You can download the Illustrator file here with the shapes I used.

You can also see this technique demonstrated in video here:

1

Draw a simple path that outlines the silhouette of the product chopped in half to create a basic object. I drew half of a bottle. Later we’ll revolve the art around the Y-axis to create the complete effect and then map the product logo and art onto the surfaces.

2

Set the Stroke to None and set the Fill to the primary color you want for your product. Create the art that will be mapped to the surfaces of your product nearby so that you will have a clear sense of scale. I drew a rectangle with some text and a circle. You can use the Shape, Pen, or Pencil tools to draw and fill the shape with color.
–img-1

3

Next, select the art for the product’s surface and click the New Symbol icon at the base of the Symbols palette. Do this for each piece of art. In this example, all the items that make up the label should be one symbol and all of the objects that make the pattern for the cap are a second symbol. After you make the art into symbols, delete the original art from the page, leaving the half shape that we’ll make 3D.

4

Select the half shape we drew earlier and go to Effect>3D>Revolve. In the dialog, make sure that the Revolve Angle is set to 360° and the Cap is set to On. Set the X, Y, and Z rotation values as you desire.

5

Click the Map Art button. Click on the forward arrows to navigate through the surfaces. The currently selected surface will highlight with a red mesh in the document. Select an appropriate design for the surface from the Symbol drop-down menu in the Map Art dialog. A thumbnail of your pattern appears on the surface in the preview pane. Drag it around to position it, keeping in mind that dark gray areas are currently not visible in the document. If you have a second piece of art, map that one as well the same way on a different area and then click OK to exit all the way out to the document.
–img-2

6

Once back in the document, copy and paste the 3D object, or duplicate it by pressing Option (PC: Alt) and then click-and-drag the 3D object to another part of the canvas. Using the Selection tool, drag the new art away from the original.

7

With only the new art selected, open the Appearance palette (Window>Appearance). Locate the 3D Revolve (mapped) effect in the palette and double click on it. This opens up the options so that you can adjust them. Reset the rotation values to bring the art around so that it is back upright. The copied version of the art gets its own rotation values. This will eventually be the final frame in the animation, so we are bringing it back around to upright.
–img-3

8

Select both versions of the product and choose Object>Blend>Make. This will likely produce too few intermediate objects to be useful. Remember that each instance of the art will be a frame in an animation.

9

To add additional objects, leave the items selected and choose Object>Blend>Blend Options. Set the Spacing to Specified Steps and dial in the number of objects you want between the two. A good rule of thumb here is to figure out the time you want the animation to take and multiply it by the frames per second of your clip. So, if you had a half second animation running at 12 frames per second, you would need 6 objects. In that case you would need four steps in your blend (the original two objects, plus the four intermediate objects).

10

Adjust the blend as you see fit. You can move the individual objects and adjust their 3D settings.
–img-4

11

With the blend complete, let’s make a background. The key here is to set up the background art on one layer and the blend on another. Create a new layer by clicking on the New Layer button at the base of the Layers palette. In the Layers palette, drag the new layer below all of the other layers in the document. Move the background art onto the bottom layer by cutting and pasting it from another document or creating it within the bottom layer.
–img-5
–img-5b

12

Now let’s export the animation. Choose File: Export. In the Export dialog, choose Macromedia Flash (SWF) from the Format menu. Give the file a name and save location. Press Export.

13

In the Macromedia Flash (SWF) Format Options dialog, Select AI Layers to SWF Frames from the Export As menu.

14

Click the Animate Blends checkbox and select the In Sequence radio button. This replaces each object in each frame in the animation as it plays, rather than leaving them on the screen. The result is the illusion of motion. The alternate option In Build leaves each object in the frames on screen as it plays the next. I selected the Clip to Artboard Size to crop artwork outside of the document size, causing the art to come in from out of frame.

15

Check the Use as Background button and highlight the Background layer you made in the previous steps. This sets the contents of that layer as a backdrop for the animation. It will appear in every frame.
–img-5

16

Set the remaining options as desired. Usually, the default settings will be fine. Click OK.

Here’s the final result.

Highlights and shadows can be added to art in a number of ways. The method you choose will be determined by the needs of the image and the level of time and sophistication the project calls for. In this article, we’ll look at two common techniques: tint gradients and highlight/shadow objects.

Tint Gradients

A tint gradient is one that goes between two related colors. Usually it will be a color and a darker or lighter version of that same color. This is used to create simple shading and lighting effects. For example, when working on a portrait, you may wish to create a shadow under the chin of your subject. This can be done by starting with the flesh color of the neck and then creating a darker tint gradient. The dark end of the gradient is set up under the chin, creating the falling shadow. Conversely, to add blush to a cheek, you could use a radial gradient from a shadow version of the color

To set up a tint gradient, take the following steps:

1

Choose a color to begin with. In this example, it’s the basic flesh tone.

2

Making sure you don’t have anything selected, drag the starting color directly into the color ramp in the Gradient palette. A gradient slider will be created in the ramp.

3

Drag the gradient slider you have just created to the right or left in the ramp. Hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key as you drag. This creates a duplicate slider.

4

Delete all of the other sliders in the ramp by dragging them off the ramp. Only the two new sliders should remain, creating a one-color gradient.

5

Select one of the sliders to tint. To tint a process color, shift-drag one of the sliders in the Color palette. All of the sliders will move together, creating a lighter or darker version of the color. When making shadows, you may also add a little black to the color build as well.

6

Save the gradient as a swatch by clicking the New Swatch button in the Swatches palette. The gradient may be linear or radial, depending upon how it is to be used.

Here the base color of the face and neck is used as one of the steps in the shading gradients. In the neck, we blend from the face color to a darkened tint of the same color. In the cheeks, we just added magenta and blended to the surrounding face color.

Highlight & Shadow Objects

Blend modes are often used to create highlight and shadow colors automatically. The color of the top object and the colors of the items below are combined to produce the lighting effect. The colors are updated automatically as items are modified. This is often used in conjunction with masks and effects. Let’s set up a shadow or highlight using blending modes:

1

Select the item that will receive the highlight or shadow. Note the color of the object’s fill. If the fill is a gradient, pattern or style, try to get a sense of the overall color. You’ll use this color when creating the lighting effect objects. If the colors the lighting effect cover are too varied, consider using a representative color or gray.

2

Create an object that outlines the highlight or shadow area. Set the fill to the color of the object beneath it. Many users click with the Eyedropper tool on the lower object to sample the lower object’s fill. Do not apply a stroke to this object.

3

Set the lighting object’s blending mode to Multiply to create a shadow version of the color. Set it to Screen to create a highlight. In some cases, Soft Light or Hard Light will produce good results as well.

4

If the lighting impact of the objects is too great, lower the Opacity of the blend. In the event that colors are incorrect, consider adjusting the colors of the top object.

5

To smooth out the effect, consider applying Effect: Blur: Gaussian Blur to the lighting objects.

Here, basic tones were set up using a gradient mesh. But to avoid spending time creating a super complex mesh, some highlights and shadows are added manually. The highlight fill is the same color as the cheek, but setting it to Screen makes it lighter. Giving it a blur smoothes the effect into the background. Conversely, the shadow object is also the same color as the skin but is set to Multiply.

Highlights and shadows can be added to art in a number of ways. The method you choose will be determined by the needs of the image and the level of time and sophistication the project calls for. In this article, we’ll look at two common techniques: tint gradients and highlight/shadow objects.

Tint Gradients

A tint gradient is one that goes between two related colors. Usually it will be a color and a darker or lighter version of that same color. This is used to create simple shading and lighting effects. For example, when working on a portrait, you may wish to create a shadow under the chin of your subject. This can be done by starting with the flesh color of the neck and then creating a darker tint gradient. The dark end of the gradient is set up under the chin, creating the falling shadow. Conversely, to add blush to a cheek, you could use a radial gradient from a shadow version of the color

To set up a tint gradient, take the following steps:

1

Choose a color to begin with. In this example, it’s the basic flesh tone.

2

Making sure you don’t have anything selected, drag the starting color directly into the color ramp in the Gradient palette. A gradient slider will be created in the ramp.

3

Drag the gradient slider you have just created to the right or left in the ramp. Hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key as you drag. This creates a duplicate slider.

4

Delete all of the other sliders in the ramp by dragging them off the ramp. Only the two new sliders should remain, creating a one-color gradient.

5

Select one of the sliders to tint. To tint a process color, shift-drag one of the sliders in the Color palette. All of the sliders will move together, creating a lighter or darker version of the color. When making shadows, you may also add a little black to the color build as well.

6

Save the gradient as a swatch by clicking the New Swatch button in the Swatches palette. The gradient may be linear or radial, depending upon how it is to be used.

Here the base color of the face and neck is used as one of the steps in the shading gradients. In the neck, we blend from the face color to a darkened tint of the same color. In the cheeks, we just added magenta and blended to the surrounding face color.

Highlight & Shadow Objects

Blend modes are often used to create highlight and shadow colors automatically. The color of the top object and the colors of the items below are combined to produce the lighting effect. The colors are updated automatically as items are modified. This is often used in conjunction with masks and effects. Let’s set up a shadow or highlight using blending modes:

1

Select the item that will receive the highlight or shadow. Note the color of the object’s fill. If the fill is a gradient, pattern or style, try to get a sense of the overall color. You’ll use this color when creating the lighting effect objects. If the colors the lighting effect cover are too varied, consider using a representative color or gray.

2

Create an object that outlines the highlight or shadow area. Set the fill to the color of the object beneath it. Many users click with the Eyedropper tool on the lower object to sample the lower object’s fill. Do not apply a stroke to this object.

3

Set the lighting object’s blending mode to Multiply to create a shadow version of the color. Set it to Screen to create a highlight. In some cases, Soft Light or Hard Light will produce good results as well.

4

If the lighting impact of the objects is too great, lower the Opacity of the blend. In the event that colors are incorrect, consider adjusting the colors of the top object.

5

To smooth out the effect, consider applying Effect: Blur: Gaussian Blur to the lighting objects.

Here, basic tones were set up using a gradient mesh. But to avoid spending time creating a super complex mesh, some highlights and shadows are added manually. The highlight fill is the same color as the cheek, but setting it to Screen makes it lighter. Giving it a blur smoothes the effect into the background. Conversely, the shadow object is also the same color as the skin but is set to Multiply.

If you want to have an offset box change with text when you change the point size or add to the text, try this technique. We’ll add dynamic frames to objects. This provides flexibility, especially when applied to type; you can change the text and the frame updates automatically.

1

To build the effect, first select the items that will get the frame and choose Add New Fill from the Appearance palette menu.

2

This will appear on top of the current attributes. You will want to drag it below the stuff you want to frame. For text or groups, put it below the Contents or Characters in the Appearance palette. With the Fill selected in the Appearance palette, change it’s color to something different than the text by clicking a color from the Color palette (Window>Color).

3

Next, while the Fill is still selected in the Appearance palette, select Effect>Convert to Shape>Rectangle (or Rounded Rectangle or Ellipse). Enter a number for an offset amount. Usually a relative amount works best, because the frame grows with the contents. When you added the new fill, a new stroke was added as well with a color of None. Click on the Stroke in the Appearance palette and add a color to it by clicking a color from the Color palette. Apply the Convert to Shape effect to the stroke as well to move the stroke to the shape instead of the text. You can quickly apply the last effect used by pressing Command-Shift-E (PC: Control-Shift-E).

4

Now when you resize the text, the box will move with it. When the effect is applied to text, the white space around the characters is used in determining the object’s size. If you later convert the text to outlines, that space is thrown out and the offset will be based on the new, smaller size.

As you change the text, the frame expands or contracts to match.

The Isolate Blending option in the Transparency dialog (Window>Transparency) helps create blending effects between specific objects rather than the entire document. Users often apply the command to the wrong item. Here we’ll go through a few steps to illustrate how you can be sure to apply the blend modes to the objects in the group and Isolate Blending to the group itself. [If you want to download the Illustrator file to follow along, download it here.]

Use Isolate Blending to limit the effect of an object’s blend mode to other objects that are grouped with it. This is often used when an object overlaps items in the document that wreck the effectiveness of its blend mode. For example, you may create a pleasant effect by using the Multiply blend mode on objects, but when the items are placed over a background, the effect becomes too dark. Here the color effect is created using the Multiply blend mode. The art looks great on top of white, but when placed on top of the background art, it becomes too dark.

Let’s fix this.

1

[ Selecting the objects ]
Select the objects that will get the blend mode and apply it by selecting the mode from the Transparency palette. If you’ve already grouped the objects in question, select them with the Direct Selection arrow so that you are certain you apply the blend mode to the object and not the group. Select the items and choose a blend mode from the Transparency palette. In this example, the objects all have 80% opacity. When set to Multiply, the objects darken where they cross.

2

[ Grouping the objects ]
Select the objects that have the blend mode and those that you want affected by it and choose Object>Group. Don’t forget that grouping objects moves them next to each other in the stacking order. Here the Layers palette shows clearly that grouped items are next to each other in the stacking order.

3

[ Customize blending options ]
With the entire group selected, click the Isolate Blending checkbox in the Transparency palette to isolate the blend. The effect of the blend mode will be limited to items within that group. Now objects in the group only blend with each other.

4

[ Final view of your project ]
Here’s the art on top other objects. Now the darkening effect doesn’t include the other objects because they aren’t grouped to the airplane art.

Tips:

• Don’t forget that groups themselves can have blend modes and opacity. This can be in addition to the effects the group’s members have.
• Watch out for applying both Knockout Group and Isolate Blend to the same group. The results may cancel each other out.
• Blending in general tends to be more forgiving in RGB mode. For example, in a CMYK file, blending colored objects against grayscale may result in an unwanted knockout effect.
• Blending spot color art typically converts it to process color.