Drop Shadow controls

Drop Shadow controls in the Appearance pane

Use the Drop Shadow controls to create a shadow behind text, and to adjust the shadow color, opacity, offset from the text object, softness, and angle. All Drop Shadow parameters can be animated.

Drop Shadow controls in Style pane of Text Inspector

  • Drop Shadow: An activation checkbox to enable or disable the drop shadow effect. This checkbox is deselected by default.

    Note: When the Flatten checkbox is selected in the Layout pane of the Text Inspector, additional Drop Shadow controls appear in the Properties Inspector. Drop Shadow controls in the Properties Inspector are independent of the controls in the Text Inspector. Enabling Drop Shadow in both locations adds to the existing shadow.

  • Fill with: A pop-up menu to set the fill for the shadow. As with the Face, Outline, and Glow controls, you can set the shadow fill to Color, Gradient, or Texture.

    The Shadow “Fill with” options are equivalent to the Face controls. For information on using these controls, see Face controls in the Appearance pane.

  • Color/Gradient/Texture: Color controls to set the color, gradient, or texture of the shadow. Click the disclosure triangle to adjust additional parameters.

  • Opacity: A slider to set the opacity of the text shadow.

  • Blur: A slider to set the softness of the text shadow.

  • Scale: A slider to set the size of the shadow.

  • Distance: A slider to specify the offset of the text shadow.

  • Angle: A dial to set the angle (or direction) of the drop shadow.

  • Fixed Source: A checkbox that, when selected, makes the drop shadow behave as if cast by a fixed light source, regardless of camera or text movement.

  • Four Corner: Value sliders to control the position of the drop shadow attribute, allowing for outline distorting effects. Click the disclosure triangle to reveal the value sliders:

    • Bottom Left: Offsets the text drop shadow from the lower left of its original position.

    • Bottom Right: Offsets the text drop shadow from the lower right of its original position.

    • Top Right: Offsets the text drop shadow from the upper right of its original position.

    • Top Left: Offsets the text drop shadow from the upper left of its original position.

    Note: You can also adjust the Four Corner parameters using onscreen controls. See Transform glyph controls in the Text HUD.