Creating text effects with Path Operations

[GarryP]

Did you know you can create all kinds of text effects using the Path Operations functions?

Here's one example...

Stage A

1. Create a text frame and put some text in it. (I've used the "Rolling No One" font from dafont.com - http://www.dafont.com/rolling-no-one.font - at 50pt for my example).
2. Select the text frame and go to menu "Item -> Convert to -> Outlines".
3. Re-select the text and right-click and choose "Ungroup".
4. With all of the text still selected go to menu "Item -> Combine Polygons".

Stage B

5. Now draw a shape over the text that's bigger than the text. (I've used the "paper tape" symbol from the in-built Flowchart shapes.)
6. Drag-select - or shift-select - both the text and the shape and go to menu "Item -> Duplicate".
7. Drag the duplicates to the right of the originals.

Stage C

8. Select both of the left-hand items.
9. Go to menu "Item -> Path Tools -> Path Operations...".
10. Use either "Subtracts" or "Intersects" - whichever looks right - to chop off half of the text and OK the dialog.
11. Now select both of the right-hand items and repeat steps 9 and 10 but for the other half of the text.

Stage D

12. Drag the bottom-half of the text below the top-half and you've got some text that has been split in two. Simple as that.

You can now use the normal colour and line properties to format the text as you like. I've given each a thick outline and used a vertical gradient.

Try different fonts and "cutting shapes" and you can achieve lots of different effects quite easily.

(Picky people might notice that, in my example, the outlines of the text don't quite line-up properly but it's just to show one possibility. And who's to say that wasn't what I wanted in the first place?)

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[GarryP]

And here's a few more examples of what's possible.

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