Hi, just two example documents I made while testing arbitrary paths with the 'drops' module. I plan to release the module soon, so this is not more than an appetizer. The code is still messy and unfinished, but I probably don't have the time to change that. Creating the examples took away all my free time. Take it as it is or just wait two more years.. Now, before I write down the download link some ** SERIOUS WARNING!!! I MEAN SERIOUS!!! SOMEWHAT SERIOUS!!! ** Both documents use a considerable number of graphics and can significantly slow down or even freeze your hardware. Open the examples at your own risk (especially with products from Adobe)! [whew, just lost 87% of the viewers here] A 2-3 years old PC should be able to handle the examples in acceptable time (judging from my hardware). But not only hardware power is needed, the software can be crucial too. Viewers tested so far (rating in front), all on Windows 7. [++] SumatraPDF: no problems, lightning speed and very good viewing quality (love it!) [+] PDFExchangeViewer: no problems, good speed (you can still watch how the graphics are stacked) and viewing quality (color management if off though) [--] Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro: 'out of memory' error after three pages (puddle), very slow speed, probably best viewing quality A real shame that the only viewer with problems is from the inventor of PDF. The 'pile' example from 2012 even crashed the viewer (v10), so this is still an improvement. Just let me know if there are any general problems. I will file a bug report then. Finally, the download link (you have been warned) :-D https://spideroak.com/browse/share/indiego/public/ConTeXt/drops/ Some technical info about the examples: [sigh, lost all my viewers right here] leafs: 150 leafs (six different colored bitmaps), resolution = 300ppi based on this graphic (thanks for sharing) http://openclipart.org/detail/10517/leaf-by-yves_guillou-10517 puddle: 200 MP graphics, resolution = 600ppi Only one shadow graphic is created for the main object (which is also reused then). Variation comes from scaling/rotation. The big 'drops' text in Copperplate is a MP graphic, but in theory it should be possible to add shadows to glyph paths. We will see. To ensure the readability of the few other text elements, both documents use the drops module to lighten the underlying background. A simple 'boxshadow' with a bright shadowcolor and a proper radius (maybe plus some offset) is all you need for that. This is a feature that I always wanted, way better than editing/creating the background areas by hand (correct position/size? a lot of try and error, a real pita). All done on the fly now, which is nice (me lazy). [OK.. all said, stopping now; so much text for a stupid link] Have fun, Peter