Shapes 4: Creating a Logo from Text with Shapes in Corel Painter
Many logotypes are created with vector-based tools like
CorelDRAW and
Adobe Illustrator. Painter's Shapes tools can also be used for this type of image creation. This installment will work through a simple logo project to demonstrate how the Shapes tools can be put to use.
Initial Text
The initial logo text is created using the
Text tool. I simply typed out the characters in the combination of upper and lower case as my starting point.
Converting Text to Shapes
With the
Text layer selected in the
Layer palette list, I applied the
Convert Text to Shapes command (Layers palette > Layers palette flyout menu) to the
Text layer. This replaces the
Text layer with a group of
Shapes corresponding to the former text outlines.
Individual Character Selection
I wanted to
kern—adjust the spacing of—the type elements to close them up. This is accomplished via the
Shapes Selection tool (Tool palette). An element is selected by positioning the cursor over the desired type element and clicking on it. The
Arrow keys can then used to adjust the spacing between adjacent characters. This is more precise than dragging the element by hand. The
Shapes Selection tool can also be used to click-and-drag a
selection rectangle to select multiple characters. This is handy for repositioning multiple
Shapes elements.
Selective Anchor Point Selection
I now wanted to alter the geometry of selected type elements. The font I chose, Rockwell Bold, is a
slab serif typeface. Both the first and last type elements in
PixlART—
P and
T—have serifs at their bases. For the logo, I wanted extend and join their bases to nest the internal type elements between them. Holding down the
Shift key in order to create a multiple selection, I used the
Shapes Selection tool to drag out a
selection rectangle to choose only the
anchor points making up the slab serifs of the two characters. Again using the
Arrow keys, I repositioned the slab serif elements to make the
P and
T type elements taller.
Repositioning for Combining Shapes
My next step was to merge the
P and
T type elements into a single
Shape. Using the
Shape Selection tool, I selected only the two points comprising the left edge of the
T's slab serif base. Using the
Arrow keys, I repositioned these two
anchor points to the far left—nearly adjacent to the base of the
P's slab serif base.
Tip: While the Shape Selection tool is active, holding down the Shift key in conjunction with the Arrow keys moves the selected Shapes elements 10 screen pixels at a time.
Shapes Editing
With the both the
P and
T's slab serif bases in close proximity, it was now time to perform a bit of
Shapes surgery. In order to join two
Shapes together, it is necessary to temporarily convert them from
closed shapes to
open shapes.
The initial step
removes control points. In order to do so, we must first
split two
line segments with the
Scissors tool (Tool palette or Shapes Tools Property Bar). I first selected the
T's line segment to be split by clicking on it with the
Shape Selection tool. With the
Scissors tool, I clicked in the center of the
line segment. The result appears to be a new control point; it is actually two overlapping control points. I switched to the
Remove Point tool (Tool palette or Shapes Tools Property Bar) and clicked on the newly created visible
anchor point. This
deletes one half of the former single
line segment. Clicking on the remaining
control point deletes the other half.
We now have two
open shapes, one pair at the top of the slab serifs and the other pair at the bottom. Using the
Shapes Selection tool, I selected the adjacent pair comprising the tops of the
P and
T slab serifs. I the applied the
Join Endpoints command (Shapes menu) to the points. A
new line segment is created between the points. I then performed the same operation on the bottom pair of slab serif elements. The
two open shapes now make up a
single closed shape. Clicking inside the newly joined
P and
T elements, I realized that the inside portion of the
P—referred to as a
counter—had disappeared.
A
Shape with a
negative space nested within it is called a
Compound Shape. The
P type element is an example. This character is actually made up of
two Shapes: the outer
P form and the
internal counter. When a
Compound Shape is converted to an
Open Shape, the compound relationship between the two
Shapes is voided. The former nested
Shape is still present but it is no longer acting as a
negative space within the surrounding
Shape. Rather than re-establish the former
P counter relationship with the
P type element, I decided to further customize the logo by using
square counters in both the
P and
R type elements.
Creating a Compound Shape
When multiple
Shapes are grouped together—as our example is—Painter internally keeps track of all of the individual
anchor points in such a way that you cannot create a
Compound Shape when the
Shapes to be compounded are
inside of a
Group. The target
Shapes elements—the
P type element and a newly created
square counter Shape—must be temporarily dragged
outside of the layer grouping. This is easily accomplished in the
Layer list by selecting and dragging the elements outside of the
Group folder. Having done this, I could now select both
Shapes with the
Shapes Selection tool and apply the
Make Compound Shape command (Shapes menu). If the
Make Compound Shape command is dimmed out, it indicates that either one or both of the two
Shapes to be compounded are stilled grouped.
Finishing Touches
I deleted the
round dot capping the
i type element and replaced it with a square element to mirror the square counters in the
P and
R type elements. I then used smaller centered squares within the larger square counters in order to visually accentuate the notion of a pixel. By saving the finished file in Painter's
RIF format, I can preserve the vector-based
Shapes data. Like all vector art, I can resize the logo to any resolution and maintain the crisp edge only vectors can provide. For example, I can up-size it to an appropriate resolution for print, then convert it into a
pixel-based layer using the
Convert to Layer command (Shapes menu) and proceed to use Painter's arsenal of paint and effects tool on it. Painter also allows export of
Shapes to
Adobe Illustrator via the
Export as Adobe Illustrator File command (File menu > Export).
While not a vector-centric application, the availability of
Shapes in Painter enables a wide variety of design possibilities.
Viva la Painter!
Linear Mode
