PI 6 Text Magic
I have been fascinated with contour gradients since the introduction of the KPT 3 Gradient Designer, years ago. It's the key to so many of the text tricks that people have been pulling off for so long in Photoshop. But it's a plug-in that not everyone can afford. Well, guess what? You get most of it for free with PhotoImpact.
For those not familiar with contour gradients, I'll explain by demonstration.
With the Type tool selected, click on the Color section of the Attribute Bar. Then choose Gradient Fill, and you'll receive the dialog box shown above. If you click on the far right tab next to fill type you'll be using a contour gradient. Set up your dialog box as shown above.
Open a new document, 400X100 pixels, and fill it with black. I'll be using the Arial Black font at 80 pts. Most of you should have that font available. If not, use something close. Set the mode to 3D Round, with a Border of 3, and a Depth of 30. Type SOCOOL or whatever.
Instant outlined text. Move the Border setting to 13, and you'll see a depth of shading you'd never achieve with a solid color.
Open the Gradient Fill dialog again, but this time choose Multiple colors instead of two colors. Click on the multicolored box. Scroll down to Gradient #100. Click on the ring, and click OK twice. If you still have the Border set to 13, you have instant peppermint text.
Move the Border slider back and forth to see how the different settings affect the gradient. Try different Gradient numbers , and you'll see how creative you can be with this. Here's Gradient #109 with a border of 10. This would take a lot of work in Photoshop.
Another technique one can use in the KPT 3 Gradient Designer is to add transparency to the gradient along different stops. You can't do that directly in PI, but I've discovered a work-around. So let's have some more fun.
Fill the background with with a Multiple color gradient, say #9, so you can see what happens. Change the color of your text to black, and make it a 2D Object with a Border of 7. Now click on the Color tab of the Attribute Bar and at the bottom you'll see Fadeout. Click it. Check the box next to Apply fadeout. Notice the same Fill types are available here as in the normal Gradient dialog. Make sure the far right type is chosen. Choose Multiple colors and Gradient #01. Click OK twice.
As you can see, your text now has some transparency. Move the Border slider around to see the different effects it has.
Change the Background fill to black. Make the text color white for the time being. Change your text to a four or five letter word, like COOL, and increase the font size to about 100, so you can really see what's happening. Open the Fadeout dialog box again, but now choose Gradient #9 from the Multiple color options (still using the contour gradient type). Now change the color of the text to a contour gradient fill, Multiple color #102, one of the black and whites. Use a Border of 13.
Still doesn't look like much, but this is where the magic of transparency begins. Duplicate this text object and align precisely over the original by Shift clicking both objects to select both and using Center Both from the Object/Align menu. Select the top object only. Remove the transparency by going to the Fadeout dialog and unchecking the Apply box. Change the color to white, use 3D Chisel, and a border of 15.
Now we have regular chiseled text. In the Layers palette, drag this new text beneath the original text.
Looking better. Now reselect the top text, and in the Object Properties dialog change the Merge to Overlay. And now you have a multiple- chisel effect that would be very difficult anywhere but in PI.
Different font:
Some color:
As you can probably surmise, this is only the tip of the iceberg. The combinations of color fills and transparency fills are infinite. From the simple:
To more complex:
And the same principles apply to objects:
Play around with it. If you invent your own exciting text trick with this technique, feel free to show me. And I'll be back with a lot more on this later.
Back to Tutorials