eZedia Techniques & Ideas 2

Creating “Onion Skin Paper” as a background effect for text

No matter how much we enjoy color, we have a responsibility to our end-user to consider how easy it is for them to read the text we are creating on each frame. To make text stand out more, we can leave it in a solid white text box. I like to create an “onion skin” paper effect that produces a thin barrier of one or more colors between the background image and the text box. You can vary the effect by:
    a. creating a simple white rectangle or circle with the shape tool that can frame your text
    b. editing the rectangle (edit graphic) and dropping the transparency level
    c. changing the color of the rectangle (edit graphic - fill) to coordinate or contrast with the background
    d. changing both the color and the transparency level of the rectangle
    e. adding two or more rectangles that act as a “matting” for your text - like you would see in a framed picture
    f. combining the rectangle with one of the effects from the transparency wells included in eZedia.

This discussion is just a general set of starting ideas. Your creativity will carry you further. Combine the basic principles and move in whatever direction you want.

Full, detailed, step-by-step instructions are available and may be posted soon for use by individuals outside of our class.

In the meantime, a short video clip that demonstrates the technique is available by clicking here. The file is zipped (compressed) and you will need to unzip it before playing it.

To better illustrate my point, here are two different examples of the "onion skin paper" effect. You'll note that the frames used are the same as in Techniques & Ideas 1, further illustrating the notion of variation on a theme without a lot of elaborate extras. Everything is done strictly in the eZediaMX environment.

Here's the first example showing a single application of the "onion skin paper."