shadowtext.tex

%% This is file `shadowtext.tex',
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\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{xcolor}
\usepackage{fullpage}
\usepackage{shadowtext}
\usepackage{multicol}

\shadowbboxmode{text}


\begin{document}
\title{\bf The 
\shadowcolor{black!30!white}\shadowoffset{1.5pt}\shadowtext{shadowtext}
package \\ \bigskip \normalfont\small Version 0.4}
\author{Y. Zwols (yz2198@columbia.edu)}
\maketitle

\shadowoffset{1pt}
\parindent=0pt
\parskip=8pt

\section{Usage}
The shadowtext package introduces a new command, namely the {\tt $\backslash$shadowtext} command. This is a box
that adds a shadow behind text. Its usage is simple. The following code and its output illustrates the usage. 

\begin{minipage}{\textwidth}
\begin{multicols*}{2} 
{\footnotesize
\begin{verbatim}
\shadowtext{This is a text with a shadow}
\end{verbatim}}

\shadowtext{This is a text with a shadow}
\end{multicols*}
\end{minipage}

\section{Changing the position of the shadow}
The position of the shadow consists of two components: a horizontal offset and a vertical offset. 
The package offers two ways of changing the position of the shadow. The first and easiest way of 
changing the position is by using the {\tt $\backslash$setshadowoffset} command. This commands
sets the horizontal and vertical offset simultaneously. For example:

\begin{minipage}{\textwidth}
\begin{multicols*}{2} 
{\footnotesize
\begin{verbatim}
\shadowoffset{2pt}
\shadowtext{This is a text with a shadow}
\end{verbatim}}

\shadowoffset{2pt}
\shadowtext{This is a text with a shadow}
\end{multicols*}
\end{minipage}

Alternatively, one may use the commands {\tt shadowoffsetx} and {\tt shadowoffsety} to independently change
the horizontal and vertical offset. For example:

\begin{minipage}{\textwidth}
\begin{multicols*}{2} 
{\footnotesize
\begin{verbatim}
\shadowoffsetx{1pt}
\shadowoffsety{2pt}
\shadowtext{This is a text with a shadow}
\end{verbatim}}

\shadowoffsetx{1pt}
\shadowoffsety{2pt}
\shadowtext{This is a text with a shadow}\\
\phantom{}
\end{multicols*}
\end{minipage}

Also, by setting the offset to a negative number, it is possible to 
make shadows in other directions, as the following example shows:

\begin{minipage}{\textwidth}
\begin{multicols*}{2} 
{\footnotesize
\begin{verbatim}
\shadowoffsetx{-2pt}
\shadowoffsety{2pt}
\shadowtext{This is a text with a shadow}
\end{verbatim}}

\shadowoffsetx{-2pt}
\shadowoffsety{2pt}
\shadowtext{This is a text with a shadow}\\
\phantom{}
\end{multicols*}
\end{minipage}

\section{Changing the color of the shadow}
The color of the shadow may be changed by using the {\tt shadowcolor} and {\tt shadowrgb} commands.\footnote{Internally, the 
package uses the {\tt $\backslash$color} command from the color package to set its color} 
The {\tt shadowcolor} command takes as an argument the name of a color, whereas {\tt shadowrgb} takes a comma-separated list of red, green, blue
values. For example, the following code adds a blueish shadow using {\tt $\backslash$shadowcolor}:

\begin{minipage}{\textwidth}
\begin{multicols*}{2} 
{\footnotesize
\begin{verbatim}
\shadowoffset{1pt}
\shadowcolor{blue!40!white}
\shadowtext{This is a text with a shadow}
\end{verbatim}}

\shadowoffset{1pt}
\shadowcolor{blue!40!white}
\shadowtext{This is a text with a shadow}\\
\phantom{}
\end{multicols*}
\end{minipage}

The following code produces a red shadow using {\tt $\backslash$shadowrgb}:

\begin{minipage}{\textwidth}
\begin{multicols*}{2} 
{\footnotesize
\begin{verbatim}
\shadowoffset{1pt}
\shadowrgb{1.0, 0.5, 0.5}
\shadowtext{This is a text with a shadow}
\end{verbatim}}

\shadowoffset{1pt}
\shadowrgb{1.0, 0.5, 0.5}
\shadowtext{This is a text with a shadow}\\
\phantom{}
\end{multicols*}
\end{minipage}

\section{Changing the bounding box}
There are two natural choices for the bounding box around the shadow text. The
first choice is the bounding box around the main text; the second
is the bounding box around the main text plus its shadow. These two choices are 
referred to as the \textit{text} mode and the \textit{full} mode, respectively.
They can be activated by the commands {\tt $\backslash$shadowbboxmode\{text\}}
and {\tt $\backslash$shadowbboxmode\{full\}} commands, respectively.
For backwards compatibility reasons, the default bounding box mode is ``full''.

\fboxsep=0pt
\newcommand{\myfbox}[1]{{\color{blue!50!white}{\fbox{\normalcolor#1}}}}

\subsection{``Full'' bounding box mode}
This mode is activated by {\tt $\backslash$shadowbboxmode\{full\}}. The following output demonstrates (and tests) its effect. The boxes are shown in blue in the second column.

\shadowbboxmode{full}
\renewcommand\arraystretch{2}
\begin{tabular}{@{}l@{\qquad}l@{\qquad}l}
\textbf{Shadow position} & \textbf{Inside framebox} & \textbf{Without framebox} \\
Above left 
& \shadowoffset{-6pt} This is a \myfbox{\shadowtext{great}} package!
& \shadowoffset{-6pt} This is a \shadowtext{great} package! \\
Below left 
& \shadowoffsetx{-6pt}\shadowoffsety{6pt} This is a \myfbox{\shadowtext{great}} package!
& \shadowoffsetx{-6pt}\shadowoffsety{6pt} This is a \shadowtext{great} package! \\
Above right
& \shadowoffsetx{6pt}\shadowoffsety{-6pt} This is a \myfbox{\shadowtext{great}} package!
& \shadowoffsetx{6pt}\shadowoffsety{-6pt} This is a \shadowtext{great} package! \\
Below right 
& \shadowoffset{6pt} This is a \myfbox{\shadowtext{great}} package!
& \shadowoffset{6pt} This is a \shadowtext{great} package! \\
\end{tabular}


\subsection{``Text'' bounding box mode}
This mode is activated by {\tt $\backslash$shadowbboxmode\{text\}}. The following output demonstrates (and tests) its effect. The boxes are shown in blue in the second column.

\shadowbboxmode{text}
\renewcommand\arraystretch{2}
\begin{tabular}{@{}l@{\qquad}l@{\qquad}l}
\textbf{Shadow position} & \textbf{Inside framebox} & \textbf{Without framebox} \\
Above left 
& \shadowoffset{-6pt} This is a \myfbox{\shadowtext{great}} package!
& \shadowoffset{-6pt} This is a \shadowtext{great} package! \\
Below left 
& \shadowoffsetx{-6pt}\shadowoffsety{6pt} This is a \myfbox{\shadowtext{great}} package!
& \shadowoffsetx{-6pt}\shadowoffsety{6pt} This is a \shadowtext{great} package! \\
Above right
& \shadowoffsetx{6pt}\shadowoffsety{-6pt} This is a \myfbox{\shadowtext{great}} package!
& \shadowoffsetx{6pt}\shadowoffsety{-6pt} This is a \shadowtext{great} package! \\
Below right 
& \shadowoffset{6pt} This is a \myfbox{\shadowtext{great}} package!
& \shadowoffset{6pt} This is a \shadowtext{great} package! \\
\end{tabular}


\section{More examples}
The following code illustrates how to use shadowtext in more interesting settings:

\definecolor{navy}{rgb}{0,0,0.5}

\begin{minipage}{\textwidth}
\begin{multicols*}{2} 
{\footnotesize
\begin{verbatim}
\definecolor{navy}{rgb}{0,0,0.5}
\shadowrgb{0.8, 0.8, 1}
\shadowoffset{1pt}
\shadowtext{
   \color{navy}
   \fontsize{16}{16}\selectfont
   Large!}
\end{verbatim}}

\color{navy}
\shadowrgb{0.8, 0.8, 1}
\shadowoffset{2pt}
\shadowtext{\fontsize{16}{16}\selectfont \textbf{Large!}}\\
\phantom{}\\
\phantom{}\\
\phantom{}
\end{multicols*}
\end{minipage}


\color{black}




\begin{minipage}{\textwidth}
\begin{multicols*}{2} 
{\footnotesize
\begin{verbatim}
\shadowoffset{1pt}
\color{black}
\shadowtext{%
   \begin{tabular}{|l|l|}
   \hline
   1 & 2 \\
   3 & 4 \\
   \hline
   \end{tabular}
}
\end{verbatim}}

\shadowoffset{1pt}
\shadowtext{
   \begin{tabular}{|l|l|}
   \hline
   1 & 2 \\
   3 & 4 \\
   \hline
   \end{tabular}
}
\phantom{}\\
\phantom{}\\
\phantom{}\\
\phantom{}\\
\phantom{}\\
\phantom{}
\end{multicols*}
\end{minipage}





\begin{minipage}{\textwidth}
\begin{multicols*}{2} 
{\footnotesize
\begin{verbatim}
\shadowoffset{1pt}
\shadowtext{$\sqrt{2\pi}e^{-n}$}
\end{verbatim}}

\shadowoffset{1pt}
\shadowtext{$\sqrt{2\pi}e^{-n}$}\\
\phantom{}
\end{multicols*}
\end{minipage}

\color{black}

\begin{minipage}{\textwidth}
\begin{multicols*}{2} 
{\footnotesize
\begin{verbatim}
\shadowoffset{2pt}
\shadowtext{
   \color{navy}%
   \fontencoding{T1}%
   \fontfamily{pag}%
   \fontseries{b}%
   \fontsize{32}{32}%
   \selectfont%
   Section \color{red}\arabic{section}%
}
\end{verbatim}}

\shadowoffset{2pt}
\shadowtext{
   \color{navy}%
   \fontencoding{T1}%
   \fontfamily{pag}%
   \fontseries{b}%
   \fontsize{32}{32}%
   \selectfont%
   Section \color{red}\arabic{section}
}
\phantom{}\\
\phantom{}\\
\phantom{}\\
\phantom{}\\
\phantom{}\\
\end{multicols*}
\end{minipage}


\section{Limitations}
\shadowcolor{black!20!white}\shadowtext{Currently, the {\tt $\backslash$shadowtext} command does not support line breaks. In that respect, it behave like e.g. {\tt $\backslash$mbox} and {\tt $\backslash$fbox}.} (The previous sentence purposely runs into the margin to illustrate this limitation.)



\end{document}