Part II Putting Illustrator to Work CROSS-REF For more on the Direct Selection tool, see Chapter 6. OpenType and TrueType combine the screen and printer fonts into one file — if you can choose any of these font types in Illustrator, you can create outlines from them. Illustrator locates the font file and uses that information to create the outlines. After you convert type to outlines, you can apply gradients to its fill, and you can apply patterns to its fill, which you can preview on-screen. You can also apply patterns to nonoutline type by clicking a pattern in the Swatch panel for the. | Part II Putting Illustrator to Work p r r r- For more on the Direct Selection tool see Chapter 6. Cj SS REF . OpenType and TrueType combine the screen and printer fonts into one file if you can choose any of these font types in Illustrator you can create outlines from them. Illustrator locates the font file and uses that information to create the outlines. After you convert type to outlines you can apply gradients to its fill and you can apply patterns to its fill which you can preview on-screen. You can also apply patterns to nonoutline type by clicking a pattern in the Swatch panel for the file or stroke of the character. FIGURE Type converted into outlines can result in some cool effects. t -C . U UjON Although you can undo Create Outlines be forewarned that you can t convert back H fc e fflS to type in case you make a spelling error or want to change the font or any other type attribute. You can convert all forms of type including individual type type on a path area type and type containers to outlines. r Creating outlines out of type is also very useful when you want to send the file to be outputted and the person doing the output doesn t have the font you re using. Simply use the Create Outlines option before you send the file and it prints just fine. This is not advised for 4-point type or smaller as described later in this chapter. The process of creating editable type outlines has many uses including distorting mild-mannered characters into grotesque letters. More practical uses for editable type outlines include making type-based logos unique arcing type where one side is flat and the other is curved special effects and masking and avoiding font-compatibility problems. 352 Working with Type 9 Initially when type is converted into outlines individual characters are turned into compound paths. This ensures that holes in letters such as in a lowercase a b or d are transparent and not just white-filled paths placed on top of the original objects. r r-j r
