Illustrator Tutorial - Vector Bevels and Shadows
Monday June 16, 2008
These two effects are basically clever use of the Pathfinder palette, and offsetting paths.
Firstly, make sure you download the (CS3) file. We’ve included the finished version, and the bare bones elements for you to follow on at home.
Here’s our raw text, the font is Bello Pro. Convert the text to outlines, and you’ll want to Combine all the letters together, and convert it to a compound path
- Window > Pathfinder
- Select the red text, hold down Option (on Mac) and click Add to Shape Area (top left button)
- With the text still selected,
- Object > Compound Path > Make (Command+8)
Next we’ll offset this path 45ยบ, to form our shadow.
- With the text selected press Return to bring up the move palette
- Enter in values to move down and right equally, and press Copy
- Repeat above steps, so that you’ve duplicated the text twice
- Change the duplicated texts to another colour, to help see it
- Select your duplicated texts
- In the pathfinder palette, press Minus Back (bottom right button)
You’ll now see your shadow created! It’s on top and a terrible colour, so just send it to back, change the colour to something more suitable, and you’ll have finished this section.
Still a little flat, so lets add our bevel. Now that you’ve learned the basics, you can apply similar tricks above to this effect.
- Select your text
- Object > Path > Offset Path
We need to offset it a small amount. This determines how small inside the bevel will be.
Now duplicate the text down and right, just like we did with the shadow. But instead of just using Minus Back as it was, send the top one to the bottom, then delete, this creates an intersection in the top left, rather than the bottom right.
Re-colour your bevel and viola! You’ve got a sharp, clear bevel and shadow that puts thick, pixely Photoshop effects to shame. Enjoy and best of luck!
Filed under Tutorials
Previous Article: This is Definitely Funny
