I have only seen this one in X4, and I'm not sure if I've seen anyone else post it, but it does seem easy to duplicate...

First, create some text and put a drop shadow on it. Looks normal. (Using a bold font will help the example)

Then add an outline and in the object properties, set the outline "behind fill."

The drop shadow is now hollow and only seems to be shadowing the outline. I'll attach an exported graphic of the issue in question. Has anyone else seen this, and is there a fix coming for it?

The top graphic has no outline and the shadow appears normal. The bottom one has a "behind fill" outline with an incorrect drop shadow.

Thanks

Interesting... I think the reason I have't discovered this, is because I usually convert to curvers when I get into the effects portion of my designs. Once it's no longer a font but a curve it doesn't exhibit this odd behavior with the outline.

Hi A.,

Wow, nice find. It happened on my system too.

Another reason why this exists... :-p

 Jeff looks like a great macro... the shadow definitely has a smoother overall shade. An issue that's bugged me for some time now however; are the corners in shadows, especially a box. Why can't the corners have a more pointed shape instead of curved/rounded?

Hi S,

I think by tweaking the feathering amount you can get what you want, even a hard edge (not shown). Here is the diff between 5 and 30.

stodare:

 Jeff looks like a great macro... the shadow definitely has a smoother overall shade. An issue that's bugged me for some time now however; are the corners in shadows, especially a box. Why can't the corners have a more pointed shape instead of curved/rounded?

Maybe you're right, the more you blow it out, the more rounded it will become. Still, it would be nice to keep the pointed corner more intact with a greater dispersion.  

This error was reported in the Beta cycle. Of course, it's a bug. You can find a workaround: don't use the "behind fill" option, and make a duplicate with the + key of the numeric keypad, and quit the outline to the duplicate.

Hope will be fixed in the SP2

Thanks for the info everyone. I'm glad it's not just me!

I've been using both workarounds mentioned here: using a duplicate underneath with a fill and no outline, and also simply converting the text to curves before either applying the shadow or the outline (but I've found you can't convert to curves last or the the erroneous shadow will remain).

I'll also check out the macro mentioned earlier too!