This guide shows you how to add effects to text in the Design Studio. It is for merchants who already place text on a product and want to make it stand out: a drop shadow, an outline, a neon glow, or a curve along an arc. You pick effects from a gallery, then fine-tune each one in its own row.
If you have not added text yet, start with add and style text first.
Open the text Effects tab
The Effects panel only appears when a text element is selected, so pick your text first.
Select a text element
Click the text on the canvas you want to style. The properties panel on the right updates to show controls for that element.
Switch to the Effects tab
In the properties panel, open the Effects tab. It lists the effects on this text, with a plus button to add one.
Open the effect gallery
Click the plus button, Add effect. A gallery opens with nine effect tiles: Lifted, Glow, Shadow, Outline, Splice, Background, Echo, 3D depth, and Glitch. Below them, under Shape, are Curve and Warp. Each tile previews the effect on your own text, and an effect you already use keeps a ring.
Turn on an effect and tune it
Effects start with sensible defaults, so you see a result the moment you click. From there you adjust.
Pick an effect
Click a tile, for example Shadow. The gallery closes, the text on the canvas updates right away with the default look for that effect, and the effect becomes a row in the Effects list.
Adjust its settings
The new row opens with its settings. Click a row’s name to fold them open or closed. Use those controls to change the look. Shadow, for instance, gives you Direction, Distance, Blur, Opacity and Color. Direction and distance are the two halves of where the shadow falls: the angle it sits at, and how far from the letters it lands.
Hide or remove an effect
The eye on a row hides the effect but keeps its settings, so you can compare the text with and without it. Shadow, Glow, Echo, 3D depth and Glitch have an eye; the other effects can only be removed. The minus button on a row removes the effect.
Watch the mutually exclusive pairs
Some effects cannot run together. Lifted and Shadow share the same shadow settings, so turning one on turns the other off. The Outline, Splice, and Lifted styles also share one outline behind the scenes, so enabling any one of them clears the other two. This keeps the look predictable; you will not end up with two conflicting outlines on the same text.
Curve or warp the text
The Shape group sits at the bottom of the effect gallery. It bends the whole text along a path instead of changing how the letters are filled or shadowed. It holds two tiles: Curve and Warp.
To bend text along an arc, pick Curve, then use the bend control in its row to set how tight the arc is. Bend one way for an upward arc and the other way for a downward one.
To shape text with a preset, pick Warp. It starts on Arch, and there are six styles in all: Arch, Bulge, Flag, Wave, Fish and Rise.
You can use only one of Curve or Warp at a time. Picking one clears the other, the same way the shadow and outline pairs behave.
When you want a clean slate, click Clear all in the Effects header and confirm. The button appears once at least one effect is applied, and it clears every effect at once, including any older per-letter style left on the text.
Common questions
Why did my shadow disappear when I clicked Lifted?
Lifted and Shadow share the same shadow settings, so they cannot both be on. Turning Lifted on turns Shadow off, and the reverse is also true.
Can I curve text and warp it at the same time?
No. Curve and Warp are mutually exclusive. Turning one on clears the other. Pick whichever shape fits your design.
Why did my shadow stop showing after I turned on Warp?
Warp draws the text as one shaped image, so the other effects cannot layer on top of it. The panel tells you this when Warp is on. Use Curve instead if you want a bend and a shadow together.
How do I clear everything and start over?
Click Clear all in the Effects header and confirm. It clears every effect in one step, including any older per-letter style.
My glow looks invisible. What is wrong?
A glow needs a color that contrasts with the background. Glow starts on a violet color so it shows on light surfaces. Change the glow color in its settings if it blends into your design.
If an effect does not look the way you expect, check the color and opacity in its row settings first. If you are still stuck, contact support.
Next
To change the typeface behind these effects, see choose and load fonts.