Is there any way to expand individual Letters of a flattened design that have a gradient color?

Question

LettersI have a flat PDF design with 3 letters with a gradient applied across the 3 letters. I need to create a cut line for the vinyl printer to cut these letters out individually. I need a .125-.25 bleed to be safe for the cutter. I do not have the original vector file or i could do this easy.The second file is a design made by AI with intricate edges and designs. This is custom and not an easy piece to work with. It is also flat but it does have a transparent background. There is no way to recreate the gradient on this because it also has a texture applied.I’m guessing this is something that is NOT possible because of the gradient, but I thought i’d ask you genius level AI pro’s out there.My only idea now is to create a (-) negative offset path for the trim line. The problem with this option is that I will end up with a .25-.5” thinner letter. As far as the custom skull n crossbones, i have no ideas. The gradient isn’t even a consistent single direction path.Skull n Crossbones

Eugene Tyson · Answer

Can you share the files so we can see how they’re built? That would make it easier to advise properly on expanding the gradient.

For the first one, my gut feeling is that it may be a solid gradient frame sitting behind a keyline outline of the lettering. In other words, a large gradient rectangle with the letter outlines overlaid on top, possibly set to overprint.

The second one looks a bit trickier because of the applied effect. I’d need to inspect the file to see how it has been constructed before suggesting the best approach.

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