Inflated 3D Text in Illustrator, Step by Step
This tutorial shows how to build a soft, inflated 3D text effect in Adobe Illustrator using nothing more than hand-drawn strokes and the 3D and Materials effect. The word in the video is “Boom”, but the same method works for any word or short phrase. It is a good first project if you want to understand how 3D and Materials treats strokes, and how the Width Tool and gradients change the final look.
What you will use
- Pencil Tool with smoothing turned up
- Object > Path > Simplify and the Direct Selection Tool
- Stroke panel (round caps and round joins)
- Effect > 3D and Materials > Inflate
- Width Tool for varying the stroke thickness
- Gradient panel and Swatches
Step 1: Draw the letters with the Pencil Tool
Select the Pencil Tool and double-click its icon to open the options. Set Fidelity (smoothness) all the way to the smooth end. Leave “Close paths when ends are within” unselected, because the letters need to stay open paths. Draw each letter as one loose stroke. With smoothing at the maximum the lines come out clean even if your hand is not steady.
Step 2: Tidy the paths
Use the Direct Selection Tool to scale, rotate and nudge individual letters into place. Then select all the letters and go to Object > Path > Simplify. The automatic value is fine. The goal is fewer anchor points, so the 3D effect renders smoothly. Remove any leftover anchor points that create bumps, and smooth the remaining curves.
Step 3: Round caps, round joins, gradient stroke
Select all letters, open the Stroke panel and choose round caps and round joins. This is what gives the inflated look its soft, tube-like ends. Apply a gradient to the stroke and set the stroke weight to around 25 pt for now. You will increase it later; the colours can be changed at any time.
Step 4: Apply 3D and Materials > Inflate
With the letters selected, go to Effect > 3D and Materials and choose Inflate. In the panel:
- Switch on Render (ray tracing) so you see the real result instead of the preview.
- Under Lighting, turn on Shadows, increase the shadow softness, and raise the shadow bounce to remove the hard shadow edges.
- Under Object, choose “Inflate both sides”. This rounds the letters on both faces and also changes the shadow.
Step 5: Set the material per letter
The Materials tab shows no options while several objects are selected, so select each letter on its own. Set Metallic to 1 and lower the Roughness until the surface looks glossy. Tip from the video: once the 3D effect is on, clicking on a letter can be difficult because of the shadow. Press Ctrl+Y (Cmd+Y on Mac) to switch to Outline view, select the path, then press it again to return.
Step 6: Increase the weight and shape the strokes
Raise the stroke weight to about 65 pt, and later to 75 pt, until the letters look full. Then use the Width Tool to make some parts of each letter thicker and other parts thinner. If your computer slows down, open the Appearance panel and hide the 3D and Materials effect while you edit the widths, then switch it back on.
Step 7: Finish the colours
Once you like one gradient, drag it into the Swatches panel and apply the same swatch to every letter so the colours stay consistent. On one or two letters reverse the gradient direction, so the colour flows differently across the word. The Gradient panel lets you adjust the angle and colour stops on the stroke.
Step 8: Final render
When the design is done, select each letter, open 3D and Materials, choose the high quality render setting and render. This gives clean edges and smooth shading for the final export.
Conclusion
The whole effect comes from three ideas: open strokes with round caps, the Inflate option with both sides active, and per-object metallic materials. Once you have that working, the Width Tool and gradients are where the personality of the text comes from, so spend most of your time there. The same technique also works on simple shapes, not only letters.
Links from the video
- Join the members-only content: https://bit.ly/3lR3INj
- Premium tutorials on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3fEEvD4
- Premium tutorials on Udemy: http://bit.ly/2Cqmcgo
