Outer edges of letters

[boardsmm]

Don't know search terms for this so sorry if already answered somewhere;

 

I'm making a map and wish to type the name of a few major areas with big letters - but the letters should not cover up too much, ie I'm hoping to have only the outer edges visible of the individual letters and the inside of the letters transparent. Ideally I can even set the thickness of this outer edge... but that may be a bit much to ask.

 

Can this be achieved somehow?

 

Thank you very much!!!

 

:-)

[yellowman]

Sasha has a great example in her gallery's banner, here

And she had explained of how she made it, but can't recall exactly where, I think she use the Grim Color Reaper plugin.

she is an active member in this forum and I am sure she will help you out.

 

Edited February 24, 2013 by yellowman

[Daniels]

I'm not sure how Sasha did it, but an easy way would be to type out your text (in a different color than you want your outline) on a separate layer, run the Outline plugin (Effects ->Object ->Outline Object) in the color you want with settings to your liking, then run Grim Color Reaper (Effects ->Color ->Grim Color Reaper) on the unwanted middle color.

 

If you don't know how to install plugins, go here.

[Ego Eram Reputo]

Download and install this font: http://www.dafont.com/outline-pixel-7.font   Then use that font to type in your text.

 

To save yourself PAIN, type each piece of text on it's own layer and change the layer name (activate the layer & press F4) to describe the text and font size you used.

 

For example, I might have a layer named "Flux Capacitor: Outline-pixel-7, 18px bold, #987652".  This tells me the text is Flux Capacitor.  The font is the new one which is rendered at 18px in size and with Bold turned on.   The final bit is the color used for the text.

 

[sashwilko]

How I made my outlined text I just outlined the font with outline object with the  radius at  - 8  deleted the inside parts (the font) with magic wand,  then ran AA assistant twice or three times (I forget), then drop shadow a real light grey (RGB all 175)  to get the desired result,  the sliders from top to bottom were set as follows - X and Y on 2, Widening - 0, Blur - 3 Opacity - 255. 

[boardsmm]

Thank you all for you wonderful and kind help! For my application (ie. multiple locations on a map) I think "easy" is more important than "beautiful" so I particularly appreciate that you've presented such a plethora of alternatives.

 

Thank you!

 

:-)