Text Transparency and Mask Help?

[TenStrikes]

Good morning, all.

I am new to Affinity and also new to creating SVG files.  I feel as though I’ve got the SVG file creation part down. Lol. This is what I need help with, and I will try to explain this by example:

 

Lets say that I import a simple two layer SVG file into affinity. By this I mean, a transparent background (as displayed by the white and grey checkers) and a layer on top holding the vector (as displayed by the shape represented in black so that I can see the transparent background behind the shape). Let’s say that the shape is a black rectangle.  Inside the rectangle I would like to write text. Then, I would like to make that text transparent so that it appears to have been cut out of the rectangle, so I can see the checkered transparent background where the words used to be, in the shape of the text. How do I do this? If you could describe it to me in simple steps and assume that I’m a total n00b, I would greatly, greatly appreciate it. 

 

Thank you so much for reading my post!

[MEB]

Hi TenStrikes,

Welcome to Affinity Forums

If you want to keep everything as curves (vectors), place the text over the rectangle, select both objects, then tap the ellipsis icon (the three dots) on the top left of the interface and select Geometry ▸ Subtract (or Combine - both will do). If you export this to a vector format the resulting object will remain as curves although the text will not be editable anymore.

 

Another simple way is to place the text above the rectangle and change it's Blend Mode to Erase. This will keep the text editable but will be exported as a raster image, rather than curves.

 

 

[TenStrikes]

This helped me immensely. Thank you very much.