Create Halo

The Create Halo tool creates halo graphic styles and applies halos to MAP layers.

Requirements

Halos are immediately applied to a MAP layer. A Non-MAP layer cannot have halos directly created for them, however, graphic styles can be created and applied to Non-MAP layers manually.

Swatches and colours should be created before creating halos.

Using Create Halo

Click the Create Halo button on the MAPublisher Toolbar or from the menu Object > MAPublisher > Create Halo.

Halo Type

There are two halo types: Regular and Simple. Simple does not have the Apply to a layer group option and the Create style option available. This means that halos can be applied to a MAP layer without creating a graphic style.

Appearance

Set halo appearance settings based on Colour, Size, Opacity and Feather. All appearance settings can be seen in the preview display.

The Colour drop-down box is populated with swatches from the Adobe Illustrator Swatches panel. The Size setting affects the halo size. By default, the Size units are in pixels. Right-click the Size box to choose different units. Use the Opacity slider or spin box to adjust the transparency of the halo (0% for no halo, 100% for opaque). The Use feather option creates a soft gradient around the halo (default of 5.0 pixels). Increase feathering for a softer appearance, decrease feathering for a sharper appearance.

Output

Halos can be applied to one MAP layer at a time. Choose a Target layer from the drop-down list. Next, choose how the halo is applied. Three options are available: the Apply to layer group option (for Regular type halo only), Apply to all art on layer, or to Apply to selected art on layer.

For Regular type halos, a graphic style can be created. Graphic styles are saved to the Adobe Illustrator Graphic Style panel and can be used at a later time. To create one, click the Create style checkbox and enter a unique name. This is not available for Simple type halos.

Preview

The preview provides an idea of what the halo may look like on the artwork of your MAP layer. There are four preview types: Area, Line, Point and Text. The Area and Line preview provides a link to change the fill, color and stroke of the preview feature. The Point preview provides options to choose a symbol from the Symbol drop-down list. The Text preview provides a link to change text options such as colour and size.  For all types, the background colour can be adjusted (by default, no colour is set). These Preview options do not affect the halo and only provide you with an idea of what the halo may look like in a combination of settings.

Results

Halos applied to a MAP layer are immediately visible (text example below). The Adobe Illustrator Appearance panel shows that there is a Fill (halo) positioned at the bottom for this Type object. The halo can be adjusted in the panel. This may be useful in cases where a few outliers need some fine-tuning to make them more visually appealing.

When enabled, halo graphic styles are saved to the Adobe Illustrator Graphic Styles panel.