Ooooh, I like Shiny Things...
by Wizaerd

Date Posted: 10/29/2001 - This effect has been around for as long as people have been doing computerized graphics, so there is nothing new in this tutorial. Instead it demonstrates how to create a shiny metal type effect, but it uses Canvas SpriteEffects and Transparency to keep your text as editable objects.

Start out by creating a text object. You may initially want to make it fairly large and with a nice blocky font. I chose Arial Black at 92 points for this tutorial. Make a duplicate (Edit->Duplicate) of your text object and set it aside for now, we'll be using it later. Re-select your original object, and apply a fill of 50% gray and no stroke. (You can create a black or white stroke on your text object and it will affect how your resulting type effect comes out. As with every and any technique or tutorial, I suggest playing around with different settings until you get a result you like).



Now we're going to apply a Bevel SpriteEffect. If you have Canvas 8, the bevel can be applied by either accessing the New Effects button on your SpriteEffects Palette (bevel is listed un Stylize) or you can click the nested menu structure of Object->SpriteEffects->Add Effect->Stylize->Bevel. Here are the setting I chose for my bevel dialog. Adjusting these values will vary your results. If you're using a version of Canvas that doesn't offer the bevel tool, and beveling 3rd party plugin will work, or you can create a manual bevel using emboss. See Tom Coate's tutorial Adding Shading to Vector Objects
on how to do this.



Now we're going to apply a Curves SpriteEffect (Object->SpriteEffects->Add Effect->Curves). Here again are the settings I chose. This is the effect that'll give you your shiny metal appearance. The curves dialog itself is of little value without the bevel when used as an effect. Using the exact same curve on a completely different bevel will result in as variable a result as applying a different curve on the same bevel. These two tools work hand in hand with each other.



Now select your duplicate object that we set aside earlier, and give it a fill, of any color or any gradient. I chose a yellow based gradient.



Make sure your duplicate object is in front or on top of the stacking order, and align it over your shiny metal object (you may have to align them manually. I experienced really wierd results when aligning a text object with SpriteEffects applied with a text object with no effects). After they are properly aligned, make sure only the top colored object is selected and apply an Overlay transparency. (oddly enough I couldn't find the menu structure for the Transparency command, which isn't too unusual since I have the Transparency palette docked on my docking bar.)



And you'll notice you have some gold colored text now. If you decide you don't want gold, simply change the fill on your top most text object, and you've got a completely different metal.



Again, I urge you to fiddle with the various settings to view the different types of results you end up with. Experimentation is what makes graphics, and Canvas, just so much fun!