PhotoImpact X3 has several preset work modes. For this tutorial, we will be using the Full Edit mode so all of the tools in PhotoImpact will be available to you.

As you work, use your mouse to drag this along with you to mark your place.

LET'S GET STARTED

You will need a bold font and a stripe fill pattern for this tutorial. You may use the included ones included (Casual True Type Font and the Orange Stripe fill) or use your own fill pattern and font. The orange stripe tile can be used from your hard drive to fill the text or you can add it to the fill patterns in your Easy Palette.

Creating the Text

1. Open a new image large enough to hold your text.

2. Set the text size to around size 48, use any color, black border = 1, and type your text.

3. Fill the text with the orange stripe fill. If you did not put it in your Easy Palette, select Edit\Fill from the menu. Navigate to where you saved the orange stripe fill on your hard drive, select and fill the text. This will be our bottom layer of text.

4. Duplicate the text and change color to #EDC07D, black border=1. You now have two layers of text. Use the arrow key on your keyboard to move the top layer of text over about 7-8 pixels. The stripe pattern should show through and look like the image below.
   

   If you wish to split your text so you can turn it at different angles, you must do that before adding the texture to the top layer.

5. Using the TEXT tool, select the bottom layer (orange stripe text). Open the text dialogue box and select Split Text As Characters. This will cause the stripe layer to become the top layer.
   

6. Again, using the text tool, select the plain colored layer and Split Text As Characters. This will bring the plain layer back to the top level.

Texturing the Text
Now that we have our basic text, we still need to add some texture to the top layer to give it an pitted look. For this, we will create a chalk brush. However, we cannot apply a brush to a path object so each letter will have to be converted to an image.

1. Being careful not to move your text, right-click on each letter in the top layer, select Convert from text path to image.

2. While holding down the CTRL key, use the pick tool to select each of the letters in the top layer (the plain colored ones).

3. Select the Chalk Paint Brush and set the parameters as shown in the example below. Click (don't drag) your chalk brush over each letter once or twice. If you make the spatter too dark, use CTRL Z to undo and try again.
   

4. While holding down the CTRL key, select both letters in each layer, right-click and combine as single object.
   

   You can now rotate your letters to suit your taste, store them in your Easy Palette or use them in your graphic work.

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