How to Create a Quick Rainbow Pride Text Effect in Adobe InDesign

Celebrate Pride Month this June with this optimistic, rainbow text effect, perfect for adding to posters or flyers.

It's quick and easy to create in InDesign, and it's suitable for beginners to the software.

If you want to make your design unique, you can easily switch up the font to create a very different look. Head over toGraphicRiverorEnvato Elementsto sourceperfect fontsfor your next project.

Let’s get started!

What You’ll Need to Create Your Text Effect

You’ll need to download the following font and image files from Envato Elements to create your effect:

• Auro font
• Vintage line textures

1.How to Create Curved Typography

Step 1

Open InDesign and create a new document at any size. Here, I’ve opted for an A3 Landscape page. Click Create.

Step 2

Expand the Layers panel (Window > Layers) and double-click on Layer 1. Rename it Background and click OK.

Choose New Layer from the panel’s drop-down menu, and name this second layer Rainbow shadow.

Repeat to create two more new layers—Type, and finally, Texture.

Lock all layers except Background, which we’ll work on first.

Step 3

Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to create a shape across the whole page.

From the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches), set the Fill Color to [Black].

Step 4

Lock the Background layer and unlock the Type layer.

Switch to the Ellipse Tool (L) and drag across the page to create a wide oval, before centering it across the bottom half of the page. Make sure both the Fill and Stroke Color are set to [None].

Switch to the Type on a Path Tool (Shift-T) and click once on the top-left corner of the oval, to transform it into a text path.

Step 5

Type ‘PRIDE’ onto the text path, and from either the top Controls panel or the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character), set the Font to Auro Black.

Adjust the Font Color to [Paper].

Step 6

Select the oval text path and go to Object > Effects > Drop Shadow, to add a shadow to the ‘PRIDE’ text.

Bring the Opacity of the shadow down to around 13%, and set the Distance to 2 mm, Size to 1.764 mm and Noise to 16%.

Click OK to exit the window and apply the effect.

2. How to Create a Rainbow Shadow Effect

Step 1

In the Swatches panel, choose New Color Swatch from the panel’s drop-down menu.

With the Type set to Process and Mode to CMYK, set the levels to C=78 M=94 Y=6 K=1. Click Add and Done.

Repeat the process to create a further eight new CMYK swatches:

• C=36 M=94 Y=0 K=0
• C=97 M=89 Y=0 K=0
• C=72 M=1 Y=13 K=0
• C=78 M=0 Y=87 K=0
• C=0 M=84 Y=87 K=0
• C=0 M=96 Y=82 K=0
• C=0 M=18 Y=92 K=0
• C=5 M=0 Y=82 K=0

Step 2

Lock the Type layer and unlock the Rainbow shadow layer.

Use the Pen Tool (P) to draw a triangular shape from roughly the vertical center point of the oval (you might want to drag out a guide from the left-hand ruler to mark this out), up to meet the bottom-left edge of the letter ‘P’.

Set the Fill of the shape to your new red swatch, C=0 M=96 Y=82 K=0.

Step 3

Use the Pen Tool to create the next triangular section of shadow, meeting the right edge of the ‘P’, and meeting at the center point in the same place as the first shadow.

Set the Fill to the orange swatch, C=0 M=84 Y=87 K=0.

Continue to create more triangular sections of shadow as you move across the page, using the swatches in your color palette to build up a complete rainbow effect.

Step 4

When you’ve finished, select all the shadow shapes and Right-Click > Group.

With the group selected, go to Object > Effects > Outer Glow. Bring the Opacity down to 45%, and set the Size to 6 mm, Noise to about 10%, and Spread to 20%.

Click OK to exit.

Step 5

Lock the Rainbow shadow layer and unlock the top layer, Texture.

Use the Rectangle Frame Tool (F) to create an image frame across the whole page.

Go to File > Place and navigate to the ‘LineTexture11.eps’ file in the vintage line texturesfolder you downloaded earlier. Click Open, and allow the texture to fill the whole frame.

Step 6

With the texture image frame selected, go to Object > Effects > Transparency.

Set the Mode to Multiply and bring the Opacity down to 10%. Click OK to exit.

Conclusion

Your text effect is finished—great job! Why not copy the effect over to a poster or flyer layout, and use it to celebrate Pride this June?

You can find more great fonts for creating type effects over onGraphicRiverandEnvato Elements.