If you live in The States, very likely the only thing on your mind today is the election. Apparently that holds true for me as well because I forgot to post today’s Deke’s Techniques last night. It’s my own thing and I spaced it. Oh, that Obama! What kinds of crazy antics will he get us into next?
Anyway, here it is. And here’s the official description from lynda.com:
In this week’s Deke’s Techniques, Deke McClelland shows you how to create punched-out 3D letters in Adobe Illustrator, turning the plain old word ‘good’ in the image below into something (arguably) even better.
![](/_LEGACY/files/images/DT-179-punched-letters/00-DT-illustrator-punched-letters.png)
Safety first: In order to keep the original type intact, Deke begins by making a copy of the layer to work on. After converting that copy to outlines, he also makes a copy of the outlines layer to work on. This way, the original type isn’t destroyed in the design process. Safety observed, Deke then removes the black fill and adds a 4pt white stroke, setting the stroke to align to the outside of the letters.
![](/_LEGACY/files/images/DT-179-punched-letters/01-DT-illustrator-stroke-settings.png)
After converting the stroke to outlined fills, the type is ready for 3D extrusion. From the Effects menu, Deke chooses 3D > Extrude & Bevel, from which he sets the Z value to degrees and both the X and Y values to 4 degrees.
![](/_LEGACY/files/images/DT-179-punched-letters/02-DT-illustrator-3D-panel.png)
The next step involves some careful expansion, selection, and grouping, as well as the creation of a compound path from the letters in order to prepare them for a white fill (for the letters) and a red fill (for the extruded edges). By “careful,” I mean follow Deke’s instructions carefully here and you won’t go wrong. Cavalierly ignore certain aspects of Deke’s instructions, as I may have done, and you may go astray (as I may have done.)
![](/_LEGACY/files/images/DT-179-punched-letters/03-DT-illustrator-change-fill.png)
After some housekeeping in the Layers panel (using the Reverse Order command to put the letters g-o-o-d in the right order), it’s time to do a little straightening of the letters themselves. The application of the 3D effect tends to misalign the letters and their edges a bit. Switching to the Outline mode (Command/Ctrl+Y) allows you to drag the paths back into alignment.
![](/_LEGACY/files/images/DT-179-punched-letters/04-DT-illustator-outline-view.png)
The next step is to take a Spirograph pattern from a few weeks back and duplicate it over each letter. (Check out this episode of Deke’s Techniques for more on how to create the Spirograph pattern.)
![](/_LEGACY/files/images/DT-179-punched-letters/05-DT-illustrator-spirographss.png)
After pasting the Spirograph patterns in back of the letters, Deke creates a clipping mask for each letter/spirograph combination, eventually filling the inside of each character with the pattern.
![](/_LEGACY/files/images/DT-179-punched-letters/06-DT-illustrator-clipping.png)
After refilling the letters with red and adding a narrow stroke, it’s time for another round of alignment, which again is best done in Outline mode.
![](/_LEGACY/files/images/DT-179-punched-letters/07-DT-illustrator-align-outline-mode.png)
Lastly, a drop shadow, another stroke around the letter outlines, and the application of the Multiply blend mode provide the final touches to this sculptural effect:
![](/_LEGACY/files/images/DT-179-punched-letters/08-DT-illustrator-punched-letters-final.png)
Of course, this rich graphical 3D effect would not be the same without its fancy intertwined border. So next week, Deke will show you how to create that design using a pattern brush.
I really don’t have time for this. I live in a swing state, for God’s sake.
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