Adobe Illustrator CS5 One-on-One

Red text with yellow, 2-point stroke, and black drop shadow

Select Stroke, choose Effect→Path→Offset Path, Offset: 4 point

Choose Effect→Pathfinder→Add

My diffi culty with this technique is that you can already accomplish

a similar and more fl exible effect using multiple strokes, as I explain

in Video Lesson 10, “Introducing Dynamic Effects” (as outlined

on page 330). Only the inclusion of a drop shadow in Figure 10-4

makes this approach unique.

As for the other commands in the Effect menu,

the Effect→SVG Filters are dusty relics from

the waning days of the twentieth century. And

the commands in the second half of the Effect

menu—which begin with the dimmed words

Photoshop Effects—comprise a bunch of less-

than-inspiring fi lters from Photoshop that few

professionals fi nd uses for in that program.

Which is why I very much doubt you’ll have

cause to use them in this one.

P E A R L O F W I S D O M

Again, I sound glib, but truth be told, Photoshop’s

pixel-based fi lters are a poor fi t in Illustrator. By

default, Illustrator renders any and all pixel-based

effects at 72 pixels per inch, which looks great on

screen but awful in print. Increase the resolution

(using Effect→Document Raster Effects Settings),

and most of the Photoshop Effects shrink in size so

that they’re no longer compelling.

To get your bearings—and witness the likes

of Transform, Outer Glow, Warp, and the

path wigglers applied to both path outlines

and editable text—watch Video Lesson 10: “Introducing Dynamic

Effects.” Then jump into the following exercises to gain hands-on

experience with the best commands in the Effect menu. Along the

way, you’ll learn how to manage effects from the Appearance panel,

heap multiple dynamic effects on top of each other, and save a set of

effects in the Graphic Styles panel. This may be my favorite lesson

in the book. I think you’ll have a lot of fun with it, too.

Applying and Editing Graphic Styles

If you watched the video (and if you haven’t, you should), you know

that the standard dynamic effect workfl ow involves assigning an ef-

fect from the Effect menu and editing it from the Appearance panel.

But when you’re fi rst learning how they work, you can more simply

and rapidly apply and adjust effects from the Graphic Styles panel.

Figure 10-4 .

333

Applying and Editing Graphic Styles