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Text Effects
Plain, boring text -- I am SO done with you! With GIMP's amazing text effects, I can transform you into a sparkling, glowing, 3-D image that will give you the confidence to command the attention that you deserve.
So what do you say? Are you ready for a total makeover? In web 2.0 design, it's all about the new you -- not just plain text, but text with shadows, outlines, reflections, paths, and 3-D effects.
You were introduced to Wilber in the Getting Started segment, and now your favorite mascot is starring in his own video production called "Coyote Clips." Don't forget to check out the "Coyote Quik Clips".
Click the Wilber's Works of Art button to view student samples! |
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 Text EffectsCoyote Clips©
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| Effect | Sample | Description | Download | |
| Shadow |  |
A text-shadow is a slightly moved, slightly blurred copy of the original text.This sample also demonstrates a text reflection. | video | |
| Outline |  |
With outlined text, the outside contours of each character are one color and the inside contours a different color. | video | |
| Emboss |  |
This text-embossing technique raises the text characters above the background. Download and Install the Text Effects Plugins BEFORE beginning this tutorial |
video | |
| Brush | With the brush effect technique, any thumbnail image can be brushed onto the surface of the text multiple times. | video | ||
| Image Fill |  |
The image fill technique uses a large image to fill the text characters and deletes the parts of the image that are not behind a character. | video | |
| Glowing Text |  |
The glowing text (or neon text) technique works best when using a dark background and a bright foreground color. A wide font face with characters typed in uppercase make it easy to connect the characters to achieve the "glow." | ||
| Logo with Curved Text |  |
The logo with curved text uses the text along path technique to write text above and below a central image | PPT | GeekHead Image |
| 3-D Sphere |  |
 | PPT | |
In GIMP®, you are not limited to the font faces you have in your Windows fonts folder. You can select a variety of font faces to use with the Text Tool. To design large, bold, attention-grabbing text, you may want to download and install additional fonts to your fonts library.
These fonts are great for adding variety when you create text effects with GIMP®, but you would not want to select these as your Web page fonts because they must be installed on the user's computer to display them.
GIMP® has some powerful built-in features for making eye-catching text, but if you really want to spice up plain, boring text you will want to download these additional text effect plugins.
The Brush and Image Fill text effects require you to download images to use as a text fill. Okay, you ask, "where do I find images that are free to download?" Have you ever heard of "public domain"? It means that no one owns it; it is not copyrighted or trademarked; you do not have to pay someone for it. http://www.public-domain-image.com is a great site for public domain images as it is divided into many different categories, which makes it easy to search.