[Hall of tricks]

In this tutorial we will see a very simple technique to add 3D depth to a text object (or to any shape for that matter). In less than a few minutes you can turn a plain piece of text into an astounding heading. The following image is what we're going to do.

Really, the steps are very simple and there is no magic trick.

• Create a new image of 320 wide x 200 height. Leave the Canvas to white.
• Click the Text Tool, choose a Font and a Size and type your text. I suggest a chubby sans-serif font.
• Once done click the Transform Tool.
• In the Freely Transform toolbar, click the Operate visual track ball button. The one currently highlighted in the following image.

When Operate visual track ball in selected a circle appears around the text as well as a handle near the middle. An icon is attached to the mouse pointer which is supposed to tell you what to do next (experimenting is highly recommended). What you need to understand here is that the text is inside some kind of sphere (the track ball).

• The circle is used to change the size of the text. Hover the mouse on the circumference and drag outside to enlarge the text or inside to reduce it.
• Use the handle in the center to relocate the text. When you move the text it changes it's perspective a little bit as if you were turning around the sphere.

Let's spin the track ball to add a perspective affect.

• While the mouse pointer is within the boundary of the track ball and below the text, click and drag upward. The text is slanting backward.
• This time click on the left side of the text and drag to the right. The text is rotating to the right.

The first few time I tried this, I had a hard time achieving the desired point of view. After a few minutes I got the hang of it, so your perfectly normal if you're about to loose your mind. Just don't give up.

Try your best to come up with something like the image above. 

• Remember, if you need to resize the text, drag the circular boundary.
• To move it drag the handle in the middle.

What else can be done with the track ball? If you take a look at PI's status bar, you are told that you can double-click (inside the track ball) to toggle between two modes. If you double-click, two squares will appear. Dragging the handles of the inner or outer square will change the 'lens' used to view the text. Play with it and you'll figure it out. Double-click again to revert to the track ball.

• Click the Text Tool to exit Operate visual track ball mode.
• Choose a nice color for you text (a pale or bright color will look nicer).

We're ready to add depth to the text. Zoom very close to the bottom of the first character of the text (maybe 1200%).

• While Ctrl is pressed drag the text slightly below and to the left. Release the mouse before releasing Ctrl. This is my favorite way to create a copy of any object.
• In the Color box, choose black.
• Now click the Pick Tool and from the Order toolbar, click Send To Back. The fourth one in the following image.

The black copy is now behind the original. We now need to place that black copy at a precise location to simulate the depth.

• Using the keyboard arrow move the black copy exactly behind the original.
• Press Down arrow once and Left arrow once.
• Hold Ctrl and drag the black copy slightly down and to the right (if you're comfortable with the mouse drag the copy one pixel down and one pixel to the left), and click Send To Back. If not already done, move the last copy one pixel down and to the left below the previous copy.
• Repeat the last step four or five more times.

The image to the right shows the first copy one pixel below and to the left of the original text. Zoom back at 100% and be impressed! If you like what you see, click and drag all around your objects, right-click in the selection and choose Combine As Single Objects. If you want to add a background to the image, click outside the text and choose your favorite method of adding a background.

Note: Just in case you're not 3D inclined, you need to be careful about the direction of the depth. Since, in our example, the perspective of the text was going to the right (this is called the vanishing point) we needed to locate the black copies down and to the left. If we were to look at a text going to the left we would need to copy the depth down and to the right to make an appropriate effect.

The image above is the result of this tutorial. Notice how the depth for the two other images appear with regards to the original text. Another thing you might try is to go down twice before going right or left (two copies down, the third one down and over, and so on). As well the depth doesn't have to be black, you can use the same color as the original text but much darker. Finally, you could also use the Button Designer to add more 3D effect but make sure the settings for Bevel Size and Smoothness are low (I would say no more than 5).

Have fun!