You don’t have to be a genius to realize that text is one of the most important elements of any website. While text’s main function is to be informative, it does not mean it has to look dull. There are several ways to spice up your site’s text to make it pop out at visitors and catch their attention. CSS is a great way to create cool text effects, and this list will build upon the one we previously released to give you more of the top CSS3 tutorials for text.
You don’t have to be a genius to realize that text is one of the most important elements of any website. While text’s main function is to be informative, it does not mean it has to look dull. There are several ways to spice up your site’s text to make it pop out at visitors and catch their attention. CSS is a great way to create cool text effects, and this list will build upon the one we previously released to give you more of the top CSS3 tutorials for text.
Text Embossing Technique with CSS
In terms of the overall appearance of the effect, this is probably the best tutorial of the group. Apple uses embossed text a lot with their designs, and as a result, many web designers have followed. It’s hard to blame them, as you won’t find many text effects with a more modern or sophisticated design that’s achieved through the embossing technique.
Text-shadow is the avenue of choice for achieving the embossed look, and the entire process is relatively easy. The author shows you how to get light text on a dark gradient by manipulating the text-shadow. The opposite, a dark text on a lighter gradient, is explained as well. Give this tutorial a look if you don’t have a lot of time on your hands but want to learn how to implement the text-shadow property to give your text a sleek and classy look.
If you are looking for a tutorial that shows you multiple ways to use CSS3 to create cool text effects, you have it right here. The text effects are created via text shadows, and the tutorial is quite easy to follow. It’s also concise in nature, so you won’t need a lot of time to complete it.
The author begins by giving an explanation of text-shadow and how it works, including a breakdown of the different values. The first example deals with the inset text effect, which makes letters look as if they are embedded into the background. It’s commonly used, and can make any site look better. Next, you will learn how to make 3D text by using various layers of text shadows. Last, but not least, is the neon lights text effect. Like the 3D effect, it also uses various layers of text shadows, but it also varies the blur radius multiple times to get the neon look. Use this text effect on your dark background, and you’ll be sure to catch some attention. The text effects explained in the tutorial will also work on various types of font, so you can really let your imagination run wild.
Adding an Outline to Your Text Using the CSS3 Text-Stroke Property
Outlines are a quick and easy way to give your text some extra emphasis. You can add an outline, which is also referred to as stroke, to you text by using CSS3’s text-stroke property. The tutorial begins with a brief explanation of the text-stroke property and its values. The author also shows you how to give the text fill a transparent look via the text-fill-color property. The tutorial could not be any simpler and gives you another text trick to add to your CSS3 arsenal.
The letterpress effect is one way to spruce up your site’s text, and this tutorial will show you the necessary steps to do so. You won’t need to worry about any clunky image replacement techniques, as it is all made possible through the CSS3 text-shadow property. It’s no accident that text-shadow appears in many of the tutorials in our list, which should tell you that it is a property worth practicing with.
The tutorial begins with creating a background in Photoshop and then proceeding to add the text-shadow property. The author explains how to manipulate the text-shadow values to get the desired letterpress effect. The tutorial is very straightforward and easy to understand, and you will be able to master the letterpress effect in no time at all.
Here’s another tutorial that shows you how to create the eye-catching letterpress effect using CSS. The difference is that it not only shows you the CSS method, but also the Photoshop method so that you can compare the two. The comparison is worth noting, because the CSS method is very quick and concise. All it takes is a little bit of text-shadow with the proper values, and the letterpress effect becomes a reality.
How to Create a Cool Anaglyphic Text Effect with CSS
Just in case you have never heard or seen an anaglyph image, it’s the type that offers a stereoscopic 3D effect if viewed with special glasses that have colors of different lenses. The anaglyph emits an effect of depth, and is a nice play on the eyes. This tutorial teaches you how to use CSS to create an anaglyphic text effect to help give your site a unique look.
The tutorial stresses the practice of keeping the markup clean and free of repetition, which is a plus. It does so by using the content property and the :after pseudo element. The styling steps are quick, painless, and easy to follow. In the end, you will have created a very interesting text effect that can be applied in your future projects.
This is not an actual tutorial, but we threw it on the list to give you an example of the text effects that can be achieved by using CSS3. You won’t get a list of steps or anything of the sort, but it is worth a visit. The author uses the text-shadow property to create the effect. The tilt-shift effect comes about from having a large offset-y value and blur-radius on the top and bottom edge of the text. Rotate, rotateX, and skewX is also thrown in so that the text matches the background image’s perspective.
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