Home > About object effects

About object effects

Use commands from the Object Effects palette to give your layouts a 3-dimensional appearance. You can assign object effects to objects you draw (except lines), fields, tab controls, and portals.

 

Choose	To
Embossed	Make the selected object appear to be raised above the background
Engraved	Make the selected object appear to be depressed into the background
Drop Shadow	Make the selected object appear to cast a shadow below and to the right

Notes and tips

•	Object effects look best when you specify a transparent line pattern (in other words, an invisible border) and a line width of at least 2 points. Also, try changing the background color of the enclosing part to a color similar in shade to the object's fill color.

•	If you want to use an object effect on a field, try selecting the effect before placing the field on the layout. Otherwise, the effect might clip part of the text in the field.

•	The width of the effect depends on the width of the object's border as specified by the line width (unless the object has no border, in which case the object effect is drawn with a 1 point line). The effect's color and pattern depend on the fill color and pattern of the selected object or field.

•

When you apply an effect to an existing object, the total size of the object along with the effect does not change, but the object itself shrinks to accommodate the effect. Therefore, when you apply an effect to an existing field, the field dimensions might need to be enlarged so that the data is readable.

•

If you assign an object effect to a transparent object, FileMaker Pro assigns the object the default fill and then draws the effect. If you change the fill color, FileMaker Pro adjusts the colors of the effect to complement the new color. If you change an object's fill to transparent after you assign an effect, FileMaker Pro makes the effect transparent, too.

•	Buttons always have an Embossed effect. You can change this by selecting the button and choosing another effect from the Object Effects palette.