Control Text Shadow in Publisher 2003

[Chris P]

According to the Help Topics for Publisher 2003, you can create text
shadows either by selecting the text and checking the shadow box in the
"Format --> Font.." menu (in which case you have no control over the
shadow) or by selecting the UNFILLED text box and clicking on a shadow
style in the toolbar (in which case you supposedly have control over
the shadow's attributes). There is even a sample in the help topic that
shows the difference. However, whenever I select a text box, set the
Fill property to "No Fill" and then choose a shadow style from the
Shadow toolbar, Publisher automatically changes my text box's Fill
attribute from "No fill" to "White", and then shadows the entire
rectangular text box, not just the individual letters contained within
the text box. If I then go to the Properites page for the text box and
select "No Fill" after Publisher changes this to "White", I get no
shadow at all, even though a shadow style still shows as selected in
the shadow toolbar. Can anyone help me?

 

[Mary Sauer]

The shadow settings will only create a shadow to the text box, not the text.
When you are finished typing your text, copy the text box, paste, align the two
text boxes, nudge until you get the shadow effect.
You also can use WordArt.

 

[Chris P]

Hi Mary.

Thanks for the info. What I'm wondering, though, is that the Microsoft
Publisher 2003 help seems to indicate that you CAN shadow just the text
in a text box, as long as the text box has its fill set to "No Fill".
There is even an example of contrasting shadowing a Filled text box and
an Unfilled text box, but I can't figure out how to make it work. I
wonder if this is a feature that the help incorrectly describes.

Here is a copy of the text from Help. Notice point 2:

About text shadows and 3-D effects

Depending on the effect you want, you can shadow or emboss text in
three different ways:

1. Add a shadow or embossed effect directly to the text. When you use
this method, you can't change such shadow features as offset or color.

2. Add a shadow or embossed effect to an unfilled object that contains
text. With this method, the text takes on the same shadow options as
the object, and you can control and change shadow features.

3. Insert WordArt- a drawing object (drawing object: Any graphic you
draw or insert, which can be changed and enhanced. Drawing objects
include AutoShapes, curves, lines, and WordArt.) that contains special
text effects such as shadowing and perspective.

Add shadow directly to text

Add shadow to a text box (text box: A movable, resizable container for
text or graphics. Use text boxes to position several blocks of text on
a page or to give text a different orientation from other text in the
document.) (unfilled object)

Add WordArt (WordArt: Text objects you create with ready-made effects
to which you can apply additional formatting options.)

 

[Mary Sauer]

Hi Chris,

An unfilled object is an autoshape. Right-click the autoshape, click add text.
I've tried this, it will not change the shadow color on the text. Believe me I
tried all sorts of configurations and I still couldn't get the shadow on the
text to change color. Maybe the help article is an error... How much text are
you wanting to shadow?

 

[Chris P]

Hi Mary.

I think you're right -- I think the help article is erroneous. It seems
to be a shared help article between Publisher 2003 and PowerPoint 2003,
so maybe that feature is only available in PowerPoint 2003. (Or maybe
there's a bug in Publisher 2003!)

At any rate, I shadowed the text as you suggested by copying it and
placing the copy behind and just below the original. It serves for now,
but I can't do a softened shadow like you can in Photoshop. It's just
the masthead of my newsletter.

How could I report this possible bug in Publisher 2003 / discrepancy in
the help file to Microsoft?

Thanks,

Chris

 

[Mary Sauer]

Do you have PhotoShop? I can do softened shadows in Corel. There is a free
program here that is a step way up from Paint.
http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/

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