Web Development: How to Create a Stained Glass Text Effect in Illustrator

How to Create a Stained Glass Text Effect in Illustrator

Final product image — What You'll Be Creating

In the following steps, you will learn how to create a stained glass text effect in Adobe Illustrator.

For starters, you will learn how to set up a simple grid and how to create the letter outlines for your text design. Next, using the Appearance panel and some graphic styles, you will learn how to add the colored glass pieces.

Using basic vector shape building techniques and some basic effects, you will learn how to add shading and some subtle highlights. Finally, you will learn how to apply a simple opacity mask and how to use built-in Illustrator brushes.

For more inspiration on how to create text effects, you can find plenty of resources at GraphicRiver.

1. How to Set Up a Grid for the Text Design

Hit Control-N to create a new document. Select Pixels from the Units drop-down menu, enter 850 in the width box and 640 in the height box, and then click More Settings. Select RGB for the Color Mode, set the Raster Effects to Screen (72 ppi), and then click Create Document.

Enable the Grid (View > Show Grid) and Snap to Grid (View > Snap to Grid). For starters, you will need a grid every 10 px, so simply go to Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid, and enter 10 in the Gridline every box and 1 in the Subdivisions box. Try not to get discouraged by all that grid—it will make your work easier, and keep in mind that you can easily enable or disable it using the Control-" keyboard shortcut.

You can learn more about Illustrator's grid system in this short tutorial from Andrei Stefan: Understanding Adobe Illustrator's Grid System.

You should also open the Info panel (Window > Info) for a live preview with the size and position of your shapes. Don't forget to set the unit of measurement to pixels from Edit > Preferences > Units. All these options will significantly increase your work speed. Now that everything is set up, let's start to work on our text design.

2. How to Create the Outline of the Text Design

Step 1

Pick the Rectangle Tool (M) and focus on your toolbar. Remove the color from the fill and then select the stroke and set its color to black (R=137 G=147 B=150). Move to your artboard and simply create a 90 x 30 px shape—the grid and the Snap to Grid should make it easier.

Make sure that your shape stays selected and open the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance). Click the "Stroke" piece of text to open the Stroke fly-out panel, set the Weight to 5 px, and check the Align Stroke to Inside button.

Step 2

Using the same tool and the same Appearance attributes, add an 80 x 30 px shape and place it as shown in the first image.

Add a second 90 x 30 px shape and place it as shown in the second image. Create a second 80 x 30 px shape and a new 90 x 30 px shape. Place these rectangles as shown in the third image. In the end, these shapes will form the letter "S". Your overall letter should be 90 px wide and 130 px long. Keep these overall dimensions in mind, and try to use them for the rest of the letters.

Step 3

Using the same tools and Appearance attributes, create the remaining letters from the "STAINED" word, as shown in the following image.

Here's how you make the oblique shape used for the letter "N". Create a 130 x 30 px shape and pick the Direct Selection Tool (A). Select the bottom anchor points and drag them 60 px to the right.

Step 4

Using the same tools and Appearance attributes, create the letters for the "GLASS" word. This will be the starting outline of your text design.

Step 5

Select all the shapes made so far and add copies in front (Control-C > Control-F). Select only these copies, open the Pathfinder panel (Window > Pathfinder), and click the Unite button.

Select the resulting shapes and focus on the Appearance panel. Remove the stroke color, select the fill, and set the color to R=57 G=181 B=74. Make sure that your green shapes are selected and hit Control-8 (or go to Object > Compound Path > Make) to turn them into one compound path. With your compound path still selected, hit Shift-Control-[ to send it to back (behind all the other shapes).

Step 6

For the following two steps, you will need a grid every 1 px. Just go to Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid and enter 1 in the Gridline every box.

Focus on the letter "S" from the first word. Pick the Pen Tool (P) and create a simple path roughly as shown in the first image. Add a 3 px stroke for this new path and set its color to black. Using the same tool and Appearance attributes, add a bunch of paths connecting the edges of the letter, as shown in the following images.

Step 7

Focus on the rest of the letters and use the technique mentioned in the previous step to add the paths inside the letters, as shown in the first image.

Pick the Move Tool (M) and select everything. Hold Shift and click the green path to deselect it. Now that only the black paths are selected, go to Object > Path > Outline Stroke.

Step 8

Return to gridline every 10 px. Simply go to Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid and enter 10 in the Gridline every box.

Select one of your black shapes and go to Select > Same > Fill Color to easily select all the shapes with a black fill color. Click the Unite button from the Pathfinder panel and hit Control-8 to turn the resulting shapes into one compound path. Select it and switch to the Direct Selection Tool (A). Enter 2 px in the Corners box from the control panel, and change the fill color to R=46 G=51 B=85. This final shape will be the main frame of your text effect.