Apply effects and appearance

An object in VectorCraft can have more than one fill and stroke, and live effects such as shadows, rounded corners and warps. This guide shows how to build that stack in the Appearance panel, apply and edit effects from the Effect menu, and save the result as a graphic style that you can apply to other objects with one click.

Build a look in the Appearance panel

Window → Appearance (Shift+F6) lists everything that paints the selected object: its strokes and fills, the effects on each of them and on the whole object, and its opacity. The top row in the panel paints last, in front of the rows below it.

Select an object and press Shift+F6 to open the Appearance panel.
Press Ctrl+/ (Cmd+/ on macOS) to add a new fill, or Ctrl+Alt+/ (Cmd+Option+/ on macOS) to add a new stroke. The buttons at the bottom of the panel do the same: Add New Stroke and Add New Fill.
Click the swatch in a row to pick one of the document’s swatches, or Shift-click it to mix a color in the Color panel. A stroke row also has a Weight field.
Drag a row up or down to change the order. Hold Alt (Option on macOS) while you drag to copy the row instead of moving it.
Click the eye at the left of a row to hide that row without deleting it. Click it again to show the row.

The following screenshot shows a teal badge with a thin dark stroke, a wide yellow stroke behind it and a drop shadow, as the Appearance panel lists them.

A teal badge reading OPEN LATE with a thin dark stroke, a wide yellow stroke behind it and a drop shadow. It is selected, and the Appearance panel lists its two strokes, its fill, the Drop Shadow effect and its opacity

The buttons at the bottom of the panel act on the selected object or row:

Button	What it does
Add New Stroke	Adds a stroke on top of the object’s stack
Add New Fill	Adds a fill on top of the object’s stack
Add New Effect	Opens a menu of effects to apply
Clear Appearance	Leaves the object one fill and one stroke, both set to None, and resets its opacity
Duplicate Selected Item	Copies the selected fill or stroke row with its effects, or the selected effect row
Delete Selected Item	Removes the selected fill, stroke or effect row

The panel menu has Reduce to Basic Appearance, which keeps one fill and one stroke and removes every effect.

Apply a live effect

Effects in VectorCraft stay live. The object keeps its original path, and VectorCraft draws the effect from that path each time the canvas redraws. You can change or remove an effect at any time.

Select an object.
Choose an effect from the Effect menu, for example Effect → Stylize → Drop Shadow….
Change the settings in the dialog. Preview is on when the dialog opens, so the canvas shows the result while you change the values.
Press OK.

A teal FERRY sign selected over a lighthouse harbor at dusk, with a drop shadow previewed below and to the right of it. The Drop Shadow dialog shows Multiply mode, opacity 75, X and Y 14 px, blur 10 px, the color #000000 and Preview turned on

To change an effect later, select the object and double-click the effect’s row in the Appearance panel, or click its name. The dialog opens with the current values.

To apply an effect to one fill or stroke only, click that row in the Appearance panel first, then choose the effect. Without a selected row, the effect applies to the whole object.

A sun badge in the harbor sky whose wide amber stroke is cut into zigzag rays. In the Appearance panel, the 34 pt amber stroke row is selected and expanded with Zig Zag listed under it, between the thin dark stroke above and the fill below

The prompt “Drop Shadow is already applied” with the buttons Add New, Cancel and Edit, over the selected FERRY sign

The following image shows the same star with six different live effects. Each star still has its original five-point path.

Six copies of the same coral star in a dusk sky above teal hills and a harbor, each labeled with its one live effect: a drop shadow, rounded corners, a zigzag edge, a bloated shape, an arc warp and a Gaussian blur. The zigzag star is selected with its original five-point path showing, and the Appearance panel lists its stroke, fill, Zig Zag effect and opacity

The top of the Effect menu has three commands:

Apply Last Effect applies the last effect again with the same settings.
Last Effect… opens the dialog of the last effect, where you can change the settings before you apply it.
Document Raster Effects Settings… sets the resolution and other options for raster effects.

Under the Vector Effects heading, the menu lists 3D and Materials, Color Adjustments, Color Effects, Convert to Shape, Crop Marks, Distort & Transform, Path, Path Effects, Pathfinder, Rasterize…, Stylize, SVG Filters and Warp. Under the Raster Effects heading, it lists the Effect Gallery… and pixel-based groups such as Artistic, Blur and Sketch.

The Stylize group under Vector Effects holds Round Corners…, Scribble…, Drop Shadow…, Inner Glow…, Outer Glow… and Feather….

Vector effects at a glance

The following table lists every group under the Vector Effects heading and the effects in it. A command whose name ends in “…” opens a dialog. A command without “…” applies the effect at once.

Group	Effects
3D and Materials	Extrude & Bevel…, Revolve…, Inflate…, Rotate…; Materials… is listed but dimmed
Color Adjustments	Brightness/Contrast…, Curves…, Hue/Saturation…, Levels…, Shift to Color…, Temperature/Tint…
Color Effects	Desaturate, Duotone…, Exposure…, Invert Colors, Vector Halftone…
Convert to Shape	Rectangle…, Rounded Rectangle…, Ellipse…
Crop Marks	A single command that adds trim marks around the object’s bounds
Distort & Transform	Free Distort…, Pucker & Bloat…, Roughen…, Transform…, Tweak…, Twist…, Zig Zag…
Path	Offset Path…, Outline Object, Outline Stroke
Path Effects	Dashes to Geometry…, Add Anchors…, Extend Path…, Close Path…, Smooth Anchors…, Retract Handles…, Reverse Direction, Simplify Anchors…, Split at Anchors…
Pathfinder	Add, Intersect, Exclude, Subtract, Minus Back, Divide, Trim, Merge, Crop, Outline, Hard Mix, Soft Mix, Trap…
Rasterize…	A single command that draws the object as an image, with its own resolution and background settings
Stylize	Round Corners…, Scribble…, Drop Shadow…, Inner Glow…, Outer Glow…, Feather…
SVG Filters	Apply SVG Filter… is listed but dimmed
Warp	Arc…, Arc Lower…, Arc Upper…, Arch…, Bulge…, Shell Lower…, Shell Upper…, Flag…, Wave…, Fish…, Rise…, Fisheye…, Inflate…, Squeeze…, Twist…

Common effects

When you add one of these effects, its dialog opens with these values. After you confirm a warp once, the Arc dialog opens with the warp settings you last confirmed.

Effect	Menu path	Defaults
Drop Shadow	Effect → Stylize → Drop Shadow…	Multiply mode, 75% opacity, X and Y offset 7 pt, blur 5 pt, black
Round Corners	Effect → Stylize → Round Corners…	Radius 10 pt
Outer Glow	Effect → Stylize → Outer Glow…	Screen mode, 75% opacity, blur 5 pt, yellow
Feather	Effect → Stylize → Feather…	Radius 5 pt
Offset Path	Effect → Path → Offset Path…	Offset 10 pt, miter joins, miter limit 4
Zig Zag	Effect → Distort & Transform → Zig Zag…	Size 10 pt, 4 ridges per segment, smooth points
Pucker & Bloat	Effect → Distort & Transform → Pucker & Bloat…	0%; negative values pucker and positive values bloat, from -200% to 200%
Arc	Effect → Warp → Arc…	Bend 50%, horizontal
Gaussian Blur	Effect → Blur → Gaussian Blur… (under Raster Effects)	Radius 5 pt

The Document Raster Effects Settings dialog with the Resolution list open on Screen (72 ppi), Medium (150 ppi), High (300 ppi) and Other. Below it are Color Model, Background, Anti-alias, Create Clipping Mask, Add 0 px Around Object and Preserve Spot Colors

Apply raster effects with the Effect Gallery

Raster effects work on the pixels of the object’s image at the resolution that Document Raster Effects Settings… sets. They stay live in the same way as vector effects. The Raster Effects part of the Effect menu has ten groups:

Group	Effects
Artistic	Colored Pencil…, Cutout…, Dry Brush…, Film Grain…, Fresco…, Neon Glow…, Paint Daubs…, Palette Knife…, Plastic Wrap…, Poster Edges…, Rough Pastels…, Smudge Stick…, Sponge…, Underpainting…, Watercolor…
Blur	Gaussian Blur…, Radial Blur…, Smart Blur…
Brush Strokes	Accented Edges…, Angled Strokes…, Crosshatch…, Dark Strokes…, Ink Outlines…, Spatter…, Sprayed Strokes…, Sumi-e…
Distort	Diffuse Glow…, Glass…, Ocean Ripple…
Pixelate	Color Halftone…, Crystallize…, Mezzotint…, Pointillize…
Sharpen	Unsharp Mask…
Sketch	Bas Relief…, Chalk & Charcoal…, Charcoal…, Chrome…, Conté Crayon…, Graphic Pen…, Halftone Pattern…, Note Paper…, Photocopy…, Plaster…, Reticulation…, Stamp…, Torn Edges…, Water Paper…
Stylize	Glowing Edges…
Texture	Craquelure…, Grain…, Mosaic Tiles…, Patchwork…, Stained Glass…, Texturizer…
Video	De-Interlace…, NTSC Colors

You can choose any of these from its group in the menu. To try several filters together and stack them, use the Effect Gallery, which holds the Artistic, Brush Strokes, Distort, Sketch, Stylize and Texture groups:

Select the artwork. With nothing selected, VectorCraft shows “Select artwork to apply effects” and the gallery does not open.
Choose Effect → Effect Gallery….
Click a group under Categories, then click a filter under Filters. The filters in each group are listed in alphabetical order.
Click Add to Stack, or double-click the filter. It appears under Applied Filters, and its values appear under Settings at the top of the dialog.
Change the values under Settings. To change another filter in the stack, click its name under Applied Filters.
Add more filters in the same way. In each Applied Filters row, click the eye to hide the filter, the arrows to move it up or down, or Remove to take it out.
Leave Preview, at the bottom of the dialog, turned on to see the stack on the canvas, then press OK.

OK adds each filter in the stack to the object as a separate effect, in the stack’s order, and you can undo the whole stack in one step. A filter that you hid in the stack is added hidden. After that, each filter has its own row in the Appearance panel, where you can change it like any other effect.

The following screenshot shows the Effect Gallery beside a harbor illustration, with Watercolor added to the stack and previewed on the art.

A harbor at dusk with a striped lighthouse, a light beam, a setting sun, teal hills and blue water, softened and grainy from the Watercolor preview. The Effect Gallery at the right shows the Artistic category with Watercolor selected, Brush Detail 3, Shadow Intensity 4 and Texture 3 under Settings, Watercolor as the one row under Applied Filters, and Preview turned on at the bottom

To paint strokes with brushes instead of a filter, see Paint with brushes.

Blend, repeat and distort objects

Blends, repeats and envelopes stay live in the same way as effects: you can change the original objects at any time and the result updates.

Object → Blend → Make (Ctrl+Alt+B, or Cmd+Option+B on macOS) fills the space between two selected objects with steps that change smoothly from one to the other. Object → Blend → Blend Options… sets the Spacing: Smooth Color, Specified Steps or Specified Distance.
Object → Repeat repeats the selection in a Radial, Grid or Mirror pattern that updates as you edit the original.
Object → Envelope Distort bends artwork, type included, with Make with Warp…, Make with Mesh… or Make with Top Object, which uses the shape on top.

Make patterns, blends and repeats covers blends and repeats in full, and Reshape with the warp tools covers Envelope Distort and the tools that push and twist paths.

The following screenshot shows three ribbons made with blends. One blend is selected with its two key paths showing.

Three wide ribbons blended across a dusk sky over a harbor: amber to coral, teal to violet, and coral to gold. The teal ribbon is selected with its two key paths showing, and the Layers panel lists the three blends in the Ribbons layer above the Hills and Sky layers

Add 3D

Effect → 3D and Materials has Extrude & Bevel…, Revolve…, Inflate… and Rotate…. Revolve… spins a profile around an axis, so the outline of half a vase becomes a whole vase. While the dialog is open, drag the rings on the canvas to turn the object, and use the Lighting tab to light it.

A still life of a teal vase, a coral bowl, a lavender sphere and an amber bottle made with Revolve, on a navy table against a dusk sky. The vase is selected with rotation rings drawn over it, and the Revolve dialog shows its Rotation tab with the revolve angle, axis side, offset, cap and view settings

The other three commands work on the object’s own outline:

Extrude & Bevel… uses the art as the front face and extrudes it backward, so a word or a flat shape becomes a solid block. A bevel shapes its front edges.
Inflate… rounds the shape outward, so its edges curve like the edges of a cushion.
Rotate… turns the flat art in 3D without adding depth. Every fill and stroke keeps its paint.

A lavender cloud over the harbor, rounded into a puffy 3D shape with rotation rings drawn over it. The Inflate dialog shows its Object tab with Depth 0.0 px, Twist 0.0°, Taper 100.0%, Cap Solid, Volume 50.0% and Both sides turned off

To extrude an object:

Select the object, for example a line of type.
Choose Effect → 3D and Materials → Extrude & Bevel…. The dialog opens on its Object tab, and rings appear over the object on the canvas.
Set the Depth, and pick a Bevel Shape if you want a beveled edge.
Drag the rings to turn the object. Hold Shift while you drag to turn it in steps of 15°. You can also pick a position from Presets on the Rotation tab.
On the Lighting tab, choose a lighting preset or change the light.
Press OK.

The following screenshot shows the word LANTERN extruded 50 px deep with a Classic bevel, over a night skyline.

The word LANTERN in heavy amber letters, extruded into solid blocks and turned in 3D over a night sky with stars, a pale moon and a purple skyline of lit windows. Rotation rings are drawn over the selected type, and the Extrude & Bevel dialog shows its Object tab with Depth 50.0 px, Twist 0.0°, Taper 100.0%, Cap Solid and Bevel Shape Classic

Extrude & Bevel and Inflate have three tabs: Object, Rotation and Lighting. Rotate has only Rotation and Lighting. Reset all, at the bottom of the dialog, puts every setting back to its default.

Setting	Tab	Default	What it does
Depth	Object	50 pt (Extrude & Bevel), 0 pt (Inflate)	How far the object extends back, from 0 to 2000 pt
Twist	Object	0°	Turns the back against the front, from 0° to 360°
Taper	Object	100%	The size of the back compared with the front, from 1% to 100%
Cap	Object	Solid	Solid closes the object; Hollow leaves it open
Bevel Shape	Object (Extrude & Bevel)	None	None, Classic, Rounded, Cove, Step or Ogee
Width, Height	Object (Extrude & Bevel)	4 pt	The size of the bevel, from 0 to 1000 pt
Repeat, Space	Object (Extrude & Bevel)	1, 0%	How many times the bevel repeats (1 to 32), and the flat space between repeats (0% to 90%)
Bevel Inside, Bevel both sides	Object (Extrude & Bevel)	Off	Cuts the bevel into the shape instead of adding it around the shape, and bevels the back as well as the front
Volume	Object (Inflate)	50%	How round the edge is, from 0% to 100%; 50% rounds it like half a sphere
Both sides	Object (Inflate)	Off	Inflates the back as well; off leaves the back flat
Presets	Rotation	Off-Axis Front	Sixteen positions, from Front to Isometric Bottom
Rotation X, Y, Z	Rotation	-21.88°, -23.4°, 9.06°	The angle around each axis, from -180° to 180°
Perspective	Rotation	0°	0° shows no perspective; a wider angle brings the eye nearer, up to 160°
Shading	Lighting	On	Shades the surfaces by the lights
Presets	Lighting	Standard	Standard, Diffuse, Top Left or Right
Add Light, Delete Light	Lighting	One light	Up to 10 lights; each has its own Color, Intensity (80%), Rotation, Height (30°) and Softness (0%)
Ambient Light	Lighting	25%	Light that reaches every surface, from 0% to 200%
Light behind the object	Lighting	Off	Lights the object from behind

Width, Height, Repeat, Space, Bevel Inside and Bevel both sides are dimmed while Bevel Shape is None. The Depth, Width and Height fields show their values in the document’s unit, so a document set to pixels shows the default depth as 50.0 px.

Make the appearance permanent

Object → Expand Appearance turns the selected object’s appearance into ordinary objects:

Each fill and stroke becomes an object of its own, grouped in paint order.
Effects that change the shape, such as Zig Zag or Round Corners, are applied to the paths.
Raster effects such as shadows, glows and blurs become embedded images.
Hidden fills, strokes and effects are dropped.

Save and reuse a graphic style

A graphic style stores an object’s whole appearance: its fills, strokes, effects, opacity and blend mode. Window → Graphic Styles (Shift+F5) lists the styles in the document.

Select an object that has the look you want to keep.
In the Graphic Styles panel, press New Graphic Style. Alt-click the button (Option-click on macOS) to name the style as you make it.
Select another object and click the style in the panel to apply it.

An object that you apply a style to stays linked to that style. Alt-click a style (Option-click on macOS) to add its fills, strokes and effects on top of the object’s existing appearance instead; this unlinks the object. Double-click a style to open Graphic Style Options….

The following image shows a style saved from one rectangle and applied to the other two.

Three teal buttons labeled Tickets, Map and Food under the heading Harbor Night Market, sharing the same strokes and shadow. The Food button is selected, and the Graphic Styles panel shows the new style as its last, highlighted thumbnail

Window → Graphic Style Libraries opens the bundled sets of styles. The panel menu also has Open Graphic Style Library and Save Graphic Style Library….

The Shadows and Glows library open below the Graphic Styles panel, beside the selected FERRY sign. It lists Soft Shadow, Hard Shadow, Lifted Card, Halo, Neon Tube, Inner Light, Ember, Feathered and Haze

Keyboard shortcuts

Command	Windows and Linux	macOS
Appearance panel	Shift+F6	Shift+F6
Add New Fill	Ctrl+/	Cmd+/
Add New Stroke	Ctrl+Alt+/	Cmd+Option+/
Apply Last Effect	Ctrl+Shift+E	Cmd+Shift+E
Last Effect…	Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E	Cmd+Option+Shift+E
Graphic Styles panel	Shift+F5	Shift+F5
Blend → Make	Ctrl+Alt+B	Cmd+Option+B

Edit → Keyboard Shortcuts… changes them.