Using Type > Applying text effects > Applying built-in special effects

 

Applying built-in special effects

FreeHand comes with six built-in effects, including drop shadows, highlights, strikethroughs, underlines, outlines, and zoom effects. You can set options for all of the effects except Drop Shadow. You can also search for occurrences of a text effect in a document.

Applying effects can slow redraw speed as you work with documents. You can set options to offset this effect when editing.

To apply a text effect with its default settings:

1

Using the Pointer tool, select text or one or more text blocks.

2

Choose Window > Inspectors > Text and click the Character button to display the Text Character inspector.

3

In the Text Character inspector, choose an effect from the pop-up menu.

Note: The Graphic element effect is used for inline graphics only.

To set options for an effect:

1

Use the Text tool to select text to which the effect has been applied.

2

Do one of the following:

Choose Edit from the Effects menu in the Text Character inspector.

Choose Text > Effect, and choose the effect from the submenu.

A dialog box appears for the effect you have chosen.

3

Set effect options as described in the following procedures.

To edit the Highlight, Underline, and Strikethrough text effects, set the following options:

For Position, enter a positive number for the effect's distance above the baseline, or enter a negative number for the distance below the text baseline.

To apply a dash pattern, choose a pattern from the Dash pop-up menu.

For Stroke Width, enter the point size of the effect.

To change the color of the effect, use the color pop-up menu.

To compensate for slight misregistration when overprinting the original text, select Overprint.

To edit the Inline effect, set the following options:

To specify the number of outlines that will surround the text, enter a number in the Count text box.

For Stroke Width, enter the size of the stroke width.

To change the stroke color, choose from the color pop-up menu.

For Background Width, enter the width of the background color that will be between the stroke and the text.

To change the background color, choose from the color pop-up menu.

To edit the Zoom effect, set the following options:

In the Zoom To text box, enter a percentage for the foreground object.

For example, entering 50% reduces the foreground object by 50% of the original.

In the Offset X and Y text boxes, enter the distance to move the foreground object from the original text.

To change the color of the background object, use the From pop-up menu.

To change the color of the foreground object, use the To pop-up menu.

To search for text effects applied in a document:

1

Display the Find & Replace Graphics panel:

Choose Edit > Find & Replace > Graphics.

Click the Find & Replace Graphics button in the Main toolbar.

2

In the Find & Replace dialog box, click the Select tab.

3

Choose Text Effect from the Attribute pop-up menu.

4

Choose an effect from the Effects menu.

5

For Search, choose an option to define the scope of the search—Selection, Page, or Document.

6

If you chose Selection in step 4, select Add to Selection to add text with the specified effect to a current selection. If you chose Page or Document in step 4, select Remove from Selection to deselect text with the specified effect from a current selection.

7

Click Find.

The number of objects selected appears in the lower left corner of the panel.

To speed screen redraw when using effects, do one of the following:

Choose Edit > Preferences. Click Redraw, and deselect Display Text Effects.

Assign effects after typing text.

Choose View > Preview to turn off Preview mode and work in Keyline mode.