How to Add Decorative Glamour to Your Ordinary Script Font
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Sometimes you need to go a little bit wild with your typography. In these cases, you can either take the easy way and choose a fancy font from some of the free font site like Dafont or Urban Fonts, or get creative and give some extra sparkle to your ordinary font, creating a typographic design which can stand by itself. This tutorial, discusses this later option. Beware of the following boolean operations galore!
Every few weeks, we revisit some of our reader's favorite posts from throughout the history of the site. This tutorial was first published in July of 2009.
Final Image Preview
Below is the final image we will be working towards, as well as a few color variations. Want access to the full Vector Source files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Vector Plus for just 9$ a month.
For this tutorial, I used CorelDRAW but the techniques discussed apply for most vector editing software.
Step 1 – Type, Organize, and Choose the Font
Find the relationships in your copy and organize the text accordingly. For this tutorial, I’ve chosen a calligraphic font called Old Script from dafont.com, but any script font will do.
Step 2 – Convert to Curves and Break Apart
To modify the font we will need curves. Select your text and press Command + Q (convert to curves) and then press Command + K or use the Break Apart icon form the Property Bar, to break apart the components of the font. Since inner parts are separate elements we need to trim them from the rest of the character.
Step 3 – Trim Inner Parts
Shift-select the inner (I’ve altered their color to orange) and the outer parts of a character and press trim on the Property Bar. If you want to have more control over boolean operations, then you can turn on the Shaping docker from the Window menu. Then select the source object, press Trim, and select the target object with the special cursor.
Sometimes after the break apart operation the inner parts go behind the outer parts. In this case, select the outer part and press Shift + Page Down to send it to the back. It is always a good idea to have two different colors for boolean operations.
Step 4 – Give Some Flesh to the Characters
Select an individual letter and drag away. Before releasing your button, click with the right button and you will get a copy of the original shape. Repeat the copy operation, but this time move the copy to the left a little bit to have two overlapping shapes.
Step 5 – Trim and Break
Select the two overlapping copies and click the Trim icon on the toolbar. Select the resulting shape and press Command + K to break apart.
Step 6 – Weld
Move away some of the resulting shapes to the right and weld the rest. The goal is to achieve a more dynamic look by increasing the difference between the thick and thin parts of the character. I find steps 4-6 the easiest way, but you can use any other techniques to achieve the desired alteration.
Step 7 – Clean Up Messy Curves
Remove unneeded nodes to have a clean flowing curve. Select the Shape Tool (F10) and right-click on a point, then select Delete from the context menu, or simply double-click the node with the Shape Tool. After a boolean operations, always check for stray segment and undesired nodes.
Step 8 – Glamorizing Begins
Make a copy of the character by moving it to the left, but just a tiny bit. Select the resulting shapes and press trim in the Property Bar. Repeat the copy and trim operation to the right, up and down.
Always move away the resulting chips and break them apart (Command + K). These small shapes will be the building bricks of the look we’re creating.
Step 9 – The Creative Part
Arrange the chips so that they overlap the original object. Rotate, scale, or duplicate them in a creative way, until you’re satisfied with the outcome.
Make an extra copy of the original shape for later use. Select the original shape and the chips and weld them by pressing the Weld icon on the Property Bar.
Step 10 – Let There Be Highlight
Pick the Interactive Contour Tool by pressing longer on the Effects Tool on the toolbar. In the properties bar, choose Inner contour, Number of steps 1, and a small offset depending on the size of your character. From the Arrange menu choose Break Contour Group Apart.
Step 11 – Finishing the Highlight
Pick the resulting object, clean it up, and position somewhere towards the top-left part of your character.
We are almost there. Make one more highlight if you wish following Steps 11-12.
Step 12 – The Tedious Part
Repeat Steps 4-12 on all the characters.
Step 13 – Bring it All Together
Using the original text as a template move the modified characters to their place.
Get creative on the initials and use swirls and swashes derived from the characters to make the design coherent.
Step 14 – Experiment with Color Setups
When finished, group the characters and highlights in two separate groups to make the color experimentation easier. The ideal color setup would be something like a darker base color and a lighter shade of it for the highlight.
To Sum Up
In this tutorial, we created a typography effect by using only parts of the original type, which makes the whole thing work together. Using this trim and weld technique, you can always give some extra details to your type treatments or vectors.
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This is a great tip..!!
Love designing custom typography, doing it for years,
but this will really amp it up :D
Thanks
Fantastic! Easy to follow with an amazing result. Nice work!
That’s a neat effect.
Yep. Nice Work!
nice outcomes, will defintiely have to try this.
Very cool effect!
Looks good. Great job helping us spiff up our old fonts.
wow, that is pretty sweet, some good tips and tricks for an Illustrator noob like myself! Can’t wait to find something to use this on.
That is really cool, and that image would make a killer t-shirt.
Nice work….
The final effect is awesome….
have to keep patience till all the letters get decorated…..
I would love to see this tutorial with AI. Good stuff!
It’s almost the same in AI but instead of CorelDraw’s Boolean operations simply use the Pathfinder palette options to create the small chips that give detail to your type treatment
My God, that’s what I’d call an extreme makeover. The before and after previews are so different of each other that makes the final result absolutely incredible! Good tutorial. Certainly in my next logo I’ll try to create a extreme logo changing! Thanks!
You are awesome as always…
What a great tutorial and what a great effect! I’m sure it will take some practice but looks like it will be well worth the time! Thanks :)
i really like your work. classical design
Oh I love this, the font looks amazing!
Those little touches, make all the difference and really bring it to life.
I’m gonna rip that off straight away – thanks
amazing stuff…
love this style
Stunning! I love what you’ve done here. You have a great attention to detail. Thanks mate.
ok, you must be in an old version of illustrator cause i just started really using illustrator in CS4, and half the things you say to do, are either not there, or it does automatically, so, not able to follow this unfortunately.
the detailed steps (and screenshots) are done in CorelDraw but the technique applies for most of the vector drawing software (Adobe Illustrator for example), you just have to find the right tools
Cool process man. Thank you very much for this usefull Tip.
bravo!
Very nice! I love the final look! This will be very useful! I think that there needs to more typography tuts…..or maybe a typography tuts site!!!!
Wow this is a nice tutorial. Thanx :)
Thanks a lot for the comments, you put me to the blush:)
That’s sick. Really cool.
That’s great! I’ve never thought about duplicating the text like that to achieve that effect! Kudos!
How may i comment! A good work and awaresome!
That is a really cool text effect, I love it! Thank you.
PLease post for Illustrator, i try but i couldn´t!
Thanks is increidble please post for illustrator!!!
Aldana, soon I will try to post a similar technique for Adobe Illustrator. Thanks for the comment.
very beautiful! nice work ;)
Cool! I’ll try that! :)
First thing that came to mind when I saw the thumb, was the ‘CocaCola Logo’
haha…
Outcome looks great, seems like alot of work and alot of time to make though,..
Amazing !
Nicely done – I love that this technique ensures the curves of the “chips” naturally mimic those of the letters. It also works really well with the curly/organic style that’s fashionable at the moment.
At Step 10 I turned off my original text layer and those chips create a really beautiful effect on their own – if you follow all the curves of the original letters you can create the impression of the letters formed by shards. They worked especially well in white on a coloured background.
Thanks again, looking forward to seeing more of your tutorials.
That’s a great idea Aonghus!
i am only a budding student of graphic design, but this tutorial is very inspiring. keep up the good work thank you.
Maybe Livebrush could be of some assistance in creating these kinds of graphics. Just saw this in their forum http://www.livebrush.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=49
Nagyon tetszik, ügyes ötlet.
Could someone show how to make this in Illustrator
or at least tell how to do the break apart function
How do you create the highlights in illustrator easily?
Can you create this for me but than with an other name?
I will pay you for it..
If you are looking for free fonts, check http://www.fonts2u.com. Discovered it just few days ago. Their
character map search is awesome! Saved some time when looking for specific character maps supported.
this is awesome. Will definitely be using this a lot for future projects/tattoo ideas.
FpXkd7 jsgidojcrecw, [url=http://utdpmzyipbhy.com/]utdpmzyipbhy[/url], [link=http://kmrnololriab.com/]kmrnololriab[/link], http://timergfotfjb.com/
In Illustrator one can make the highlights with the offset path option. (Object –> Path –> Offset Path). Use a negative value to ‘shrink’ the outline.
For those wanting to know how to do this in illustrator (which is significantly easier btw)
1:Type word
2: Select word, Ctrl+Shift+0 to turn into shape
3: Select word shape, Ctrl+Shift+G to separate into individual objects.
4: Separate letters into individual layers, lock and hide all letter you’re not working on
5: Select letter, Ctrl+C
6: Alt+Click letter(to duplicate), drag slightly in direction
7: Select both, Pathfinder –> Subtract
8: Select remains, move up away from area
9: Ctrl+F (to paste original letter in location)
10: Repeat 6-9 until you have enough chips, select all letters chips
Object–>Compound Path –> Release
11: Crtl+F to paste base letter, Select individual chips and position into place
12: All chips in place, select all, Pathfinder–>Add
13: Repeat for all letters
14: Unhide and unlock all layers, Ctrl+G to bring all layers together, Ctrl+Shift+G to ungroup, select all Pathfinder–> Add
15: Select word, Object–>Path–>Offset Path, input the desire amount
16: Select colors for high and base
You’re done congrats and you didn’t have to waste working with CorelShortbus
Good tut its just a shame it was originally done for CorelMittenspinnedtojacket.
Ok. This is driving me CRAZY!!! I love that you posted the alternate in ILLUSTRATOR—which is what Im using. I am pretty familiar with the program, apparently NOT enough though because Im having a hard time trying to figure this out. PLEASE HELP its driving me crazy. When I select my word/text and hit ctrl+shift+0 nothing happens, along with ctrl+shift+g. I tried using “expand” and also making the text into an outline. I had no luck with those two options. Any ideas as to what Im doing wrong?
I doubt this will help you much, but perhaps someone else who comes along. You can’t simply select the type by using ctrl+A – or at least, not at first. You have to actually click on the selection tool (little black arrow) to get out of the text tool, THEN you can select the text and create outlines will be highlighted when you go under type.
They’ve just given you the commands backwards. They’re shift-ctrl, not ctrl-shift.
how do i do this on illustrator, cant find those tabs
thanx!!! haha my bad
Corel Draw? What is this, 1990?
Don’t under estimate Corel, Even I’m an advance user in Illustrator still want to learn CorelDraw. Cause i know some of my work have the best productivity time done in Corel without compromising quality.
Some people my think there are no CoralDraw users out there, but I believe they still exist. I’m one for them. I also use Illustrator CS5 as will. Having knowledge of a portfolio of different software applications can be important if you really want to make cool and unique creations. That’s why I learnt CoralDraw and other programs.
Awesome effect – can you do a tutorial for this in Illustrator CS5?
Great!!! Very nice tutorial. Thanks for sharing this.