Shape & ContourShaping and giving a tableart piece contour are two different things and are done in different ways. When we speak of shape we are speaking of the outside line between the piece and the background color. The "outline" if you will. That outline is determined by the width of the tables used. The smoothness of it is determined by the row height and width increases. Row heights of 3 pixels will produce very smooth tabling in combination with 2pixel increases each side. To get the topigraphical resolution or shading we use the colors and angles along the width of the table. So we need a section of the table we can change "within" the object. To do this we use more cells across...Our standard 90 angles are used on the ends of the row for the "outline". Between them we put one or more cells varying the colors and angles. In this example you can see the outline of the cow as the widths are varied going down but you can also see the contour in how the gradients change down the page...Example In the first example below. We have our 90 angles on each side. And in the middle a td cell with only a bgcolor. The size of the center cell increases by two with each row and then decreases by two each row creating a Diamond shape, the outside td cells are static at 10. The diamond shape is created by actually increasing the size of the table outward and then in again. This creates the outline...
In the following example we've increased the center cell by two AND we have decreased each outside cell by one. This keeps the size of the table fixed but still gives the diamond shape....this is the contour. The outside shape has not changed but we have a diamond shape.
Using a combination of these techniques will bring your tableart more demension and life. Start with some easy shapes like a diamond or hourglass and you'll soon get the hang of it.
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