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Pound4Pound
Pound4Pound
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Trying to knockout an outline stroke ONLY out of text...NEED HELP!!

Jul 1, 2012 12:34 PM

Tags: #stroke #outlines #knockout #font_display #font_issues #outline_font #screen_printing

Hi All,

 

First of all thank you very much in advance for any help on this. I run a screen printing business and I recently added some simple design services to my clients to bring in more business and help some people out.

 

Haven't run in to any major speed bumps until now...I'm thinking everyone is going to tell me what I'm trying to achieve is out and out EASY but I need some help for a run I'm doing this week.

 

I have attached the graphic which is a mock up of what I'm trying to do with the text.

 

Basically, I'm looking to have the white knockout to the background color (i.e. the shirt color)

 

I think I just set up incorrectly in Illustrator and that's what's giving me all the problems...if anyone could tell me how I should set this up so that I can achieve the look I'm going for it would be MUCH appreciated!!!

 

If you look at the image you should be able to see what I mean, it's a black text in the center, a (what should be) knockout outline of that black text and then another black outline outside of that...please let me know if you have any questions or if you can tell me how to set it up, order and arrage the text so I can simply keep the look of the white knocking out to the shirt color.

 

THANKS!

JohnPicture 1.png

1415 Views   8 Replies   Latest reply: Larry G. Schneider, Jul 2, 2012 10:21 AM
 
Replies
  • [scott w]
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    1. [scott w],
    Jul 1, 2012 1:12 PM   in reply to Pound4Pound
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    Any reason you can't simply change the white to the green?

     

    You could Object > Expand Appearance, Then Object > Expand. Then Pathfinder > Merge, then select the white and delete it.

     
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  • Pound4Pound
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    2. Pound4Pound,
    Jul 1, 2012 1:17 PM   in reply to [scott w]
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    Hi,

     

    It can't be green because in screen printing you need to print a film positive which only prints black and from there the film is used to create the screen. Basically anything that is visible will print on the film and transfer to the screen. I need the white to be the color of the shirt, or a knockout.

     

    I'll give this a go now though to see if it can remove the white.

     

    thanks!

     
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  • Pound4Pound
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    3. Pound4Pound,
    Jul 1, 2012 1:28 PM   in reply to [scott w]
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    I tried it and it didn't remove the white.

     

    Like i said i think i maybe have this set up incorrectly.

     

    I have a layer of black text with a white outline, then i have another layer of text with no fill and a thicker black outline behind.

     

    I guess what i need to be asking is how can i take just the outline of the front layer of text and knock ONLY the outline out of the layer with no fill?

     
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  • Monika Gause
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    4. Monika Gause,
    Jul 1, 2012 1:36 PM   in reply to Pound4Pound
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    Starting from the text object without any strokes.

     

    1. add a fill via the appearance panel

    2. apply effect "offset path" to that fill, distance of the gap you need

    3. move fill below "Characters"

    4. set the fill's opacity to zero

    5. add another fill, color black

    6. move below the fill you just created

    7. apply effect "offset path"

    8. set the text object to "knockout group" in transparency panel.

     

    To understand all this, read about transparency panel and appearance panel in the manual and read this: http://rwillustrator.blogspot.de/2008/02/technique-stitching-lines-for -apparel.html

     
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  • Wade_Zimmerman
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    5. Wade_Zimmerman,
    Jul 1, 2012 2:59 PM   in reply to Pound4Pound
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    You're correct it is pretty simple

     

    1 Create outlines for the text if it is not already outline

     

    2. Select all the art including the green filled rectangle

     

    3. Doublw click the Live Paint Bucket to make the art a Live Paint Group

     

    4. Using the color fill proxy select no fill

     

    5. Fill the white areas with the no fill using the Live Paint Bucket

     

    Now you can see through the green background just where the white use to be.

     

    Voila!

     

    Little correction instead of expanding the text Flatten the Transparancy with 100% vector as the option.

     
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  • Pound4Pound
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    6. Pound4Pound,
    Jul 2, 2012 8:33 AM   in reply to Pound4Pound
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    I've tried everything that was suggested so far and STILL no luck

     

    this is killing me...

     
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  • JETalmage
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    7. JETalmage,
    Jul 2, 2012 9:26 AM   in reply to Pound4Pound
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    Pound,

     

    Assuming…:

    • The black and green are defined as spot colors.
    • The white is just Illustrator's default white; not a spot color, and is not set to overprint.

     

     

    …the you don't need to do anything. The white already knocks out the green. The white is not an ink. White means "no ink."

     

    Simply print the job as color separations. The Black will be on one sep; the Green (assuming it's spot color) will be on the other. There will be no white separation, and the white areas will not appear on either the green or the black sep.

     

    Remember: Yes, in screen printing you print separations as positives. But those positives are used to expose the screens; the screens themselves are the negatives. The negaitve screens in turn result in a positive on the substrate. What is white on a negative? Black.

     

    JET

     
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  • Larry G. Schneider
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    8. Larry G. Schneider,
    Jul 2, 2012 10:21 AM   in reply to Pound4Pound
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    Did you follow Monica's suggestions exactly? It worked for me.

     
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