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If you really want to have fun with fonts, you can apply some of Word’s text effects. These aren’t typeface attributes, but rather special effects applied to a font. And like all strange and wonderful things in the world of fonts, these effects are best suited for headings and titles, not for body text.

The WordArt command is a great shortcut to stick interesting text into your document. For most fancy text times, choosing this command saves you a lot of time and frustration. See Chapter 13 for information on WordArt.

Accessing the Format Text Effects pane

To apply text effects, you summon the Format Text Effects pane, illustrated in Figure 1-10.

FIGURE 1-10: The Format Text Effects pane.

To display this pane, follow these steps:

1. Press Ctrl+D to bring forth the Font dialog box.

2. Click the Text Effects button.

The button is found near the lower left corner of the dialog box. If it’s disabled, the current typeface cannot be manipulated.

The Format Text Effects pane features two tabs, illustrated in Figure 1-10. The left tab handles text fill and outline options. The right tab lists a host of effects.

Each item in the Format Text Effects pane is collapsible. Click the triangle to expand the item; click again to collapse, as illustrated in Figure 1-10.

To make adjustments, select the text you want to format. Work the pane to apply the effects, which, sadly, cannot be previewed. After making adjustments, click the OK button to apply, and then click OK again to close the Font dialog box.

Changing text fill

The Font dialog box, as well as the Font group on the Home tab, features the Font Color button. To apply color to the font’s outline as well as use more than just a solid color, you access the Text Fill area of the Format Text Effects pane; refer to Figure 1-10.

The Solid Fill option works just like the Font Color command: Choose Solid Fill and select a color. Use the Transparency slider to add a transparent, or ghost, effect to the text.

When you choose Gradient Fill, the pane changes to show many more controls. A gradient features different colors or shades that fade into each other, similar to the text shown in Figure 1-11, which features a gradient fill effect.

FIGURE 1-11: Gradient fill.

The options available for Gradient Fill are numerous, as illustrated on the right in Figure 1-11. The key is the Gradient Stops bar, which features different color settings at different positions. The settings blend along the bar to build the gradient pattern.

Here are the general steps taken to create a gradient fill pattern:

1. Select the text.

Gradient fill works best on titles and perhaps on a caption or another graphical element. It would look horrid if applied to a heading or body text.

2. Press Ctrl+D.

3. Click the Text Effects button in the Font dialog box.

4. Click the Fill and Outline tab on the Format Text Effects pane.

Refer to Figure 1-10 for the tab’s location.

5. Expand the Text Fill area.

6. Choose Gradient Fill.

7. Select a fill from the Preset Gradients button or create your own fill.

8. Click OK to apply the fill, and then click OK again to close the Font dialog box.

If you opt to create your own fill (refer to Step 7), you set two or more stops on the Gradient Stops bar, selecting a color for each stop: Click on the bar to set a stop, and then choose a color from the Color button menu.

To remove a stop, use the mouse to drag it from the Gradient Stops bar. You can also use the Remove Stop and Add Stop buttons, illustrated in Figure 1-11.

Four types of gradients are available, as chosen from the Type menu. In Figure 1-11 you see a Radial gradient, which fans out from a center point. The Position box is what sets the center point. Use the Direction button to see how the gradient is applied to the text.

Unfortunately, the Gradient settings changes aren’t previewed live in your document. The best way to see the effect is to click OK. Use the Preview portion of the Font dialog box to check your work.

Setting a text outline

A font has both a fill color and an outline color. The Font Color command affects only the fill, not the outline. To add an outline or a border to text, you apply the Text Outline effect.

Obey these steps to add a text outline:

1. Select the text.

The text doesn’t need to have a fill color; the Automatic color (usually, black) works fine. You can, however, set No Fill as the text color, in which case only the outline shows up.

2. Press Ctrl+D and click the Text Effects button in the Font dialog box.

3. Ensure that the Fill and Outline tab is chosen in the Format Text Effects pane.

4. Expand the Text Outline area.

5. Choose Solid Line or Gradient Line to set the type of outline.

For Gradient Line, you can configure the gradient color stops and other options, as discussed in the preceding section.

6. Use the Width gizmo to set the outline width.

Width is measured in points. Larger values show a heavier outline.

7. Set other options to customize how the line looks.

8. Click OK, and then click OK again to view your effects.

The text modifications may not show up in the Font dialog box’s Preview window, so you must return to the document to view your efforts.

In Step 7 you can further manipulate the line’s look, depending on which line attribute you choose:

Compound Type: Use the Compound Type menu to choose line styles, such as a double line, thick and thin lines, and more.

Dash Type: The Dash Type menu sets whether the line is solid or composed of dashes or dots in various patterns and lengths.

Cap Type: Items on the Cap Type menu set how the border goes around a curve. The options are Square, Round, and Flat. This effect doesn’t really show up unless the text is quite large or the outline is thick.

Join Type: The Join Type menu determines what happens when lines meet. As with the cap type, this effect requires large text or thick lines to show up.

As with other settings in the Format Text Effects pane, you must set your options and then click OK to view the results in the Font dialog box.

Adding a text shadow

The Shadow effects can help a title or graphical element stand out, almost as if it’s hovering on the page, as illustrated in Figure 1-12. This effect is applied from a gallery of preset options, or you can toil on your own with various settings in the Format Text Effects pane.

FIGURE 1-12: Text with a shadow attached.

The Shadow effect is found in the Format Text Effects pane. Obey these directions to apply the effect to selected text in your document:

1. Select the text.

The Shadow effect works best on titles and perhaps decorative text elements.

2. Press Ctrl+D to bring up the Font dialog box.

3. Click the Text Effects button.

4. Click the Effects tab in the Format Text Effects pane.

Refer to Figure 1-10 for the tab’s appearance and location.

5. Expand the Shadow area.

6. Choose an item from the Presets menu button.

The best way to apply a text shadow is to choose an item from the Presets menu, shown on the right in Figure 1-12.

7. Use the remaining items in the Shadow portion of the Format Text Effects pane to make fine adjustments to the preset options.

8. Click OK, and then click OK again to view the shadow effect.

You may have to repeat these steps a few times to get the effect just right, but choosing a preset shadow (refer to Step 6) really helps to expedite the process.

Configuring text reflection and glow

The Reflection and Glow text effects work similarly to the Shadow effect, covered in the preceding section. These effects and their settings are illustrated in Figure 1-13.

FIGURE 1-13: Reflection and glow text effects.

To best apply text reflection and glow effects, first select text and then choose a preset from the Presets button. (Refer to Figure 1-13.) You can make further adjustments to the effects, which requires that you click OK (twice) to view the text and then return to the Format Text Effects pane to jiggle the various controls.

❯❯ The Reflection effect does increase the text’s line height. Again, this type of effect works best on a chapter title or other graphical element, not on body text.

❯❯ The Soft Edges effect doesn’t apply to most text (if any). It’s an echo of the Soft Edges effect applied to other graphics in a document. See Chapter 12.

Creating hidden text

Perhaps the strangest font attribute is hidden text. You won’t find this setting in the Format Text Effects dialog box, because it’s more of a deception than an effect: What’s the point of writing something that doesn’t show up on the screen or in a printed document? I honestly can’t think of any proper situation, but the command is available.

To hide text, follow these steps:

1. Select the text you want to disappear.

The text isn’t deleted; it’s merely hidden.

2. Press Ctrl+D to summon the Font dialog box.

3. Place a check mark by the Hidden item.

The Hidden item is found on the Font tab in the Effects area.

4. Click OK.

The text is hidden.

Now that the text is hidden, the big question is, “How do I get it back?” In fact, how do you even find the text?

The easy way to view hidden text is to use the Show/Hide command, located on the Home tab in the Paragraph group. Its icon is shown in the margin. Click the button, and hidden text appears in the document with a dotted underline, as shown in Figure 1-14.

FIGURE 1-14: Hidden text appears with a dotted underline.

You can also direct Word to show hidden text all the time. Heed these steps:

1. Click the File tab.

2. Choose Options.

The Word Options dialog box appears.

3. Choose Display from the list of categories on the left side of the dialog box.

4. In the Always Show area, place a check mark by the option Hidden Text.

5. Click OK.

Though you can make hidden text visible, it doesn’t print unless you direct Word to also print the hidden text. To do so, repeat Steps 1 through 3 in the preceding list, but also place a check mark by the item Print Hidden Text.

Then again, if you’re going to show and print hidden text, why hide it in the first place?

❯❯ Hidden text affects document proofing. That’s because the proofing tools (spelling and grammar) ignore the hidden text.

❯❯ I suppose one reason to hide text is that you might want to resurrect it later. I wouldn’t use this option as an editing tool, but rather as a way to customize a single document for multiple purposes. For example, you might hide more technical information so that you can provide a shorter document as an executive summary.

❯❯ Hidden text is used on web pages to obscure various elements. For example, a web page template may list an item that’s unused on a page, in which case it can be hidden to avoid confusion. See Chapter 30 for information on Word and web page publishing.

❯❯ The Hidden text attribute isn’t the same as the Clear All Formatting command. That command resets any added text attributes to their settings as defined in the underlying style. So, if the style is Normal, the Clear All formatting command removes any applied text formats that aren’t part of the Normal style.

❯❯ To unhide text, you must remove the Hidden format: Repeat the first step list in this section, but in Step 3 remove the check mark (or ensure that the box is blank). You can also use the Clear All Formatting command (Ctrl+spacebar), but that removes all text attributes, which may not be what you want.