[Hall of tricks]

In this exercise we will learn how to cut out a single piece of text inside a path. It took me a while to figure this one out. In the first sentence of this paragraph, I say 'a single piece of text' because I didn't figure out how to cut out many piece of text with different font and font size from a single path. There is a work around though but the quality of the image is slightly degraded. This will be the subject of another tutorial.

As shown in the above example, the word ARION is cut from the path. If there was a texture or an object passing behind the rounded corner rectangle you could see it (believe me.)  Actually, this is very simple to do, you just have to do each steps in the right sequence (that's what took me a while to find).

To achieve this, you MUST start by entering the text object.

• Create a new image of 400 wide x 100 height.
• Click the Text Tool, choose a Font and a Size and type your text.
• Once your done make sure your leave the text as a Path.
• The following figure represents what you should see.  To move the path, hover the mouse pointer over the path until it looks like a four-headed arrow. Click and drag the path in the middle of your workspace.

Now draw the rectangular path around the text.

• Click the Path Tool.
• Click the Color box and choose any dark color.
• From the Edit button (next to the Mode drop-down list), choose Rounded Rectangle.
• Starting higher and to the left of the text path, click and drag the rectangle until you surround the text path.  Don't get too close to the text path as in the following image.

• If you're not satisfied with the rectangle, click Undo (Ctrl+Z) and redo it.
• When you're done, select 3D Round from the Mode list.
• Drag the Border and Depth slider near the middle to have a better effect.

To show that the text was actually removed from the path as with a cookie cutter, add a drop-down shadow.  You'll be able to see the shadow below the rectangle.

• From the Edit button choose Shadow.
• Again from the Edit button choose Options, set the shadow options and click OK.

Here's another example of what you can do using this technique. This one took me less than five minutes to complete. I added a bump map (click on the Options button, then click the Bump tab.  Added a drop-down shadow and cropped the rectangle so the shadow could only be seen through the cutout letters (just an idea).