This part of the tutorial shows how to make soft embossed text or objects using separate objects and employing Photo-Paint's Clip Object function.

The result can be very similar to that achieved in Part 1A but in this method you have much more control over the positioning of the shaded and highlight regions of the effect because you can move the separate objects!

Steps:

1-4 . Repeat steps 1-4 from Part 1A then return here.

5. Create 2 new objects.
Make sure the Object Docker is open ( Window > Dockers > Objects or CTRL+F7) then create two new objects ( Object > Create > New Object, or use the New Object icon on the bottom of the Objects Docker.

6. Change the names of the new objects.
Double click the first new object in the Objects Docker - the Object Property dialogue box opens.

Change the name for the first new object to "white" then click OK.

Double-click the second new object and change its name to "black" as shown.

7. Create a mask from the ‘A' object.
Select the ‘A' object in the Objects Docker and create a mask from this object ( Mask > Create from Object/s, CTRL+M or press the icon on the Mask/Object Toolbar). You should see a dotted marquee (the mask marquee) surrounding the object. If not you can switch the visibility of the mask marquee on using Mask > Marquee Visible or CTRL+H.

8. Invert the mask. Mask > Invert, CTRL+SHIFT+I, or press the icon on the Mask/Object Toolbar).
If you are using the marquee to visualise the mask, your image should look like that shown just above. This step is important. If the mask is not inverted the effect will not work.

Now we need to fill shaped areas in the two new (white and black) objects we created in step 5. The filled shapes will be the inverse of the ‘A' character.

9. Fill the white object with white using the inverted mask shape.
Select the "white" object in the Objects Docker.

From the menu choose Edit > Fill. The Edit Fill and Transparency dialogue opens.

Ensure the ‘Current Fill' radio button is selected and that the fill type is ‘Uniform Fill' ( the red, green and blue icon near the eyedropper).

If the colour in the large colour swatch in this dialogue is not white, we need to change it to white. Click the EDIT button. The Uniform Fill dialogue opens.

Drag the tiny square in the large gradient colour box right up to the far top left until the readings in the R,G and B value boxes read 255 each. This is pure white (RGB mode). Click OK and then OK again in the Edit Fill and Transparency dialogue.

The ‘white - highlight object now contains a white ‘A'.

Even though you can't see it in the Objects Docker, your image should now show a white ‘A'.

10. Fill the black object with black using the inverted mask shape.
Repeat step 9 except that this time, select the ‘black' object and change its colour to black. The RGB values in the Uniform Fill dialogue should be 0,0,0 (tiny square dragged to the far bottom (left or right side is the same).

After pressing OK twice you should see a black ‘A' in both your image and in the ‘black' object in the Objects Docker.

12. Blur both the white and black objects.
Select the white object in the Objects Docker. From the Effects menu, choose Blur > Gaussian Blur. Change the Radius to 3.0 pixels then press OK. Select the ‘black' object in the Objects Docker and repeat the effect ( Effects > Last Effect or CTRL+F). You image should now show a blurry cyan letter ‘A' with a black background.

The different effects shown above are achieved by positioning the shadow and highlight objects differently against the original.

In this case the positions of the highlight and shadow objects have been reversed.
 

Some alternative methods you can try:

To help you appreciate the versatility of Photo-Paint, here are some alternative methods to achieve the same result -

Alt Method 1:
- Follow the original above method up to and including step 6.
- Fill the entire layer of the black and white objects with black and white respectively.
- Select the original ‘A' object and create a mask from it.
- Select the black object and then double-click the eraser tool. Doing this deletes the area of the object OUTSIDE the mask.
- Select the white object and double-click the eraser tool.
- Continue from Step 10 above

Alt Method 2:
- Follow the original method above up to and including step 6
- Fill the entire layer of the black and white objects with black and white respectively.
- Select the original ‘A' object and create a mask from it.
- Invert the mask.
- Select any of the mask tools from the Toolbox
- Select the black object and press the DEL key on your keyboard
- Select the white object and press the DEL key on your keyboard

Alt Method 3:
- Follow the original method above up to and including step 6
- Fill the entire layer of the black and white objects with black and white respectively.
- Select the original ‘A' object and create a mask from it.
- Invert the mask
- Save the mask as a Channel (Mask > Save As Channel, press OK to save as the default name)
- Select the black object and click CUT on the toolbar
- Load the mask from the Channels (Mask > Load > ...select the name of the saved mask...
- Select the white object and click CUT on the Toolbar
- Continue from Step 11 above

Notes:
The 3 alternative methods above really show different ways to cut/create objects into shapes using masks. In all 4 cases (including the original method) we need to create an object shaped as the inverse of the letter ‘A'.

When a new blank object is created it actually covers the entire area of the image but has no fill applied to it. The 3 alternative methods rely on pre-filling this area with a colour prior to cutting the shape with the mask.

The original method uses the Invert Mask function and then fills this inverted, empty area of the newly created ‘blank' objects.

In the first alternative method, double-clicking the eraser tool deletes the area inside the mask.

In the second alternative method, pressing the DEL key does the same job as the eraser tool. This method relies on the selection of a Mask tool before use. If any other tool is selected, pressing the DEL key simply deletes the mask itself and not the masked area of the object.

The third alternative method is similar to the second , but it doesn't matter which tool is currently selected. However, using the Windows CUT function also removes the mask!. Thus the requirement to save it first, or else you will need to recreate it from the original object.

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Copyright © 2001, David Mutch & Visionary Voyager Corp. P/L