May 11, 2003

Scaling Effects

The new effects in FreeHand MX are a great way to add nice touches to artwork or to completely change the way a basic shape looks. There is one thing that you should be aware of though, and that is if you decide to scale the shape later, the effects may not scale the way you want. Below is a quick tip on how to make sure that your effects come out the way you want every time.

Version: MX

 
 

Above is a simple group made up of two letters converted to paths. Then I just added a Vector effect called Sketch, and the Drop Shadow Raster effect.

 

When I scale the group 200%, you will notice that the effects did not scale with it. The shadow looks smaller in relation to the shapes, and the sketch effect is less dramatic.

Now, in some instances, this may be what you want when you scale effects, but what if this is a logo and you want to keep the effects the same within relation to the group's size. This is very easy to do with one setting.

 

Before you scale, select the group and in the Properties panel, turn on the Transform as Unit option.

Now when you scale the group, any effects will scale proportionally with the group and keep their appearance.

Be warned however, that ungrouping the objects may lose their scaled appearance and revert back to their original settings.

Also be aware that if you select this group, the effect values will read as if they were never scaled even though they will look like they have. These are little gotchas when using the Transform as Unit option, and should be approached with caution.