Stroke to negative space cutting through the O to the blue

[LillaBjorna]

Hi, 

I want the stroke of the procent symbol to cut through the O so that we can see the blue behind. How do I do that? Thanks

[Ton Frederiks]

Select the % and make a copy.

Set the % stroke to none.

Select both the O and the % and group them.

Paste in front and fill the % with none.

Select all and click in the Transparency panel > Make Mask

Uncheck: Clip

Check: Invert Mask

[LillaBjorna]

Thanks but I can't follow with the text. Can u send screenshots please of the steps?

[Ton Frederiks]

Hope this helps:

[pixxxelschubser]

Hi Ton,

I would prefer a similar but still different path.

Without copy and opacity mask. It's a bit more difficult, but it's almost a "live effect" and completely editable --> Knockout group.

 

 

[LillaBjorna]

Thanks but could you show that in English or translate?

[pixxxelschubser]

@LillaBjorna 

Unfortunately, no.

I have not installed Illustrator in English. But maybe these two posts, which are described in more detail, will help you:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/is-there-any-trick-of-how-to-do-this-thing/m-...

and/or

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/transparency-with-text-on-top-of-shape/m-p/12...

[Ton Frederiks]

Yes, a knockout group has the advantage of a single object, but the disadvandtage is incompatibility (at least on the Mac platform) with PDF in browsers and 3rd party PDF viewers (like Apple Preview). Of course Acrobat will render knockout groups correctly most of the time, but that is not always how a PDF is viewed and the transparency shows as filled.

[Bobby Henderson]

Here is another "recipe" for creating the effect. Expand the fill and stroke of the percent symbol. Use the Pathfinder tools to make the expanded stroke cut through the "O" in the background. I usually prefer using the Offset Path command to create outline effects around letters since it doesn't produce additional paths on the inside of the letter.

The method I describe is more "destructive," but it is also more compatible with other kinds of graphics applications. Also the results are more compatible with cutting tools like vinyl plotters and routing tables. Line strokes and other live path effects mean nothing to these kinds of devices; they only "see" editable paths.

[LillaBjorna]

Tried all the pathfinder options. Which one did you mean?

[Bobby Henderson]

With two objects selected the Minus Front command will make one object cut through an object behind it. In relation to your original image, the gray outline around the "Lorem" letters will cut through the red ampersand. That's provided if the gray outline around the "Lorem" letters is expanded into an editable vector shape. It won't work if it's just a live outline stroke. Using Offset Path is a less complicated approach for that kind of effect.