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Chapter 15: Creating special effects
Appearance attributes
About appearance attributes
Appearance attributes are properties that affect the look of an object without altering its underlying structure.
Appearance attributes include fills, strokes, transparency, and effects. If you apply an appearance attribute to an
object and later edit or remove that attribute, it does not change the underlying object or any other attributes applied
to the object.
You can set appearance attributes at any level of the layer hierarchy. For example, if you apply a drop shadow effect
to a layer, all objects in the layer take on the drop shadow. However, if you move an object out of the layer, that object
will no longer have a drop-shadow because the effect belongs to the layer, not to each object within the layer.
The Appearance palette is the gateway to working with appearance attributes. Because you can apply appearance
attributes to layers, groups, and objects—and often to fills and strokes too—the hierarchy of attributes in your
artwork can become very complex. For example, if you apply one effect to an entire layer and another effect to an
object in the layer, it may be difficult to determine which effect is causing the artwork to change. The Appearance
palette shows you the fills, strokes, graphic styles, and effects that have been applied to an object, group, or layer.
Using the Appearance palette
You use the Appearance palette to view and adjust the appearance attributes for an object, group, or layer. Fills and
strokes are listed in stacking order; top to bottom in the palette correlates to front to back in the artwork. Effects are
listed from top to bottom in the order in which they are applied to the artwork. To display the palette, choose
Window > Appearance.
B
C
D
A
E
F
G
H
Appearance palette listing attributes of a grouped object
A.
Object with stroke, fill, and drop shadow effect
B.
Layer with transparency
C.
Group with effect
D.
Stroke with roughen effect
E.
New Art
(Maintains/Has Basic) Appearance button
F.
Clear Appearance button
G.
Reduce To Basic Appearance button
H.
Duplicate Selected Item
button
When an item in the Appearance palette contains additional attributes, a triangle appears to the left of the item’s
name. You can click the triangle to show or hide the contents. When you select items that contain other items, such
as a layer or group, the Appearance palette displays a Contents item that you can double-click to reveal the contained
items. When you select a text object, the palette displays a Characters item that you can double-click to list the
character attributes.