Creating Artistic Background

In this tutorial we will learn how to draw a page background. The background drawing can include images, texts, and shapes. We will create an artistic background (example pictured below) with shadowed text and decorative rectangle. Also we will place a partially transparent rectangle above, to smooth down the drawing colors.

Decorative RectangleText with shadow

This tutorial helps you to learn how to place own graphic to page background instead of using color or picture as background.

Step 1: Creating a background drawing

A custom drawn background contains several Actual Drawing's layers like texts, images and shapes. To make the custom drawn background visible in Internet Browser, Actual Drawing converts it to a .GIF or .JPG file. A custom drawn background is editable at any time.

To create background the background drawing

1. Select Page Properties from the Modify menu.
2. The Page Properties dialog box appears.
3. Select the Background tab in the Page Properties dialog box.
4. Set background type - Drawing.
5. Press the Edit Drawing button to create the custom drawn background.

Step 2: Adding content to the background drawing

Setting Color of the Drawing background.

• Set the background filling color: .

Adding Text.

1. Press the button to add the background text.
2. Click anywhere in the drawing area and drag away (in any direction) from this point to size the text frame. The text frame is created when you release the mouse button. The text cursor appears at the top left corner of the frame.
3. Type the background text (it can be any text).
4. Set text font: Arial, text color: , color of the text background: , and the text style: Bold and Italic.
5. Click to check the Transparent check box to make text transparent.
6. Click the Shadow enabled check-box, in the Shadow tab.
7. Set shadow color: .

Adding decorative rectangle.

1. Click the button.
2. Click the Color button and select the color.

   

3. Click the two-color filling button.
4. Click the 2nd filling color button and select the color.
5. Click the Velveteen fill color.
6. Type 180 in the Filling Angle box.

Adding partially transparent rectangle

The partially transparent rectangle smoothes the background colors.

1. Click the button.
2. Click the Color button and select the color.
3. In the Opacity tab set the rectangle opacity: 95%.
4. Click Ok to save the page background.