Introduction
This is my first in a series of blog posts on how to achieve some cool effects in the Zazzle Create editor. Today, I’m going to show you how to give any piece of dynamic text a drop shadow effect. Let’s get started!
Step 1: Create First Textbox
Go into the Zazzle Create screen for whatever product you want to make.
Go to the Text tab in the left sidebar and click Add Text. Write in whatever text you want. For this example, I’m just gonna use the word “Awesome“.
This is going to be our drop shadow layer. Choose a dark colour for the text, using the color section on the right side of the screen. In my case I’ll choose black. And you can change font face and size there too.
Step 2: Make Text a Template
This step is very important. With your text box selected, go to the bottom of the right tools pane and choose ‘make this a template object‘. You don’t have to rename any of the fields that appear (for this tutorial).
Step 3: Duplicate Text Box
You can duplicate the text box by using the right click menu to Copy them Paste. Or you can use keyboard shortcuts Ctrl C and Ctrl V.
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Now you’ll have two text boxes in the same exact location, and they will both be a template with the same name “Text 1”.
Step 4A: Recolour Layer
Choose a different colour for the 2nd layer of text. I will choose orange.
STEP 4B: NUDGE LAYER
Finally, with that text box still selected, we are going to shift it by a very small amount by holding the Ctrl key on your keyboard and pressing the up arrow key twice then the left arrow key twice.
Well Done!
It’s as easy as that! And the great thing about using text that has been turned into a template is, if you want to change this word to something else, like “Beautiful”, you only have to double click the text layer and type in your new word…
… And the other block will automatically change to match!
You can play around with different colours and spacing for your drop shadow. You can even layer multiple drop shadows, each offset a bit more than the former, for some really unique designs.
Example in Action
I used this drop shadow effect on the title for my Magical Teen Witch 2023 planner. It helps make the text stand out and be more legible.
Conclusion
I hope this tutorial has been helpful to you! The next tutorial will build upon these skills in order to create a faux outline effect on your text!
If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below, and I’ll see you in the next one!
Peace, love & sunshine,
