Bold Strokes  E-mail
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Written by Craig Watkins   

Beyond adding a single stroke...

Mutiple strokes, when applied correctly, can make objects or typography much more exciting!

 

TYPOGRAPHY EXAMPLE:


If you usually just add a simple stroke like this to make your type more interesting...

 

you will love this simple and quick way to make multiple strokes!!


Here are the steps:

Start out with your type filled with a color with no stroke. I'd suggest a bold and thick font until you master this technique. I have used the font IMPACT for this example. 

With your type selected, COPY (EDIT>COPY) the type and PASTE IN BACK (EDIT>PASTE IN BACK). Using PASTE IN BACK will copy the text behind the original. Do not deselect the result!!


Now, add a STROKE COLOR to the selection and increase the stroke weight to 3.5 pt. Do not deselect the result!!  

 

Finally, copy the selection again and paste in back again. (EDIT>COPY) then (EDIT>PASTE IN BACK). Do not deselect the result!!


Now change the STROKE COLOR to another color and set the stroke weight to 10 pt. You should now have something that looks like this...

EXTRA OPTIONAL TYPOGRAPHY STEP:

To make the result cleaner and a little more interesting, drag a box around the result with your SELECTION TOOL to select all of the text.

 

Hold down SHIFT and click somewhere directly on the type. This will deselect the top line of text you created.


Now, in your STROKE PALETTE set the CAP to ROUND CAP and set JOIN to ROUND JOIN. This will round the corners.

  

 

 Your type should now look similar to this: 

Experiment with different colors and stroke widths for different results. This tip will also work on objects such as circles, squares, logos, etc...

 

Hope you enjoyed the tip!



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