Add glow or drop shadow effects

Add glow or drop shadow effects to 3D text

You can apply standard glow and drop shadow effects to 3D text objects just as you would to 2D text objects. However, the results always appear in only two dimensions.

Add a glow effect to a 3D text object

  1. In the Layers list, Timeline, or Canvas, select a 3D text object.

  2. In the Appearance pane of the Text Inspector, select the activation checkbox to the left of the Glow heading (near the bottom of the Appearance pane).

    The activation checkbox is highlighted blue, and a default yellow glow is applied to the text object.

  3. Double-click the Glow heading to display parameter controls, then adjust Color, Opacity, and other settings to customize the glow effect.

    Glow Controls in the Appearance pane of the Text Inspector

Note: Adding a Glow effect to a 3D text object forces the object to be rasterized. For details, see Text and rasterization.

Add a Drop Shadow effect to a 3D text object

  1. In the Layers list, Timeline, or Canvas, select a 3D text object.

  2. In the Appearance pane of the Text Inspector, select the activation checkbox to the left of the Drop Shadow heading (at the bottom of the Appearance pane).

  3. Double-click the Drop Shadow heading to display parameter controls, then adjust Color, Opacity, and other settings to customize the drop shadow effect.

    Drop Shadow Controls in the Appearance pane of the Text Inspector