WriteFX - a text effects tool

WriteFX (a sort of shorthand for Write Effects) is a text effects tool that creates highly stylised text for inclusion in Write and Spreadsheet.

Amongst the types of effects that can be added to text include:

•	Gradient fills

•	Text rotation

•	Shadows

•	Borders

•	Shapes

•	Background patterns

Once inserted, WriteFX behaves like any other object – you can move it around by drag and drop and can insert a frame around to allow more control over positioning and interaction with the text on the page.

See: Using WriteFX


Using WriteFX

WriteFX can be run from within Write and Spreadsheet. Select WriteFX Object from the Insert menu. The WriteFX dialog is displayed. A brief description of each tab of the WriteFX dialog now follows. But, really, the best way to understand it is to actually try the tool out – it's easier seeing how the changes made in the dialog affect the way the text looks in an interactive manner.

Template	A selection of pre-built designs. Templates are a combinations of all the other attributes – selecting a template replaces any existing choices you've made in the other tabs.
Text	The actual text you want to display. Also control over the font and text rotation (specified in degrees), if any.
Shadow	The shadow sits behind the text. You can control the color, position and blurring of the shadow.  More info .
Border	The border around the text can be positioned inside, outside or centered on the text boundary. You'll need to experiment to see how this effects the look. Borders also have a color, width and blur control. More info
Texture	A textured pattern can be selected for both the text and the background. Note that this is an alternative to specifying the Colors. More info
Colors	Set a color for the text and the background. Both can be set to a gradient fill (one color gradually mixing with another)
Shape	Shape is the contour of the text. Choose from a set of in-built shapes.


Shadows

The shadow behaves as though the text was lifted a small distance from the background and a light source was shone onto the text. Set the attributes of the shadow as follow:

Offsets (X and Y) – use the slider controls to change the gap, measured vertically (X Offset) and horizontally (Y Offset), between the text and its shadow. A setting of 0, 0 means the shadow falls directly behind the text.

Color of the shadow – pick from the color palette or select "More" to mix your own color.

Darkness of the shadow – use the slider to set the intensity of the shadow. Slide to the top for no shadow (i.e. turn the shadow off) and slide to the bottom for maximum intensity.

Blur – shadows tend to be less well defined around the edges. Slide the blur control to the top for a "perfect" shadow, not normally seen in nature. Slide it to the bottom for maximum blur


Borders

The text can be drawn plain (no border) or with a border. If you imagine a giant, red, letter M on a piece of paper, you could trace an outline in blank ink on the inside of the letter, on the outside of the letter or actually on the letter edge. This is how the WriteFX border control works. There is also control over the color of the border, the width of the border and the border blur.

Width – use the width control to set how heavy a border you want. Set it to zero to turn off the border effect.

Color – pick the color for your border. Select "More" to mix your own color. Note: if the border color is set the same as the text color, you will see no effect if the border is positioned inside the text.

Position of the border – set to Inside, Center or Outside.

Blur – blends the border into the background (slider to the right) or draws a sharp border (slider to the left).


Texture

A texture can be set for the background, the text or both. Textures are pre-set bitmap patterns that fill the background or text. If a texture is set, the Colors tab will be overridden

Use the Background radio button and then pick a texture to set a background pattern.

Use the Body radio button and then pick a texture to set a pattern for the text.

To turn off a texture, set the pattern to "None".


Colors

The text color settings work in the same way as the background settings.

Start Color – either the solid color or, if using a gradient fill, the first color used for the gradient.

Gradient Direction – set to None for a plain, solid, single color fill. Use any other setting for a gradient fill. When a gradient fill is selected, the End Color button becomes active. In addition when Angle is selected, a checkbox to allow the angle to be specified becomes available.

End Color – (not available if Gradient Direction is set to None). The second color to be used in the gradient fill.

Angle – (only available when Gradient Direction is set to Angle). A gradient fill blends two colors in a particular direction. Set the direction in degrees.


Editing an existing WriteFX object

To change the properties of an existing WriteFX object, including the actual text message, click on the WriteFX object and use the right-click menu to bring-up the Write FX dialog (see WriteFX dialog for more details).

To change the size of the WriteFX object, click on it and move the mouse pointer over one of the corners or middle points and then stretch it in any way you want.

When using WriteFX in conjunction with Write, it is sometime beneficial to put the WriteFX object into a frame. First select the WriteFX object (i.e. click on it) then select Insert and Frame from the menus. Using frames enables you to position the object any where on the page.

To delete a WriteFX object, click on it and press the Del key.