The emboss filter gives a 3D shadow effect to a design, and can be used to describe the physical embossing of a substrate which will happen in production, or it can be used to give the effect of textures within a design. It works by shading objects and textures on tonal designs using a single distant light source. There are three options for changing the effect of the emboss.
Instructions
- Open the Filter Browser, and add a new filter set using the small + icon located in the middle of the browser. This will create a new ‘untitled’ filter set for you. This will appear in the top section of the Filter Browser. If you already have filter sets created, clicking the + button will duplicate the selected filter set.
- Select Emboss from the list of available filters in the lower section of the Filter Browser.
Duplicate the layer you want to apply the effect to. This preserves the original data which can be displayed under the emboss effect.
- Light Direction - this is the direction that the light source is shining on a 2D plane. It is set as an angle between 0 ̊ and 360 ̊. In the example below, the Light Direction is set to 45 ̊ and the light is shining from bottom left to top right.
- Elevation - this is the angle of the light source in 3D, in other words the angle of the light shining from above. This angle can be set between 0 ̊ and 360 ̊ but the most effective results will be gained with an elevation of between 0 ̊ and 180 ̊. In the example below the Elevation is set to 45 ̊.
- Filter Width - this is the width of the shadow. The bigger the number, the more obvious the embossing effect will be.
In the snapshot below, the original data is on the right, and the filtered data is on the left.
Effective 3D results can be achieved if you emboss a tonal layer, and add a Gamma Filter to your Emboss Filter Set, and use it like a shadow behind the design. Overprint it with other tonal layers to create a more three dimensional look.
Applying the filter
There are several ways to apply a filter:
- Click Apply - this will apply the filter to the active layer(s), and within a selection if there is one present in your file
- Click Make Layer - this will make a new layer in your file containing the filtered effect, leaving the original layer untouched
- Apply the filter using the Brush Tool - when you have finished building your filter set, simply close the Filter Browser. Then, open the Brushes Library, and select the filter you have just made from the drop down menu shown in the snapshot below. You can now paint with your filter.
Note: The default setting for the Brush Tool is ‘Brush”, located at the top of this drop down menu. To prevent you from becoming confused between the default setting and a filter setting, do not name any filters ‘Brush’. When you have finished painting with your filter, set the drop down menu back to the Brush setting, otherwise the Brush Tool may not behave as you would expect later on.
Applying the filter over a repeat join
For a full explanation on how to use filters, view the Filter Browser article. Each individual filter is further explained in it's own article and can be searched on in the search bar above.
Some of the filters do not work correctly across repeat joins when used in the normal way. Therefore it is important to follow this method to make sure the filter works correctly and does not affect the join. Your design must repeat correctly before you do this.
- Open the Selections Palette.
- Press Offset Repeat. If you are not already viewing multiple repeats of your design, AVA will automatically put your design into s 2x2 repeat when you press this. A selection the size of a single repeat will appear in your file, offset to the first repeat, which is framed in blue in the snapshot below.
- Activate the layer / image you want to filter.
- Open the Filter Browser.
- Apply your the filter. The filter will work correctly in repeat, with no obvious repeat joins. In the image below, the vertical line is the repeat join.
Note: This method does not work for all filters, including Clouds, Waves and Tile. If you need to fix a repeat join using the Clouds Filter, we recommend using a Palette to create a brush which uses a Clouds Pattern, and using this repair the repeat joins.