How to Use Extrude in Illustrator for Type

When creating signs, ads or other documents, you often want the text itself to serve a visual role as well as communicate a message. One way to do this is to create a 3D effect for the text as though it has been extruded. If you are using the Adobe vector graphics application Illustrator to create your design, it is simple to create this effect.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

1. • 1
     Open Adobe Illustrator. Select "File" from the menu and choose "open." In the dialog that appears, locate and open a document containing some text you would like to apply a 3D extruded effect to.
   • 2
     Select the text you want to apply the effect to. Select "Effect" from the menu and choose "Warp." From the options, choose "Arc." A dialog will open.
   • 3
     Set the "Bend" to 10 and the "Horizontal Distortion" to -30. Click "OK."
   • 4
     Select "Effect" from the menu and choose "3D." From the options, choose "Extrude and Bevel." In the dialog, rotate the preview cube to get the angle you want and set the "Extrude Depth" to 20. Change the "Surface" to wireframe and click "OK." Save your work.