The Letterville BullBoard: Another Corel 9 Question

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Posted by Randy W. Robarge (Member # 2022) on :

Being the other Corel 9 question about combining was very helpful, I have another that sticks me from time to time.

It deals with outlines. Say, for instance, I am using a particular font that looks nice, but needs to be much "thicker" to look great. I will usually put a thick outline on it and then convert it to an object so I can then weld them together for plotting.

Sometimes, however, when I convert the outline to an object, I get a completely unwanted result. Sometimes the middle of letters will become one great big object and fill in, completely losing the outline "look" I was going for.

I think I've nailed it down to the outline being too thick and somehow overlapping with itself (if that makes sense). If I make the outline much smaller, sometimes I can get it to work, but then I lose the "thickness" I was going for.

Does anyone know what I am talking about? And is there a way around this problem?

Thanks.
Randy

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Randy
Graphic Details
Fort Edward, NY

Posted by dpsign (Member # 1769) on :

Randy,

You can create your outline just as you described. When you convert outline to object and you get additional lines, it is because it is creating both the inside and the outside of your outline. All you need to do is select your outline that you converted, right mouse click, click separate, select the unwanted part and delete it.
I hope this helps.

Rich Litzenberger
Dorney Park Sign Dept.
Allentown, PA
rlitzenberger@dorneypark.com

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Posted by Robb Lowe (Member # 2121) on :

I would recommend you use contour, since it keeps the correct angles and shape better than creating an outline and attempting to work from that. It also creates a butt register should you use Trim on it, versus a potential trap or overprint with an outline.

As always, your mileage may vary.

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Robb Lowe
Hub City Graphics

[This message has been edited by Robb Lowe (edited August 23, 2001).]

Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :

Randy..Both Rich and Robb are correct. Personally, I prefer Contour because that is what it is intended to do for you. However, as you have probably discovered, Version 9's contour is sometimes not exactly accurate in that it will create some occasional flat spots that you have to watch out for and manually modify.

I found the same thing you did with the "convert outline to object". too much overlapping. I also found it to be a pain in the butt removing the inner parts of the object that I didn't want. It seemed that half the time I'd remove the wrong line in the center of an "O" or a "P" or whatever.

Version 10 has a much better contour than version 9. very accurate. But the downside of version 10 is that it requires a lot mure processing power and memory than version 9.

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Dave Grundy
AKA "applicator" on mIRC
"stickin' sticky stuff to valuable vessels and vehicles!"
in Granton, Ontario, Canada
1-519-225-2634
dave.grundy@quadro.net
www.quadro.net/~shirley

Posted by Joe Rees (Member # 211) on :

Dave, thats good news about v10 being smarter. I find in version 9 and earlier I prefer using the 'outline to object' method as it's more accurate in not having those random flat spots - plus three other reasons: I can see what the results will be before I convert it (it'll look just like the outline), I have the choice of using the rounded nib in outline preferences which virtually eliminates the occasional spikes you can get from too sharp a corner, and on my particular machine, it processes the conversion a LOT quicker than contour does. I'd say there are benefits to both.

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Joe Rees
Cape Craft Signs
(Cape Cod, MA)
http://www.capecraft.com
e-mail: joerees@capecraft.com

Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :

Joe..I agree about the processing being faster using the pen outline and converting outline to object. But I found that by the time I removed the unwanted inner parts it took longer than waiting for the contour to happen. By the way do any of you ever get a situation where, if you are doing, say, a 10-20 step inside contour from one color to another that Corel will sometimes just give up and quit responding and you have to close it down? It usually happens just before the next autobackup is due to happen? LOL

Posted by Randy W. Robarge (Member # 2022) on :

Thanks for the tips and info guys.

I had limited my contour use basically because of the time it seemed to take to process. Also, as Dave said, at times my Corel program would say "Time to p*** you off, I'm shutting down" (or something like that).

I think the part I missed when working with the outline problem is that I need to separate the objects. I had assumed (I should know better) that it was one big object. Especially the insides of b's, o's, and the like. It just completely filled in and acted like one object. I will have to go back and see if separate works. And I'll also play around with that ol' contour again.

Thanks everyone!
Randy

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Randy
Graphic Details
Fort Edward, NY

Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :

I use both techniques, depending on the circumstances. In most cases, I prefer using the Control+Shift+Q to convert the outline. I like the additional options I have by utilizing the round nib. Also, the convert to outlines function seems to add less points. The contour adds many flat spots and sometimes weirds out.

I just got Corel 10 this week. I will play with it.

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A Sign of Excellence

Posted by Mark Fuller (Member # 2128) on :

Randy
Thanks for asking the question!

Dave and others
Thanks for sharing your wealth of information!

Sometimes it's best to shutup and read.

Thanks again
Mark

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Mark Fuller
Fuller Signs
Keswick, Ontario
CANADA

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