Knockouts within Groups?

[Mark Oehlschlager]

Working with Designer 1.7.0.7 on Mac OS X 10.13.16.

How can one achieve knockouts within groups?

For example how can one achieve the effect illustrated in the sample below, where the semi-transparent white text is knocking out the black bar to reveal the blurred photo background?

 

[Alfred]

You don’t need semi-transparent white text. You just need semi-transparent white rectangles behind the black rectangles, and letter-shaped holes in the black rectangles to let parts of the white rectangles show through.

[Mark Oehlschlager]

Well, that's one work around. Thanks.

Here's another: I created duplicate versions of a live text phrase; selected one copy of the live Text with the black bar layer below and made a compound object via the Layer > Create Compound menu item, setting the compound mode to subtract (this knocked out the black bar); and finally selected the top copy of my live Text and filled it with 60% transparent white.

I just wondered whether or not there is a more direct route like the "Knockout Group" feature within Adobe Illustrator's Transparency panel. You can see in the Illustrator screen shot that one can select the grouping of a single Text object and an underlying black shape (2 layers), and then check the "Knockout Group" feature in the Transparency panel to achieve the same effect. Fewer layers. Fewer moves.

 

[Bri-Toon]

Hey I think I figured out an alternative. Use a blend mode on the text; "Erase." And then lower the opacity to your liking.

[Mark Oehlschlager]

@Bri-Toon

Another interesting work-around, thanks.

But it still requires two copies of the live text: one to cut out the black bar using the Erase blend mode, and another to render the transparent white text.

 

[Bri-Toon]

17 minutes ago, Mark Oehlschlager said:

But it still requires two copies of the live text: one to cut out the black bar using the Erase blend mode, and another to render the transparent white text.

For me, I only need one copy. You can render transparency to the same text as the one being blended. Do you not get the same result?

[Mark Oehlschlager]

When I group the live text with the underlying black rectangle, and then apply the Erase blend mode to the live text layer, the text appears to knock out the black rectangle with total transparency. 

If I reduce the transparency of the Text fill color, the knocked out hole in the black rectangle becomes gradually opaque toward total black.

I have to add a duplicate of the live Text layer and shift it's blend mode back to Normal, and then reduce it's opacity to get the translucent effect.

See below.

[fde101]

8 hours ago, Mark Oehlschlager said:

I created duplicate versions of a live text phrase

Just a suggestion, but if you make the text a symbol you can drag another instance in to use for masking so that editing the text on top will be synced to the mask automatically.

[Mark Oehlschlager]

It appears the best work-around solution to this challenge is @Alfred 's suggestion to duplicate the black bar, drag it below the stack, fill it with the transparent color of choice, and then use the live text layer to knockout the black bar (using either the Make Compound command or the Erase blend mode), thus revealing the translucent colored bar below.

The benefit of this solution is that one can easily update/correct the live text without having to update two instances, or worry about aligning two instances of text.

 

[A_B_C]

(But you are not going to use our lovely eszett in an all-caps context, are you? )