Help Need Making Centres of Letters Transparent 1

[Byn]

Hi Everyone,

Would someone please tell me how I can make the centres of letters transparent.

For an example, this is what I've got. I have a .psd image with with the word BOOT written in the middle of it. I used the extract command to extract the word BOOT from the image. The image I extracted wasn't exactly as I'd like it, so, because I intend to use the word in Illustrator, I placed the .psd file of the extracted word BOOT in an new Illustrator file. I then used the pen tool to redraw the word BOOT. What I wish to know now, is how do I make the centres of the letters B and O transparent so that when I copy the word BOOT to the Illustrator file where it's to be used, the centres of the letters are are transparent and I can read what's underneath them?

Thanks.

Byn

 

[MarcusStringer]

What you need to do is simply type the word BOOT in Illustrator. Unless it's something fancySchamcy.




Marcus

http://www.midlandtypesetters.com.au

 

[itchybug]

Byn:

Shift-F9 will bring up the Pathfinder Palette, and the second button top row is the "Subtract from Shape Area" command. Select the outside of the "B", and the center cutouts, make sure the cutouts are in front of the outline, and hit the Subtract button.

Or, you could select the whole letter, and go to Object>Compound Path>Make.

HTH

Bert

http://www.itchybug.com

 

[Byn]

Hi MarcusStringer & itchybug,

Thanks for your replies. Firstly, MarcusStringer, I unknowingly misled you a bit when I described the situation. It wasn't a simple matter of just typing the word, it was actually a signature I needed to reproduce but I thought it would be all the same.

Secondly, itchybug, likewise my description wasn't quite acurate but with a bit of fiddling with your solution I was able to achieve what I required. Fantastic.

As a relative newcomer to Photoshop & Illustrator, one of the most difficult things I've found is being able to find answers in manuals etc for problems such as this. The reason being that I don't know how to correctly describe the problem to find the solution in a manual. For instance, in this case, if I'd known to look at the pathfinder tool, I wouldn't have needed to come here and ask.

Thanks again to you both for your help.

Regards,

Byn

 

[itchybug]

Byn:

Anytime. That's what we're here for.

Bert

http://www.itchybug.com

 

[jmgalvin]

Bryn,

You probably could have created the needed transparency in Photoshop via a Clipping Path.

Open PS help/Search and search for "clipping path". Clipping paths save you from a lot of transparency headaches.

Using OSX 10.3.9 on a G4

 

[Byn]

Hi jmgalvin,

That's actually what I was hoping to do but due to inexperience it didn't quite work out that way so I had to tackle it from another angle. I experimented a bit with a few things but when I saved it as a .tiff file the quality was very poor. When I saved it as a .psd file, the quality was ok but the clipping mask didn't work.

Fortunately itchybug's solution, which will also be very helpful in the future, saved the day as I had to get this job finished.

As you say, clipping paths will cure a lot of transparency headaches so I'll now spend some time trying to sort out that method.

Thanks for your advice, it's much appreciated.

Byn