Bevel

The Bevel live effect simulates a three-dimensional appearance, as though the object were offset slightly from its background. You can control the effect with five parameters: Width, Contrast, Softness, Profile, and Light Angle .

Profile controls the shape of the edge transition. You have four choices to select from: Linear, Curve In, Curve Out, and Bulge Up .

In general, setting the Light Angle to the upper-left corner (100 to 170 degrees) creates a raised appearance. Setting the Light Angle to the lower-right corner (290 to 340 degrees) creates a lowered appearance.

Applying Bevel to three objects:
A bitmapped image, a rectangle with a gradient, and a text object.
The original objects (top), the beveled objects with the Curve Out profile (middle), and with the Bulge Up profile (bottom).

For more information about how to apply live effects, see Live effects.