Quick Tip: Create an Emboss Effect Using the Appearance Panel
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Quick Tip: Create an Emboss Effect Using the Appearance Panel

on Feb 13th 2012 with 13 comments
Tutorial Details
  • Program: Illustrator CS2
  • Difficulty: Intermediate
  • Length: 4:58 min

Illustrator doesn’t have a built-in emboss effect, but you can make one yourself, with few quick steps, using the Appearance panel. Then you can apply it to just about anything.

 
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Cheryl Graham trained as a traditional artist in drawing and painting. These days she spends more time in front of the computer than the easel. She's been using Adobe Illustrator for over 15 years. Her Illustrator work has been featured in the "The Adobe Illustrator WOW! Book" and "Real World Illustrator."  

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  • http://kishkoosh.com Ron

    Thanks Cheryl, another great Quick Tip.

  • Lauren

    And you can invert the shadow/highlight colors to do a deboss effect! Super helpful, thanks :)

    • Cheryl

      Lauren, you’re right! I should have demonstrated that! :)

  • Robert Smith

    Very nice effect. Thanks!

  • http://www.binocle.ch olivier

    Smart and elegant, thanks for this brilliant tip ^__^

  • Dimitry

    Precisely the thing I was looking for some time ago. So thank you, Cheryl for the tip, now I’ll know how to do this. Yet now it seems so obvious so I just wonder!

  • Mith

    Good tip, thanks!

  • So

    Is a very nice effect! But I really hate video tutorials -.-
    my pc begins very very slow, overheated and in a pair of minutes it switch-off!

    So please, more stamp and less video…! :(

  • http://www.graphismeo.com Graphismeo

    That’s a cool tip which will allow me to switch to Illustrator for my web design :)

  • banarahu

    Thanks it is great…

  • Sebastian

    Thanks made my day :)

  • Designer2345246

    What about the corners? They don’t align? For example an embossed square, at a large scale? Look what happens to the corners. Any solution other than adding anchor points and adjusting using the direct selection tool?

    • Designer2345246

      Actually, you couldn’t even add anchor points because it’s effects in the appearance panel. You can achieve this same effect by duplicating your shape (one up and to the left, one down and to the right) and adding or removing black from your fill or choosing whatever colors you want to create highlight and shadow.