Put the wow into your words; spruce up all-text layouts with special type effects - Desktop Publishing - Tutorial

Home Office Computing, March, 1994 by Luisa Simone

* If you decide to use an external typemanipulation package, take note of the file formats it exports. You'll want to be sure that your DTP program can import the design using a standard file format. For example, all of the standard type-manipulation programs export vector-based Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) files. This is the ideal format for DTP applications and can be easily resized to fit your layout. In order to capture the complex texture maps and reflections of a three-dimensional type-manipulation program, however, you'll have to export TIFF or PICT raster files.

* Analyze words and letters in your display type with an eye toward unique forms or special relationships. Subsidiary words (the, of) can often be reduced in size, rotated 90 degrees, or snuggled up alongside a larger letter to create a tighter text block.

* When assembling a three-dimensional scene, be aware that objects can interact with one another in unexpected ways. This is especially true of light sources and certain surfaces, such as transparent glass or reflective metal. For example, you may think you've created a shiny gold headline, but if you've placed a red object too close to it, your the headline will then look red. So you should start simply (with only one or two lights, for instance) and build complexity one effect at a time.

Applying special effects to your display type can blur the distinction between functional text and decorative art. It invites your readers into the page and keeps them interested and entertained.

LUISA SIMONE is the author of Microsoft Publisher By Design and numerous articles on computer graphics.