Tutorial

1. The Making of a Star



Figure 1: Star Auto Shape

We start off by creating our base shape-the starburst. Select the Star Tool and draw a star that is around 148 x 150px. Drag the Points Handle up to increase the number of rays to around 22, and similarly drag the Inner Radius Handle to produce shorter, more triangular rays.

2. Adding The Gradient and the Shadow



Figure 2: Star Auto Shape

Next, we add a splash of color. Give the starburst a gradient fill going upwards, from #DDA600 to #FFEB77. That should give it a nice golden tone. Adjust the colors to suit your taste; you can go for royal blue, crimson red, or forest green, if the situation calls for it.



Figure 3: Star Auto Shape

3. Then we give our starburst a subtle shadow. Apply to it a Drop Shadow Live Effect, with 2 Depth, 55% Opacity, 2 Blur, and 270° Tilt.

4. Faux Inverted Bevel Mini-Tutorial

Use the Text Tool and place your main text on top of and centered on the starburst. I chose bold-italicized Georgia for the fontface, but you can use any font of your choice. (Traditional serifs look good on seals.) Give it a color similar in hue to, but slightly darker than the starburst´s. (Try #DDA600 to match our gold tone) Copy-paste (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V) the text you just made and push it one layer down . Nudge it 2px up, give it a solid black fill, and set its opacity to 50%. Paste another copy of the main text and again push it one layer down. (It should be a layer below the gold-colored text). This time, nudge it 2px down and give it a solid white fill. Set its opacity to 50% just the same.



Figure 4: Star Auto Shape