Why some filter effects work on text object while blur does not?

Audio and Graphics
#1

Is this some bug? since a lot of the fill effects work on text objects (like iris, opTile and even polkaDots), but the blur effect, which would be super useful to create some very well needed text effects like glow and a normal drop shadow, but we can’t do it and it does not work.

A bug? some technical issue to blur specifically text?

And while we’re on the subject, since blur does not work on texts, does anybody know of a way to make a glow effect on text in Corona?

Thanks.

#2

Hi @formatc,

There is some technical reason that blur doesn’t work on text (which escapes me at the moment). However, I believe you can get a “glow” effect by duplicating the text object, adding the underlying one to a snapshot, and applying the blur effect to the snapshot.

Note, however, that this still may not be the effect you really want. Why? Because if you consider the “glow” effect in applications like Photoshop, it applies the blur/glow in an outwardly direction, i.e. extending outward from the object’s outlines. If you mimic what I suggest in Photoshop (making two identical text objects and blurring the underneath one), you’ll see that it blurs evenly in both an inward and outward direction, just as Corona would do. Thus, the “glow” effect probably wouldn’t be defined enough.

You may be able to apply an “add” blend to the blurred object and, depending on what’s underneath, it may punch upward in intensity as a result. I think you’ll just need to experiment. :slight_smile:

Best regards,

Brent

#3

Thanks for the information Brent, it is very useful, now I need to find out how to snapshot my text, I’ll try different variants of the blur, maybe on more then one copy of the text, to make it strong enough for the effect I’m looking for.

Yuval.

P.S.

It would be really nice to have an effect library for text, but I’m sure you get requests for this daily.

#4

Hi @formatc,

There is some technical reason that blur doesn’t work on text (which escapes me at the moment). However, I believe you can get a “glow” effect by duplicating the text object, adding the underlying one to a snapshot, and applying the blur effect to the snapshot.

Note, however, that this still may not be the effect you really want. Why? Because if you consider the “glow” effect in applications like Photoshop, it applies the blur/glow in an outwardly direction, i.e. extending outward from the object’s outlines. If you mimic what I suggest in Photoshop (making two identical text objects and blurring the underneath one), you’ll see that it blurs evenly in both an inward and outward direction, just as Corona would do. Thus, the “glow” effect probably wouldn’t be defined enough.

You may be able to apply an “add” blend to the blurred object and, depending on what’s underneath, it may punch upward in intensity as a result. I think you’ll just need to experiment. :slight_smile:

Best regards,

Brent

#5

Thanks for the information Brent, it is very useful, now I need to find out how to snapshot my text, I’ll try different variants of the blur, maybe on more then one copy of the text, to make it strong enough for the effect I’m looking for.

Yuval.

P.S.

It would be really nice to have an effect library for text, but I’m sure you get requests for this daily.

#6

Ah! Just came across this. Could it be added to the filter and effects guide for future reference?

http://docs.coronalabs.com/guide/graphics/effects.html

Possibly a warning for the simulator too?

#7

Ah! Just came across this. Could it be added to the filter and effects guide for future reference?

http://docs.coronalabs.com/guide/graphics/effects.html

Possibly a warning for the simulator too?