Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment

by discovery Fri May 11, 2012 6:27 am

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment

If you have read some of my other type tutorials, you
know I love the Appearance panel. This tutorial is no different. Using
the Appearance panel, some gradients, and transforms, you can create a
polished lifted type treatment. Using the Appearance panel makes it
super easy to apply the treatment to other fonts and vector elements.
Final Image

Below is the final type treatment we will be working towards.

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_10

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_10

Tutorial Details

Program : Adobe Illustrator CS5
Difficulty: Intermediate
Topics Covered: Appearance Panel
Estimated Completion Time: 15-20 minutes

Step 1

In a new document, use the Rectangle tool (M) to create a rectangle
the size of your document and fill it with a gray color. Having a
background color from the beginning will make it easier to see the
changes we will be making to the text.

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_01

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_01

Step 2

With the Type tool (T), type out some text. Mine is around 100pt for
big header text, but you can adjust the text to fit your needs. Next,
remove any fill and stroke from the text, we will be directly adjusting
these in the Appearance panel.

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_02

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_02

Step 3

With the text selected, choose Add New Fill from the pop-up menu of
the Appearance panel. Change the new fill to a linear gradient with the
first color stop white and the second a light gray. From the Gradient
panel change the Location of the first white color stop to 40 and change
the Angle to -90.

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_03

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_03

Step 4

From the Appearance panel, create a new fill like in the previous
step, fill it with white, and make sure the white fill is below the
first gradient in the Appearance panel. Select the white fill in the
list and go Effect > Path > Offset Path. In the Offset Path dialog
change the Offset to 1 px. With the white fill still selected in the
Appearance panel list, go Effect > Distort & Transform >
Transform. In the Transform Effect dialog, change the Vertical Move to 1
px.

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_04

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_04

Step 5

From the Appearance panel, select the white fill, and press the
Duplicate Selected Item button at the bottom of the panel. Select the
bottom copy and fill it black. Expand the attributes on the fill by
pressing the small arrow to the left of the fill thumbnail if it is not
expanded already. Click on Transform to open the Transform Effect dialog
and change the Vertical Move to 2 px.

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_05

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_05

Step 6

Duplicate the black fill like in the previous step and change the
fill to a linear gradient. Add two more color stops to the linear
gradient and change the first to black, the second to a dark gray, the
second to a slightly lighter gray than the second, and the fourth to a
gray slightly darker than the second. Next, change the Angle to -90.

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_06

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_06

Step 7

Expand the attributes of the new linear gradient in the Appearance
panel, and click on the Transform Effect. With the Transform Effect
dialog open, change the number of Copies to 10 and the Vertical Move to 1
px.

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_07

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_07

Step 8

With the four color stop gradient fill still selected in the
Appearance panel, go Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow. In the Drop
Shadow dialog, change the Opacity to 100, the X Offset to 0, the Y
Offset to 2, and the Blur to 2. That is pretty much it!

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_08

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_08

Step 9

You can save the treatment as a Graphic Style to easily apply to
other type and vector objects. Simply select your text and press the New
Graphic Style button in the Graphic Style panel. Now press the new
graphic style with any object to apply the style. Pretty cool!

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_09

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_09

Final Image

At this point you can make the treatment better by jazzing up the
background with some grain textures and simple offsets to other text.

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment Polished-text_10

http://vectips.com/tutorials/create-a-polished-raised-type-treatment/