3D Bevel effect

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thehungarian

Hello All, I'm producing an A4 leaflet which is going to professionally printed.
I'm hoping you can help a really basic question.  How can I achieve the effect like in the attached image?

A 3D button or bevel which gives the impress the text is raised.  I want some rounded boxes to go behind text and an bezier shape for the title background.
I did the picture in libre office with their 3D effects but I can't export/import from that into Scribus.

Could gradients be used somehow?

Thanks.

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Wena

You can make that effect in Gimp (is a free program) it has a special and you can change the colors as well as the size. You should also which that you have the correct  dots pur inch'

Wena Parry

GarryP

I'd agree that GIMP is great for this kind of thing but you can achieve something simple within Scribus.

I've attached a screenshot.

This method is not great, and I wouldn't use it in anything that needs professional results, but it's usable as a place marker before you use something like GIMP to do it properly.

I know it looks like a lot of work but it takes less than a minute to do when you know the method.

First create your colours:
* Go to menu "Edit -> Colours".
* Select your "button top colour" and click Duplicate.
* Use the controls to make a slightly darker version of the original colour.

Then make your shapes:
* Insert a rectangle shape.
* Use the properties palette to round the corners.
* Select the shape and use menu "Item -> Multiple Duplicate...".
* Accept the defaults and Okay the dialog to create a duplicate over the initial one.
* Select the shapes (the top one will be selected).
* Use Edit... in the Shape tab of the properties palette.
* Press the relevant icon to enlarge the shape by whatever % or size you want, then close the dialog.

Now colour the shapes:
* Go to the Colour tab in properties.
* Set the line colour to None.
* Then press the fill icon and select "Diagonal Gradient" from the menu below the fill button.
* Make the first stop as the lighter colour.
* Make the final stop as the darker colour.
* Send this shape to the back and select the smaller shape.
* Remove the line colour from this shape and set its fill to the lighter colour.

Now the tweaks:
* Select the larger shape and make the fill a "Free linear gradient".
* Press "Move Vector" and move the top-left of the vector to the top-left corner of the smaller shape.
* You might now want to alter the darker colour to make it look better.
* You can play around with the gradient vector too.

Like I said, it's not great, but it lets you play around with colours and button sizes and I know some people aren't used to using GIMP and just want something simple.

I hope this helps you.

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Wena

I would argue that the Gimp one is fare better and easier to perform.
Wena

GarryP

Yes, I agree entirely.

Doing this sort of thing with GIMP (or another graphics application) will produce far better results and it'll probably be quicker too.

However, I thought I'd add this process for people who - for whatever reason - can't use GIMP.

For instance, maybe:
* they don't have the time or inclination to learn other software, or,
* they don't have permission to install other applications on the computer they're using (maybe it's not theirs), or,
* they aren't good with computers and just want to use one bit of software to do something simple (like a basic newsletter for a group of friends).
Or there's any number of other possible reasons.

I was simply trying to offer a very basic alternative for "GIMP-free" users. What I really don't want is for people to be put off from using Scribus if they think that they need to use other software to do simple stuff.

So, to recap:
* If you can use GIMP, use GIMP; it's much better at this sort of thing.
* If you can't use GIMP, you can try what I wrote above but don't use it for anything even approaching professional stuff. My process is just not good enough for that. Think about using GIMP instead, if you can.

Anyway, I hope this clears things up, from my perspective anyway.

thehungarian

#5
Thanks everyone, I was hoping there was a special secret trick, I've gotten further using an image of the button like you said.

I wanted to be able to control the colour, shape and size in Scribus.  I created the button in libreoffice (aka openoffice), it's got a nice convert to 3d function.
I desaturated the button using luminosity grey scale - I'll explain why later.

I split the image up into 4 corners, 4 sides (cropped to 1 pixel wide), centre.

In Scribus, I drew the rounded box  and placed the images over the shape.  I set the blend mode to luminosity on the images and made sure they're on top.
This gives the shape a 3D look and allows me to control the colour by changing the colour of the underling shape.

The problem with this is it's time consuming getting the corners to follow the image - Its probably quicker just to recreate the image in openoffice/gimp when it needs changing.  But it does mean I can make different shapes ( I need to make an inverse corner) and colours.

GarryP: That's a great guide, thanks. I've just tried it.  It's the sort of thing I was trying to do earlier.  but I'm being awkward and I'd like to get a rounded effect rather than the chiselled look.

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GarryP

I'm glad you liked my little guide and I hope someone gets some use out of it.

You (and other readers) might also like to know that you can achieve reasonable 3D-type gradient border effects with line styles.

I wrote a short tutorial about using these some time ago and you can find it here: http://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Creating_a_3D-effect_border

I've also attached two more screenshot examples of what can be achieved. (These were attained by using similar techniques to the tutorial and then placing a simple coloured, border-less, frame over the middle of the frame with the fancy border.)

It's probably not a great deal of use to people working on the professional stuff but it's fine for newsletters and simple things you just want to jazz-up a bit.

P.S. I couldn't see your example button because the images were missing. If you want share Scribus files with their images I'd suggest using the "File -> Collect For Output..." function and then zipping the resultant folder for sharing.

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