Hi all,

I'm creating a logo that will have spacing going through the letters. I've created the effect by simply drawing a line through them that matches the background color. As a result, whenever the background color changes, I have to change the line color as well. Is there a more 'elegant' way, that will actually create a space in the letters so it simply shows the color beneath it? I've experimented with Boolean path operations, but none of them seem to achieve it.

Take a look at the attachment to see what I'm talking about.

Thanks,
Oz

Possible, but there seems to be one slight complication...

1. Draw the letter as a path and replicate it as in your drawing. In theory you could start with text and convert that to path, but that was the complication, the 5th operation wouldn't work on the resulting path.
2. Draw a rectangle. Be sure the rectangle is above (raise to top) the letters. Not necessary to convert it to a path.
3. Position the rectangle where you want to cut.
4. Select the rectangle and the letters.
5. Path -> difference

I think the most elegant way would be to use Clip because it's a nondestructive function, you can easily undo it, and you can always do Difference later when the logo is finished and nothing needs to be tweaked.

Create a big rectangle that is larger than your logo, then create a smaller one that is used for the "punch out stripe", do a Difference (Ctrl + -) to get the shape that covers the areas of the logo you actually want to show, a bit counter intuitive but that's the way to go. Lower the object opacity so you can see the logo behind it, this should make it easier to understand. Also give this object some weird color so you know it's a helper object and not part of the drawing just in case...

Now group the logo, even if it's just one text object, it's better to clip groups because you can enter the group even when it's clipped and rearrange objects inside it, add new ones etc.

Select the logo group, select the clipping path (which should be above logo) and do Object > Clip > Set. You now have a logo with a strikeout. You can edit objects inside the group, and even edit the clipping path without releasing the clip by using Node tool and the appropriate button from the toolbar (clipping path are marked green by default).

An alternative to clipping would be masking. Often clipping is simpler than masking, e.g. when one is trimming the border of a group of objects, but in this case the two methods are of similar complexity.

Thanks everyone! I'll try these methods out later tonight.

I have a completely different way to do this, that involves the inkscape tracing method. This is the easiest method for me, because it involves no thinking

1. Make your text black and draw a white square over it where you want the space.


2. With the snipping tool utility, or any similar application, take a screenshot of the text with the square over it.



3. Save your image, then import it back into inkscape. Then, select your image and press "Shift+Alt+B". This will trace your image with transparency in the middle. Press "OK" and your traced image will be sitting right on top of the original picture, so you can just drag it off the top.


4. Now you can easily change the color of your text as you please, and it can be used anywhere!