How to add a shadow or gradient to a shape

Select the shape, picture or text box, then set a gradient fill or a drop shadow in the Properties panel. That's all it takes in Publish by Zaweba. Gradients use two colours at any angle you choose, and shadows are hard-edged so PDFs stay crisp vector artwork. The app is free, offline and runs on Windows without an account.

Both are handy for lifting a flat design. A gradient band behind a headline adds depth, and a shadow under a photo makes it feel as though it's sitting on the page.

Gradients

A gradient in Publish blends between two colours. You set the angle, so it can run top to bottom, side to side or diagonally. Top to bottom is the most natural for a background band; a diagonal suits a badge or a star.

Pick colours that are related, such as a light and a darker shade of the same blue, for a subtle effect. Two very different colours make a bold, poster-like look.

Gradients work on shapes, pictures and text boxes. On a text box the gradient fills the box behind the text, so keep enough contrast that the words stay readable from one end of the gradient to the other.

If your colours come from the document palette, a gradient made of named colours will follow any later change to those colours.

Drop shadows

A drop shadow is a copy of the object's outline, offset and coloured, sitting behind it. In Publish, shadows are hard-edged. There are no blurred shadows or glows, which keeps everything as vector artwork in the PDF so it prints sharply at any size.

Hard shadows have a clean, graphic look. A small offset in a darker shade of the background looks natural; a large offset in a strong colour looks playful, rather like a sticker.

Shadows work on shapes, pictures and text boxes. On a picture with a picture shape, such as an ellipse or rounded rectangle, the shadow follows the shape.

Using them without overdoing it

One effect per item is usually enough. A shape with a gradient and a shadow and an outline starts to look busy.

Keep shadows consistent. If one photo's shadow falls down and to the right, make every shadow on the page do the same, or the page looks as if it has several light sources.

Use gradients on backgrounds rather than on small items. A gradient on a tiny icon is hard to see; on a wide banner it reads well.

Related tools

Fill and line colours with transparency are in the same Properties panel, and transparency lets a shape sit over a picture without hiding it completely. For text, Properties > Text effects gives a letter outline and text shadow, and Insert > WordArt has ready-made styles including shadowed.

Shapes come in plenty of forms: rectangle, rounded rectangle, ellipse, line, arrow, star, polygon, triangle, right triangle, diamond, heart, speech bubble, chevron and cross. A star with a yellow-to-orange gradient and a dark shadow makes a quick price burst for a sale flyer.

Try a gradient band and a single shadowed picture on your next flyer, and you'll have most of the depth the page needs.