Infilling font, or removing transparency.

[will.sheaff]

I would like to create some artwork for some signage, as per the prototype file attached. Basically it's a stripey background with lettering over the top. For maximum legibility, I want to in-fill the spaces within the letters (eg the letters R e g a etc.) with white colour, instead of allowing the background to show through as would generally happen. I suppose alternatively it would work to remove the transparency of the font and replace it with a solid colour that covers the background. I hope that makes some sense.

Any help would be much appreciated - how would I begin to do this?

Thanks, Will

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[GarryP]

Hi Will.

You can try the technique below. It's quick and dirty but it does the job.

1. Create the text as you want it.
2. Duplicate the text.
3. Select the duplicate and choose menu "Item -> Convert to -> Outlines".
4. Select the converted outlines and right-click then choose "Ungroup".
5. Drag-select the ungrouped outlines and choose menu "Item -> Split Polygons".
6. Un-select all of the polygons (click somewhere else) and then select just one of them.
7. Open the "Colors" tab of the Properties Palette.
8. Drag-select all of the polygons.
9. Press the "Fill" icon in "Colors" and choose the "White" colour.
10. Select the remaining individual polygons and colour them white (I don't know why they aren't all changed the first time).
11. Drag-select all the polygons and right-click then choose "Group".
12. Move the polygon group to the same location as the original text and push it back to a level beneath the text.

See my attached screenshot for a very simple example.

It's not perfect and may not work for some fonts but it's easy to do so it's worth a try.

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[Nermander]

If it's just a "one off" thing I'd consider just placing white shapes behind the letters with holes in them. Just draw them on top, with some overlap over the hole, and then lower them one level (or bring the text to front).

[will.sheaff]

GarryP, thanks for this suggestion. It's a labour intensive workaround, but it's fine for prototyping stuff.

Many thanks, Will

[GarryP]

You're welcome Will, but for fast prototyping I'd probably recommend using Nermander's suggestion above of white shapes behind the text instead; it's a lot quicker for simple (thick) fonts.

The technique I gave was more of a generalised method of "pulling fonts to bits" in order to manipulate them. Useful in many ways - including for what you're after - and a good technique to keep in your "mental toolbox", but more complicated than is necessary in many cases.

Apart from the two methods mentioned above I don't think there's another way to do what you want in Scribus itself; it's not really a font manipulation application. I'd be happy to be proved wrong though.