmost object.

5. This effect is fairly dependent on getting the right blur radius for the corresponding character thickness - the thinner the characters, the thinner you should make your blur radius. Fat characters can easily use blurs with a radius of 4 or 5 pixels while thinner, smaller characters will appear best using smaller blur radii such as 1.5 - 2.5

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