Creating an Embossing Effect

This tip is more of a training exercise in creating an embossing effect as FreeHand™ 8 now includes an Xtra to do this very easily. So if you don't have this Xtra yet or you just want to know how to do it sans the Xtra, then this tip is for you.

Some advantages of this technique is that you don't need to convert any text to paths first, (which is great if you have to edit it again later) and you have better control over the colors and placement of the emboss effect.

I will also describe how to accomplish the same effect using Lens fills in FreeHand™ 8 over textured backgrounds that will also let you move the embossing effect around.

Version: Any (second part of tip requires FreeHand 8 and above)

For this example, I first start by creating the background shape(s) that I want the embossing to be applied to. This can be anything with any colors you choose. Above I created a square with a beveled slope (see the Blending Gradient Fills tip in the Tips Archive for more on this). The red color will be the base color for the Embossing.

Next I create a new layer above the Foreground layer. Then I place the objects that will be the emboss effect on this new layer. This can be text or any shapes you choose. If you have a lot of shapes or text elements, it's a good idea to Group them all together.

Now I choose a base color from the background shapes. Above I picked a mid-red color from the gradient shape. I then apply this color to the grouped emboss objects. Once you have your base color, create a light version (30% tint) and a darker version (adding black). These will be used in creating the embossed edges later. Now make 2 clones of the emboss objects.

Now you want to zoom in to the emboss objects a little because the next step is pretty tricky. Recolor the top clone to the light base color you created. Then with the arrow keys, nudge the group down and right approximately .5pt-1pt depending on how big your art is or how 'deep' you want the emboss to be (you can also use the Transform palette here too if you desire). This is the highlight. Next, select the other clone (by Control+clicking on the top most clone). Recolor this clone to the dark base color you created. Then nudge this group .5pt-1pt up and left. This is the shadow. Now select the original group and bring it to front. As you can see in the above example what I've created is what's known as a Deboss effect where it looks like it's impressed into the surface.

Now you can zoom out to see how it looks at 100%. You may want to go back in later and move the highlight or shadow areas more to make the effect stand out.

You can also either recolor the shadow/highlight areas or do the opposite method to create an Embossing look. This makes it look like the objects are popping out of the surface like in the above example.

Creating an Emboss Effect with Lens Fills

This next method is great when creating an emboss effect on textured surfaces where the texture would have to show through. In the above example, I created a wood texture effect (look in the Tips Archive for Creating a Wood Grain Texture). I want the emboss effect to look like it's carved out of it. Now for this method, unfortunately you'll need to convert any text to paths first as you will be pasting inside the object.

Using the same methods above, I create my emboss pieces. Instead of creating darker and lighter colors, I instead use Lens fills for the shadow and highlight areas. Above I used a 50% Darken Lens fill for the shadow and a 50% Lighten Lens fill for the highlight.

Now select and Clone the background texture area, then Cut it. Select the original object you started from and Paste Inside the texture. In the Transform palette under any of the options, turn off the Fills and Contents options. Then, select all of your elements and Group them together.

Since you turned off the Fills and Contents options, you can move the shapes all around the texture, and the contents will perfectly match what's underneath. You can also clone the original shape again, and make it a Darken or Lighten Lens fill to further accentuate the effect like I did above.

There are many other types of embossing/debossing that you can do and I hope that this tip makes you better understand how the effect is accomplished very easily.