Shiny Text Mini Tutorial

[iamtheblues]

Attached is a .xar file and a .png of a method for creating highlights to add to your lettering.
I used Milk Script (warning: captcha solving required to download) to achieve this, it's a nice retro style font and the mini-tutorial will make it look even retro-ier.
Bob.

[Albacore]

Nice simple tut. Bob. Good effect with the highlights.

[iamtheblues]

Thanks, Peter. Simple but effective.
Bob.

[Penny O'Rorke]

Thanks, Bob, that's truly fortuitous, as it's just what I need right now. Will post end result in due course. Most grateful!

[mwenz]

Attached is a .xar file and a .png of a method for creating highlights to add to your lettering.
I used Milk Script...

Milk Script is a commercial font:
http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/sudtipo...lar/specs.html

But you can use any script font (well, any font). Script fonts do work best, but any cursive italic that connects letters to each other can work well too.

However. I think the same effect can be made easier. It's how I use to do it when I wanted to achieve this effect.

Type your text.
Convert to editable shapes.
Ungroup.
Move any letters with connectors into a more pleasing arrangement if desired.
Select all the shapes.
CTRL + 1 to add shapes.
Color the text.
Add an outline. For 55 pt text like in this tut, 1 point seems to work well.
Right-click and drag a copy.
Color it black (or whatever).
Remove the outline.
Position this text over the colored, outlined version.

Take care, Mike

[angelize]

Both methods posted here are very good but just like almost anything in Xara there are many ways of doing this. Here is my method Note this method requires a version that has the opacity mask feature, but it gives you a result that is still editable text.

1. With your text tool click and type your text you want a text line not a column or box, make it what ever font, size and colour you wish
2 Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl +K and make two clones
3. Open the page and layer gallery and select the first clone (the one directly on top of the original text) and make it white
4. Select the top clone and make it black and offset it down and to the right if you want highlights at the top left. Cut it to the clipboard (Ctrl +X)
5. Select the white text and right click it and select paste opacity mask from the right click menu
6. The Opacity mask shape can be selected and moved around to adjust the hightlights and the whole opacity mask can be feathered and you can use the profile sliders to adjust the edges of the reflections.
7. Select all layers of the text effect and soft group. You can now move it around and it's still editable text.

[Rik]

Milk Script is a commercial font:
http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/sudtipo...lar/specs.html

But you can use any script font (well, any font). Script fonts do work best, but any cursive italic that connects letters to each other can work well too.

However. I think the same effect can be made easier. It's how I use to do it when I wanted to achieve this effect.

Type your text.
Convert to editable shapes.
Ungroup.
Move any letters with connectors into a more pleasing arrangement if desired.
Select all the shapes.
CTRL + 1 to add shapes.
Color the text.
Add an outline. For 55 pt text like in this tut, 1 point seems to work well.
Right-click and drag a copy.
Color it black (or whatever).
Remove the outline.
Position this text over the colored, outlined version.

Take care, Mike

I don't understand what you mean here?

[mwenz]

@ Frances

It depends on whether the goal is to emulate a 3D effect (yours) or not (the others).

@Rik

See the screen shot. The upper line is of text after converting to editable objects and ungrouping. I then colored each piece a different color to highlight the 3 areas in the word "Script" where I didn't like the offset of the connecting shapes. In the lower line, I have moved a few nodes so the joins are a bit smoother. In some fonts, one can simply move a letter to align the connectors better.

Mike

[Rik]

Thanks for that, Mike.
I wasn't using a font that was connected. Therefore nothing needed repositioning and couldn't see why things needed moving!
I see what you mean now.

[gwpriester]

I used this technique to create the highlights on this neon logo.