How to distress or shatter type in Illustrator

shattered or distressed type

This is a good tip if you ever want to change type to invoke a mood. I wanted to give a bit of text a feeling of electricity and this is what I did.

First of all, in Illustrator, you must convert your type to outlines. Remember, after you have done this you can’t edit what’s written, so you better make sure you have spelled it correctly! To do this go Type > Create Outlines with it selected, or Cmd/ctrl-shift-O. Easy!

Next you need to draw diagonal lines across the text. Draw your first one at the top either with the Line Segment Tool(\) or the Pen Tool (P) and then, with the Selection Tool (V) and option held down, drag the whole line down to create your second line. Further lines can be draw with equal space in between by going Object > Transform > Transform Again, or Cmd/ctrl-D. (You may want to make you diagonal lines uneven for a more distressed effect, I just showed you this way because Illustrator’s Transform Again feature is incredibly cool!)

Now the clever part. With everything selected, type outlines and diagonal lines, click Divide in the Pathfinder palette.

Now, with the Direct Selection Tool (A), move the sections around until you’ve created something you’re happy with.

shattered or distressed type tutorial

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This article was posted on Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008 at 2:34 pm and is filed under Illustrator.
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8 Responses to “How to distress or shatter type in Illustrator”

  1. Webmaster blog, on April 3rd, 2008 at 3:20 am, said:

    Thanks for a nice tutorial.
    I was looking for same to electrify my logo. :)

  2. Richard, on April 3rd, 2008 at 4:01 am, said:

    Hey wow, this looks like a really fantastic website, you have a really nice layout and great ideas.

    If you get a chance, feel free to drop by my blog

    http://hedgeagainstspeculation.com

    I also have monthly contests going on, so I would really appreciate it if you entered or donated :)

  3. Dallas Web Design, on April 3rd, 2008 at 4:14 pm, said:

    That is a lot easier that I would have thought. Thanks for the awesome tut.

  4. window tinting courses, on April 3rd, 2008 at 5:38 pm, said:

    You’ve made this look really easy – thank you. I’m going to try this with some of my graphics.

    I’m used to photoshop but still learning illustrator, your tips are helpful

    Thanks

  5. Warhammer Online, on April 3rd, 2008 at 9:31 pm, said:

    You explained it nicely :) , but I am not sure I would use it.

  6. Anonymous, on November 8th, 2008 at 2:38 am, said:

    that was real good tip i will try it 1 day

  7. Rob Cubbon, on January 19th, 2009 at 5:27 pm, said:

    Thank you, Webmaster blog, hope you got round to electrifying your logo.

    Thanks, Richard, not sure how many people from here who would be interested in donating to a blog about financial speculation but you never know!

    No problem, Dallas Web Design.

    Hope you enjoyed using this technique, window tinting courses.

    Thank you Warhammer Online and Anonymous.

  8. Spokane Window Tinting, on November 11th, 2009 at 9:59 pm, said:

    Thanks for the tip, I just used this to make a vehicle wrap. It can take an already distressed looking font and make it a lot more interesting and less stock.

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