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Inspiring
February 9, 2025
Question

Shadow and outline in paragraph styles.

  • February 9, 2025
  • 4 replies
  • 1929 views

Hello, Community Experts.

 

Please guide me with the following:

 

I want to configure a paragraph style that has the appearance of the attached image, which is composed by a text frame and a geometric figure, both independent of each other, with the disadvantage that when modifying the text, the geometric figure must be manually modified to maintain the proportions, with the implications in various resources such as time.

 

Using the Paragraph Shadow tool, I have tried to generate a style that automatically adapts as the text is modified, but I have not found it possible, because when configuring the measures of the paragraph shadow, its dimensions remain the same when the text is modified, which generates, 1.- much white space, or that the text enters the gray area, and 2.- in Corner Size and Shape, within its options, I do not see one that allows me to only modify the upper left corner in order to generate the geometric figure that I need.

 

In Shear X Angle: it affects the whole paragraph, deforming the text and the other 3 corners of the rectangle.

 

Is there any way to do this?

 

Attached is the file.

 

Thank you.

 

4 replies

FRIdNGE
February 10, 2025

Just For Fun! … with just a basic para style applied!

 

 

(^/)  The Jedi

Robert at ID-Tasker
Legend
February 10, 2025

Care to share?

 

Dave Creamer of IDEAS
Community Expert
Community Expert
February 11, 2025

 

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)
Robert at ID-Tasker
Legend
February 10, 2025

There was a thread recently with exactly the same requirement - but text on the gray background - will try to find it.

 

The trick was to add a triangle at the end of the text - filled with the gray color - here it would've to be reversed. 

 

James Gifford—NitroPress
Legend
February 10, 2025

Effects like Drop Shadow can only be applied directly or with an Object Style. They can't be made part of a Paragraph Style.

 

The sheared box/straight text issue was discussed in a recent topic. The only practical way to implement it is with skew/shear on the text box — which again has to be managed with an Object Style — and then a reverse skew on the text (which is managed in a Paragraph Style. That is, you can shear the box 20 degrees and then skew the text -20 degrees to get the effect of straight text in an angled box.

 

There's no simple way to make all of this happen with any one repeatable style.

Robert at ID-Tasker
Legend
February 10, 2025

@James Gifford—NitroPress

 

No need to shear anything - just move one of the corner points.

 

James Gifford—NitroPress
Legend
February 10, 2025

But that can't be assigned to a style, unless I've missed something. It's either manual or a script action, correct?