Color Rendering Of Reverse Channel Letters?

[signbrad]

Sometimes I like to make a rendering of reverse channel letters that shows not only the daytime view but also the view at night of the halo effect characteristic of reverse channel letters. I have a crude way of doing this in Signlab 9.1 using a series of transparent outlines, but I would like a little more realism on occasion.

Does anyone else have a method for showing the halo lighting look of reverse channels?

Brad in Kansas City

 

[Z SIGNS]

We this in corel using the drop shadow tool

 

[shoresigns]

I would either use outer glow or drop shadow in Illustrator, or I would do a photorealistic mockup in Photoshop.

 

[TrustMoore_TN]

This probably is overkill for what you're looking for, but we use our CAD software (Sketchup Pro) and create renders with lighting effects applied to show halos and such for our clients to preview their exhibits in the proposal phase.

 

[Johnny Best]

Quick in Illustrator but you can get better results in Photoshop

 

[eahicks]

Always Photoshop.

 

[signbrad]

Thanks Johnny and BlueMoon. Very nice. I won't post my rendering.

Mine is uh,...not as good. Let's just leave it at that.

 

[TrustMoore_TN]

That's impressive! The second image is a rendering???

Thank you! No, the second image is the actual booth on the show floor. Just put it in there to show how the rendering compared to the final product.

 

[Johnny Best]

There is a free version of SketchUp if I am not mistaken.

 

[TrustMoore_TN]

There is a free version of SketchUp if I am not mistaken.

Yes there is, but you need the Pro version with premium plugins to do the lighting effects and renderings. Steep learning curve to do all the fancy stuff. I use the free version at work and our engineer owner and production manager use the Pro version.

 

[visual800]

I did this in illustrator using same daytime picture, placed black over pic and just transparented it to the right shade, outline around letters and blurred it. Not beautiful but it gave them an idea

 

[timgo]

Sometimes I like to make a rendering of reverse channel letters that shows not only the daytime view but also the view at night of the halo effect characteristic of reverse channel letters. I have a crude way of doing this in Signlab 9.1 using a series of transparent outlines, but I would like a little more realism on occasion.

Does anyone else have a method for showing the halo lighting look of reverse channels?

Brad in Kansas City

Everything you need, is:

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[LINDA BERARD]

Sometimes I like to make a rendering of reverse channel letters that shows not only the daytime view but also the view at night of the halo effect characteristic of reverse channel letters. I have a crude way of doing this in Signlab 9.1 using a series of transparent outlines, but I would like a little more realism on occasion.

Does anyone else have a method for showing the halo lighting look of reverse channels?

Brad in Kansas City

Do you have CorelDraw? If so, there is a simple way to do it in Corel. 1) Start with a vector file of letters. Create a couple of copies. 2) Create thick black outline, no fill. 3) Copy/paste another outline on top of black outline, make that outline white and thinner. 4) Blend black and white outlines together. (5) Group blended outlines. (6) Take a copy of letters, fill with black and lay on top of blended outlines and group together. (7) Draw a black box for background and place art in box to see result. You will have to play with thickness of black outline at first, but once you have that figured out, the rest is simple. Note: If you use a different color for your background other than black, your first outline (the thick one) needs to match that color. Good luck!

 

[signbrad]

Do you have CorelDraw? If so, there is a simple way to do it in Corel. 1) Start with a vector file of letters. Create a couple of copies. 2) Create thick black outline, no fill. 3) Copy/paste another outline on top of black outline, make that outline white and thinner. 4) Blend black and white outlines together. (5) Group blended outlines. (6) Take a copy of letters, fill with black and lay on top of blended outlines and group together. (7) Draw a black box for background and place art in box to see result. You will have to play with thickness of black outline at first, but once you have that figured out, the rest is simple. Note: If you use a different color for your background other than black, your first outline (the thick one) needs to match that color. Good luck!

Thanks, Linda. I will try that, too.

 

[Rick]

I mostly use Illustrator...
This was done with a drop shadow, outer glow, a layer to simulate night time... this sign shows dual-lit - animated in Photoshop

 

[signbrad]

Cool, Rick.

 

[studio 440]

Text Effects | GraphicBurger

 

[studio 440]

Lightbox Text Effect

 

[ewded]

There is a free version of SketchUp if I am not mistaken.

You're mistaken. It's free for personal use only.