Illustrator Effects
Illustrator has many different methods that can achieve similar effects, and the emboss effect is no different. Although the 3D Extrude effect can work by modifying lighting and specifying a bevel, the Appearance Panel offers a better tool. Today I'm going to walk you through creating an Embossed Text Effect in Illustrator using only the Appearance Panel which can later be used with slight modifications on various designs.
Open Illustrator and make a new file at any size you want. In this case i will make mine at 1800 x 1200 px.
Using the Rectangle Tool (M) draw a rectangle covering your whole artboard using any color you want. In this case, I will use a light blue.
Select the Type Tool (T) and type your text using any font you wish. I will be using the "Diazo MVB Cond" font at 450 pt.
In the Tools Panel, be sure to set the Fill and Stroke to "None".
Go to Window > Appearance and click on the "Add New Fill" icon 3 times.
Select the first fill of the list and set the color to #58595b.
Click on the "Opacity" word and set the blend mode to "Multiply".
Select the second fill layer. Set the color to #929496 and the blend mode to "Multiply".
Still in the second fill layer, click on the "Add New Effect" icon and from the dropdown menu select Distort & Transform > Transform.
In the Transform Effect window apply the following values and click OK.
Still in the second fill layer, click on the "Add New Effect" icon and from the dropdown menu select Blur > Gaussian Blur. Set the Radius to 20 px and click OK.
Select the third fill layer. Set the color to #929496, click on the "Opacity" word and set the blend mode to "Screen", then bring down the Opacity to 90%.
Still in the third fill layer, click on the "Add New Effect" icon and from the dropdown menu select Distort & Transform > Transform.
In the Transform Effect window apply the following values and click OK.
Lastly, and still in the third fill layer, click on the "Add New Effect" icon again and from the dropdown menu select Blur > Gaussian Blur. Set the Radius to 20 px and click OK.
If you want to change the text color, simply select the first fill layer and change the fill color. If needed, you may change the blend mode, the opacity and even adjust the light and shadow effect by changing the opacity or the blend mode in the Appearance Panel.
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