Designer: Distressed look

[NBG]

Hi,

i made a logo with that common "distressed" style:

What it i did already:

1) Converted text to curves (grouped)

2) Put that distressed bitmap on top (rasterized)

3) Set the mixing of the source to zero

Ok looks nice so far... but this image must be screen printed (everthing converted to curves and deliverd as PDF file).

So how can i "cut of" the (now) white spaces out of the letters?

So the printer should not get the curved letters and a image on top, he should get only the curved (distressed) letters.

Any ideas? Maybe masks?

Thanks!

NBG

diss.afdesign

[toltec]

I can suggest a very easy method.  No need to convert the text to curves or do anything difficult.

 

If the bitmap layer is black and white, (using the black as the distressing or "erasing" bit for the letters) first of all turn the white into transparent. 

 

It the Pixel Persona, Go Select > Tonal Range > Highlights and press the Delete key to erase the white,

 

Set the Layer Blend Mode of the image to "Erase" and the black will cut out the letters.

 

 

Supply the screen printer with a JPEG or PDF file.

[NBG]

Hi toltec,

yes this works also but there is still an image in top of the curved letters.

Is there no way to *real* cut out the "erasing bits" out of the letters?

What about not-rasterizing the image but converting it to curves and the "merge" it with the letters to make a real cut out? Not just an temp effect on top of the letters?

Thanks,

NBG

 

[toltec]

Why bother ?

 

If you are getting it silk screened, just output as a single reasonably high resolution JPEG file, Why do you want curves ? The end result would almost certainly be worse, even if you spent hours on it. And why spend hours when you can do it in seconds ?

 

I worked commercially with silk screen printers for years, and the typical resolution at 55 lines per inch does not warrant anything better than a decent JPEG. Silk screen meshes are simply not good enough.

 

Different if you were getting it embroidered or cut out of vinyl. 

[NBG]

My printer only accepts PDFs with curved elements. I'm fine with that because it doesn't lead to any mistakes etc.

So is it really so hard to cut it out?

[toltec]

To do a decent job, yes.

 

If your printer isn't up to doing that sort of dead simple job from a JPEG, I would find a new printer. Seriously. I know dozens of silk screen printers locally who could have printed that by now. 

 

Life is too short, still, it's your life 

 

And supplying an image with curves is far more prone to error than a black and white bitmap. So I'm afraid I can't agree with your no mistakes statement, respectfully.

 

Sorry, but after 30 years in the print trade, I don't like poor service from some so called print professionals. 

[NBG]

Yeah but i don't want a new printer I just want to export a PDF as usual.

Also the logo(s) will be used for stickers etc. so i need it there as PDF too.

[toltec]

You will just have to work at as large a size as possible and draw the lines by hand. An awful lot of work and I am not sure about the final quality, although I guess that depends on you. 

 

Because of the potential for it to go wrong, I highly recommend you get a proof made before printing. As you pointed out in your other post, lines have thickness issues that pixels don't.

 

Good luck.

[NBG]

Really? I don't want to draw the lines by hand! There must be an other solution. Can't believe that AD is that limited...

[Fixx]

Are you sure you need artwork all vector? Distressed effect converts very badly to vector shapes. If you must you can use some vectorizer software to convert but shapes will be something else you see in AD as the will be simplified.

Usually screen printers can take 1-bit bitmap files as easily. Of course exporting to 1-bit is tricky when using Affinity software.

[shojtsy]

Besides "why you need this?", I wanted to point out the answer to the OP: Affinity does not provide the feature to turn any pixel image into curves or vectors. It can only go the other way. If one has a distressed mask in curves to start with, one can do the cutting out you are looking for.

[toth]

I have no idea if this site is safe or not, but i found it googling "Vector distressed mask", you should get som vector files from such a search, and be able to use the file as a mask. From there I'd think someone else in here can tell you how to truly merge it so it's a single layer.

https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/grunge-overlay

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, toth said:

I have no idea if this site is safe or not ...

Freepic.com is a reputable site that to my knowledge has never included any malware in its downloads or done anything else that would make it unsafe to use as a source for files. Just make sure you understand & follow the usage guidelines about attributions.

[MEB]

Hi NBG,

Welcome to Affinity Forums

As toth and shojtsy suggested you can use a vector based distressed "texture" to achieve what you want. Just place it over the text , select both objects and perform a subtract boolean operation. Depending on the complexity (nodes) of the texture the operation may take some time. You can also convert the text to curves and perform the subtract operation with each letter individually if needed to make the operation less heavy. As mentioned too, when converted to vectors some pixel/raster based textures may look more artificial (depending on their scale/detail) so i suggest you experiment with a few different ones (using the Erase blend mode for quick checks) before committing to a definite solution.

 

 

[shojtsy]

3 minutes ago, MEB said:

As mentioned too, when converted to vectors some vector based textures may look more artificial

 

 

Did you want to say pixel based textures?

[MEB]

Yes, i meant raster based textures there. Thanks for the heads-up @shojtsy - text corrected.

[firstdefence]

• The text you turned into curves, select all of the letters and then under Operations choose Add this makes handles all those layers much easier
• Next duplicate the Added together text curves layer and drag it above the image used for distressing.
• Right click on the Added together text curves layer and choose Mask To Below

What you end up with is the file below, I added the orange rectangle to highlight what is happening with the white distressed layer in the shape of the lettering.

diss mask to below.afdesign

 

[NBG]

23 hours ago, firstdefence said:

• The text you turned into curves, select all of the letters and then under Operations choose Add this makes handles all those layers much easier
• Next duplicate the Added together text curves layer and drag it above the image used for distressing.
• Right click on the Added together text curves layer and choose Mask To Below

What you end up with is the file below, I added the orange rectangle to highlight what is happening with the white distressed layer in the shape of the lettering.

Hi firstdefence,

yes your way works also but the export as PDF faces "rasterising" too

[NBG]

On 17.1.2018 at 0:39 PM, MEB said:

... you can use a vector based distressed "texture" to achieve what you want. Just place it over the text , select both objects and perform a subtract boolean operation. Depending on the complexity (nodes) of the texture the operation may take some time.

But what is the difference between an imported vector texture AND a "converted to curves"-image?

Where do i "perfom a substact op"?

What worked for me is:

1) Vectorize an texture to 2 colors, only export the white color (lines) and the black ones are transparent

2) Put this .svg-file on top of the curved letters.

3). Export as PDF (no rasterizing)

 

[Alfred]

8 minutes ago, NBG said:

But what is the difference between an imported vector texture AND a "converted to curves"-image?

 

A vector texture (whether created from scratch or imported) consists entirely of vector shapes with solid or gradient fills. When you 'convert to curves' an image, you get a rectangle with a bitmap fill.

[NBG]

Ok this exports non-rastered as PDF... but it's still not "glued" together:

So how can i cut out the white lines out of the curved letters?

diss.afdesign

[MEB]

Hi NBG,

If you drag the SVG file to the canvas it will be placed as an embedded document (as you can see from the label between parenthesis after the layer's name in the Layers panel) which cannot be "merged" through a boolean operation with the letters because you don't have direct access to the contents of the embedded file (in this case the texture).

 

First you need to convert  all the texture elements into a single object:

- go to menu File ▸ Open and select the svg file

- select all objects inside the layer101 (or drag a marquee slection around the canvas to select them all)

- go to menu Layer ▸ Geometry ▸ Add

You have flattened the texture elements into a single object

- open the letters document

- copy the single texture object you just created from the svg document (menu Edit ▸ Copy) and place it over the letters (its layer must be above the text layer in the Layers panel) - adjust the texture scale and position to get the effect you want 

- now select both the texture object and the letters and go to menu Layer ▸ Geometry ▸ Subtract

 

You should end up with just a single object - the letters with the texture removed/cut out from them - all vector.

 

[NBG]

12 minutes ago, MEB said:

Hi NBG,

If you drag the SVG file to the canvas it will be placed as an embedded document (as you can see from the label between parenthesis after the layer's name in the Layers panel) which cannot be "merged" through a boolean operation with the letters because you don't have direct access to the contents of the embedded file (in this case the texture).

First you need to convert  all the texture elements into a single object:

...

Great, this is really *the* solution! Many many thanks! Send me your address and i'll send you some beer!

Is there a way to save and "import" such objects?

Or do i have to create my own collection (in every layer a different texture vector layer saved in an single .afdesign-file) and drag them into another window with the letters?

[MEB]

If you want to keep the texture for later re-use you can add it to the Assets panel. Select it, open the Assets panel (menu View ▸ Studio ▸ Assets), create a new category (if necessary) clicking on the small menu icon on the top right of the Assets panel and selecting Create New Category.... Then with the texture object select click the small menu icon on the top right of the category you just created and select Add from selection.

 

To use it, drag it from the Assets panel to whatever document you need.

[OSP]

Hi there,

I know this is an old thread, but it seems the most relevant to my question. I'm trying to do something similar to NBG above, but with a slight difference. I have a logo using a font that has a particular kind of distressed look built in (Hanley rough script). The squiggles that make up the distressed look are 'subtracted' from the font, leaving a transparent background. I've added a swash underneath, which is just a typed letter from another font (Hanley swashes). I want to recreate the distressed look from the rough script font on the swash. I would also like to be able to type onto the swash (it's enlarged quite a bit) with the rough script font, leaving a negative (transparent) background.

Is there some way to make a selection from one of the rough script letters (maybe the selection brush tool?) in order to copy the distressed look, and then fill the shape of the swash? What would I need to do to the swash first in order to just keep its shape?

I'm a complete newbie so apologies if this is all very basic stuff!

Many thanks,

Alan