How to distress or shatter type in Illustrator

April 2, 2008 – 2:34 pm

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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  1. 5 Responses to “How to distress or shatter type in Illustrator”

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

    By Webmaster blog on Apr 3, 2008

  3. 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 :)

    By Richard on Apr 3, 2008

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

    By Dallas Web Design on Apr 3, 2008

  5. 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

    By window tinting courses on Apr 3, 2008

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

    By Warhammer Online on Apr 3, 2008

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