Adobe Illustrator Tips And Tricks: adobe illustrator training

Create Shadows and Highlights for your Text Tutorial

In this tutorial, we will be creating a sample text with shadows cast by the text itself and also inner shadows inside the text, we will also be utilizing the offset to make the text bolder or smaller and lastly we will be using compound paths and pathfinder as well.

Let's Begin!

1. Create a New Document

Set up new file (Ctrl + N) or File => New.. , RGB for web use, CMYK, for prints. and hit ok.

2. Set up the background color using rectangle shape (M)

after picking the rectangle shape from the tools, hover your mouse at the top left intersection of your art board or document.

click it and a rectangle window will pop-up, since my document is sized 300x300, I also set-up the width and height to 300x300.

and hit ok.

rectangle color R=0 G=255 B=255

3. New layer and Text.

create a new layer and rename it to main text from layers panel and hit (T) for the type tool, place the text somewhere at the middle of your document. and type whatever word you want to make. resize it and change the font style you want, for me I want it to be somewhat thick and curly so there are space for the inner shadows.

tip! you can set the kerning to optical at the character panel, it gives a symmetrical spacing between texts.

font size of 25px

if you don't have characters panel inside your adobe illustrator work space go to,

Windows menu => Type => Characters.

I fill my font color to R=255, G=54, B=0 at the color panel.

4. Expand the text to create a stroke path.

before going to the next step select all and copy the layer or the text and lock it so it won't get moved accidentally.

5. Create a New Layer under the main text layer

rename your new layer to cast shadow.

6. Ctrl + F to paste it in front in the cast shadow layer.

make sure you selected the text or just click the empty circle on the layers panel to quickly select what is inside the cast shadow layer.

We will now use offset to make it more bolder a bit larger than the original

the offset in the Object menu => Path => Offset Path..

set the offset to 2-3 then hit ok, just to make it a bit larger than the main text font size,

go to path finder to unite the offset and the copied text

or go to Windows menu => find the pathfinder

and hit unite

move the united text using arrow keys on your keyboard,

3 hits down and to 3 hits to the right.

and then change its color,darker than the original color of the main text

make sure its still selected and lower the R from the color panel

R=168, G=54, B=0

it should look like this.

7. create a new layer above the cast shadow, it will now serve as a cutting object for the cast shadow layer.

repeat the last step.

(Ctrl + F) paste the text from the main text layer you copied from beginning, add offset of 2-3, unite from pathfinder, and use the arrow keys down and right and from this time 1 hit only on both keys.

8. select the cutting obj. layer in the empty circle and make it a compound layer by hitting

(Ctrl + 8)

also do this to the cast shadow layer hit (ctrl + 8)

!compound layer merge paths within the layer

you should see compound instead of Group

9. Hold Shift to select both of the layers (empty circle) of cutting obj. and cast shadow, go to path finder and find the minus front and click it.

and your work should look like this by now.

10. Inner Shadows, are the same process from the last steps, but now. you will Create Layer above the main text layer.

(Ctrl + F) in the inner shadow layer

11. roll down the inner shadow layer and make the group compound (ctrl +8)

12. setting the MINUS OFFSET

make sure the inner shadow layer is selected (empty circle)

go to offset path.. now set it to - 1 to 2 (negative 1)

you should see the path are inside the text

13. delete the outer path compound from the layer.

delete the x path its the 2nd compound path.

14. select the inner path and change the color to darker red.

copy the layer (ctrl +c)

15. create a new layer above the inner shadow and (ctrl + f) to paste in front of the new layer

move the copied object a bit to down and right side. using mouse or arrow keys, in my case the font is too thin so i decided to use mouse to move the copied object carefully.