
Inkscape 0.48 Illustrator's Cookbook

Lighting effects can make a flat object, such as a label, acquire the three dimensional look of a button through the use of highlights and shadows. Inkscape comes with Diffuse light and Specular light filters that create soft light sources, such as those produced by rays of sunlight shining on a wall, or reflected light sources.
This recipe will show us how we can use those filters to give our viewer an illusion of three dimensions.
The following steps will demonstrate how to use lighting effects:
1. Select the Star tool (Shift + F9 or *) and create a star with four corners. Set Spoke ratio: to 0.477 and Rounded: to 0.14. Set its fill to a color you like (we used #0066FF in the picture) and remove the stroke. Stamp it three times (Space) to get four stars in total.
2. Select one star and apply the Diffuse light filter to it by going to Filters | ABCs | Diffuse light. Notice how the object appears to be three dimensional, being lit by a distant light...
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