Skew
Shear the outline — italics, cast shadows, faked angles.
Skew slides one axis in proportion to the other. It is the simplest deformer here and one of the most used, because a lean is half of what sells a perspective.
Unlike a CSS skew this happens in vertex space, so a sheared shape can still be a Boolean cutter or a Morph target and stay exact.
When to reach for it#
- Italicising a logotype that has been converted to outlines.
- Cast shadows — duplicate the shape, fill it dark, skew it, and squash it with Taper.
- Isometric-looking panels built from flat rectangles.
Parameters#
How far the shape leans, in degrees. 10–15 is a convincing italic. Past about 60 the shape is mostly diagonal and reads as a parallelogram rather than a leaning object.
Horizontally leans the shape left or right, which is the italic case. Vertically shears it up and down, which reads as a viewing angle.
The line that stays put, in percent of the cross axis. 100 keeps the bottom edge planted, which is what you want for a shadow or a standing object. 50 leans around the middle.
See also#
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