How do I give text an offset path in Illustrator?
How do I give text an offset path in Illustrator?
Question
Okay, I am just trying out the offset path effect for a custom font.
I followed this tutorial -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU2wDdLNTdE
I tried doing the same, typed a word and expanded it,then put a stroke to it and finally offset path.I got the desired effect- the expanded version of my base letter,without expanding the red stroke proportionally.
I tried to repeat the effect, as told in the tutorial,but by applying offset path again I get this-
However this was not my desired effect.All this has done is increased the fill for the inner 'o'.
I want the stroke to be retained for the blue path. In other words, I want multiple 'o's beneath the previous 'o'. Each bigger than the previous, but the stroke should remain- As shown in the tutorial.
How do I achieve that ?
Accepted Answer
Your problem lies in the fact that the 'o' you are trying to give an effect is two separate paths, probably in a group. Effects like offset will not work properly, indeed. You will want to select all the o's paths and then make them into a Compound Path
: Object > Compound Path > Make or right click > Make Compound Path.
Besides, this effect is more easily achievable using the Appearance
panel:
- Type your text. If you want part of the letters to have the effect, type them as a separate object;
- Be sure the object is selected;
- Open the
Apperance
panel, Window > Appearance or Shift+F6; - In the panel, select the
Characters
object and choose Add New Fill, either through the panel options or the filled square icon in the lower right: - With that fill selected, give it a different colour and choose Effect > Path > Offset Path. Use
Preview
to fiddle with the offset value; - In the
Appearance
panel, drag the new fill below thecharacters
. The Appearance panel works just like a layers panel. - Repeat with different colours and different offset values to create a multi-stroke effect.
Be sure during the whole process that your object stays selected, or it will not pick up the changes you make in the Appearance panel.