Systems and methods for applying effects to design elements

A computer processing system comprising:

• a processing unit;
• a display;
• and
• non-transient computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which when executed by the processing unit, cause the processing unit to:
• display, on the display, a text effect selection control;
• detect a first user input activating the text effect selection control;
• and
• in response to the first user input:
• determine a selected design element, the selected design element being a text element displayed on a page;
• automatically generate a first shadow for the selected design element, the first shadow having a first colour, a first direction, a first offset, and a first opacity;
• automatically generate a second shadow for the selected design element, the second shadow having the first colour, the first direction, a second offset, and a second opacity, wherein the second offset is greater than the first offset and the second opacity is less than the first opacity;
• and
• display the first shadow and the second shadow behind the selected design element.