One of my favorite go-to tricks for making text stand out from a complex background is to apply a glow that will separate it from the layer below. It is a fairly straightforward procedure that goes like this:
For text against a busy background:
- Select the text, place your cursor in the text as though you were going to edit and then press Control + A to select all the text.
- From the top menu select Format > Text Effects > Glow
- The flyout menu shows a variety of standard glow presets you can use. I usually go right to the bottom: Glow Options
- A panel will appear at the right with custom glow options. The first will be Presets and will show you all the standard presets you had in the previous flyout.
- In the next selection, Color, you will be able to specify the color of the glow. In the example above I selected a bright orange. Perhaps 90% of the time I will choose white.
- Play around with different values in the two remaining selections: Size (I selected 45 pt) and Transparency (I left it at 0%) to get the effect that works best for your situation.
Cool, huh? Enjoy the glow!
