Texteffect multiple effects

[mindstorm]

I have some questions for using Fred's awesome texteffect script:

I want to create half circle arching text with a left to right gradient, I set -a 180. But that also sets the gradient direction to vertical. If I want to change the direction of the gradient, I can't do it without changing the degree of arch because they both use the same -a argument. Is there a way around this?

Code: Select all

./texteffect.sh -t "ARCHING GRADIENT" -f Times-Bold -p 48 -s gradient -e arc-top -d 1 -a 180 -c red -b none -o white -u red -g pink -m 10 -l 1 img/ARCHING_GRADIENT_Times-Bold_gradient_arc-top_1_1_180_red_white_red_pink_none_10.png

Result:


Also, if I want to create text with both gradient and shadow, do I need to create an image with one effect then run it through the script again?

[fmw42]

Although I am not certain that horizontal gradient will look so good on such an arch as the vertical gradient does, I guess I will have to separate the two angles (as another user recently had suggested). I never realized that any such combination was useful. Give me some time to get to it and I will email you an upgrade. Send me your email address or email me offline or via this forum private messages.

Unfortunately, gradient and shadow are separate styles and I have no combination of mixed styles, only mixing styles with effects as the code makes only one pass. You can only choose one style with one effect. I don't believe that running it twice would help directly. You could possibly run the arch first and then apply a shadow using IM as a post process. But I have not tested that.

I will look at the possibility of a special combination of gradient and shadow, but how many such combinations are of interest to you. I don't want to make an infinite set of such combinations. Or do this one and then later asked for another. There is only so much effort that I can put into this before it becomes overly complex if it is not already. You certainly could write your own special combination scripts as well.

[anthony]

You could also DIY it.
Create the text,
Color it
Arc it into a circle
add shadow.

All the steps are outline in IM Examples.
For example... here I use -sparse-color to generate a horizontal gradient, though it could also just as easilly make a diagonal one.

Code: Select all

  convert -font Times-Bold -pointsize 48 -background none label:"ARCHING GRADIENT" \
               \( +clone -sparse-color Barycentric '0,0 black %w,0 red'  \
               \) -compose In -composite \
               -virtual-pixel transparent -distort arc 180 \
               \( +clone -background black -shadow 100x2+4+4 \
               \) +swap -background none -compose over -layers merge +repage \
              result.png

You can see the steps layed out in the above, creation, coloring, distorting, shadowing, saving; and by viewing the images generated at the end of each line you can watch the command build the desired image.

ASIDE: Fred the only way you can make your script handle such combinations is to divide the script options into various stages.. text creation and coloring. then apply the major distortion effect, an option second wave of coloring (after distortion), and finally shadow adding.

[anthony]

An an example of the above will appear in a day or so in IM Examples,
Advanced Font Processing
http://www.imagemagick.org/Usage/fonts/#advanced

[fmw42]

Nice circle and spiral effect! And terrific colorful shaded arc