The Glow of the Season

by Tom Nixon

One of my favorite go-to tricks for making text stand out from a complex background is to apply a glow that will separate it from the layer below. It is a fairly straightforward procedure that goes like this:

For text against a busy background:

1. Select the text, place your cursor in the text as though you were going to edit and then pressControl + A to select all the text.
2. From the top menu select Format > Text Effects > Glow
3. The flyout menu shows a variety of standard glow presets you can use. I usually go right to the bottom: Glow Options
4. A panel will appear at the right with custom glow options. The first will be Presets and will show you all the standard presets you had in the previous flyout.
5. In the next selection, Color, you will be able to specify the color of the glow. In the example above I selected a bright orange. Perhaps 90% of the time I will choose white.
6. Play around with different values in the two remaining selections: Size (I selected 45 pt) andTransparency (I left it at 0%) to get the effect that works best for your situation.

Cool, huh? Enjoy the glow!

Tom Nixon has over 3 decades of experience assisting clients with meaningful business communications. Contact Tom (tomn @ tomnixondesign.com)  to see how he can work with your business leaders and subject matter experts to create stunning visual presentations (PowerPoint, Keynote,, etc.) and enhance their on-stage delivery.