Lighting an object


    You can dramatically change the appearance of a 3D object by adjusting its lighting. Changes can include adding more lights, varying the light intensity, changing the object's shading color, and moving lights around the object.

    Illustration of Lighting Sphere with these callouts: A. Selected light in front B. Move selected light to back or front button C. New light button D. Delete light button
    Lighting Sphere A. Selected light in front B. Move selected light to back or front button C. New light button D. Delete light button

    Note: 3D objects don't share lighting with other 3D objects in a document.

To change an object's lighting:

  1. Select the 3D object.
  2. In the Appearance palette, double-click the 3D effect to open the 3D Options dialog box.
  3. Click More Options to display the Surface options.
  4. To move a light, do one of the following:
    • Drag the light to a new position on the sphere.
    • To move a light behind or in front of the object, select the light and click the Move Light Back button Move Light Back button or the Move Light Front button Move Light Front button .
  5. To add a light, click the New button New button . By default, new lights appear in the front center of the sphere.
  6. To delete a light, select the light and then click the Trash button.
  7. Note: By default, 3D Effects assigns one light to an object. You can add and delete lights, but the object must always have at least one light.

  8. To change a light's intensity, select the light, and then drag the Light Intensity pop-up slider or enter a number between 0 and 100.
  9. To control the object's shading color, do one of the following:
    • To add no color to the shading, choose None from the Shading Color pop-up menu.
    • To choose a custom color, choose Custom from the Shading Color pop-up menu, and then click the Shade Color box to select a color in the Color Picker. Spot colors are changed to process colors. (See Using the Color Picker.)
    • To avoid process colors if you're using a spot color workflow, choose Black Overprint. The object is shaded by overprinting shades of black on top of the object's fill color. To view the shading, choose View > Overprint Preview. (See Previewing how artwork will print.)
  10. If your object uses spot colors that you want to preserve, select Preserve Spot Colors. Spot colors can't be preserved if you chose Custom for the Shading Color option.