Tip of the Week: Making Neon Type Effects

You can combine multiple letters into one continuous shape that looks like neon–without leaving InDesign! Start with a heavy, monoweight typeface, such as VAG Rounded Bold (A). Convert the text to outlines (Type > Create Outlines). For the T and W, overlapping the letter shapes is sufficient, but for the other letter combinations you’ll need connectors (derived from a rotated I, hyphen or other useful character). Overlap them as necessary to bridge the gaps (B). Tweak their shapes with the Direct Selection tool to ensure smooth joins, then combine the letters into one shape (Object > Pathfinder). The combined result shows several unnecessary anchor points, which you must remove with the Delete Anchor Point tool (C). Finally, apply fill and stroke colors (D).