Knife tool won't cut text?

Hello,
I'm trying to do one of those jagged sliced text effects for a logo, but I can't get the knife tool to get text once I convert it to outlines (or before).
Does the knife tool not work on text and if not, what do people typically do to get these very perfect slices?
Thanks!

jbardy,
As I (mis)understand it, you may (on top of the outlined type):
1) Click (not drag) with the Pen Tool to create the jagged cutting line (or create it in another way to get the right shape and position);
2) Object>Path>Divide Objects below;
3) Object>Ungroup and Object>Group the parts on either side of the cutting line (2 Groups);
4) Move one of the Groups to get the right gap.
This way you may adjust until you are satisfied before actually cutting.
And what Scott is going to say.

Similar Messages

Filling text/using a clipping mask, then using the knife tool

Hey, new to the forums here, and I have a problem....
I'm digitizing my notes for an earth science class and I'm using Illustrator CS5.
I'm attempting to make a simple text effect which is leaving me baffled.
The text says "Earthquakes" (in Impact, 24pt.)
I wish to texture the text with a photo of sandstone. I can do this.
I wish to cleave the text in twain with the knife tool. I can do this, too.
What I cannot do for the life of me is to cut the text in half after applying the clipping mask.
Nor can I apply the texture (via clipping mask) after cutting the text in half.
I've tried all manner of different combinations, including doing some of the work in Photoshop, and still nothing works.
I tried to create an outline (apparently essential for using the knife tool on text), cut the text in half, and then make the clipping mask, but that only gives me hollow, invisible letters which I can't seem to fill with the appropriate image.
Does anyone out there have any ideas?
In case it's not clear, I want my text to be filled by an image, then I'd like to cut the text approximately in half (I would prefer to use the knife tool, as it looks better with a curved cut)
It's that simple, but I haven't been able to stumble upon a solution on my own.
On a side note, I've also happened upon some tutorials for "cutting text" that involves drawing a line across it, then using Divide from the Pathfinder toolbox, but this keeps giving me errors. Thoughts?

I like your answer because it showcases things I had never thought of. As it happens, minutes after posting this I decided to reverse the workflow from Illustrator into PS and then back.
Essentially, I converted my text via "outlines", used the knife tool, then cut and pasted it into PS. Then I added the stone texture into a new layer and applied a mask. I cropped it and imported it back into Illustrator.
Of course, that's a lot of steps, so as soon as I get back, I'm going to try the way you just described as I think it will come in very handy in the future.
Thank you.
Message was edited by: MercuryCrest

Selection tool won't select swatches or link text frames?

My selection tool won't select swatch colours and most of the time it is very difficult to link text boxes.
Am I doing something wrong?

All files, or just this one?
Have you trashed your prefs? see Replace Your Preferences

Text Tool won't work

My text tool is "stuck" on horzontal text tool in PSE10, and any attempt to change results in program crash. I cannot even "reset" all tools without triggering the fatal crash (it's telling me that "ATMLIB.dll" is not a valid Windows file).
I've got Win 7 and more then enough resources to run the software. Actually it ran just fine until recently. Is ATMLIB possibly pointing to a font issue?
I've reloaded the software from scratch (that is I've de-installed, and re-installed it now a couple of times). I've reloaded it and used the regirstration code from Adobe's "my products."
It only seems to happen when trying to select the text tool.
Any ideas? (I did post another message pointing to the DLL but I'm now more suspecious that it might be a font or registration issue.)
I've wasted days trying to resolve this, any help would be appreciated.
thanks.

Did you read my last post in your other thread?
Pse 10 needs a good copy of the amtlib.dll in system 32 or the text tool won't function.
Yours might be corrupted.

Can't use the knife tool to cut the rounded rectangle

The knife tool is grayed out when I try to use it ona rounded
rectangle. How can I errase part of a rounded rectangle?

dm25 wrote:
> The knife tool is grayed out when I try to use it ona
rounded rectangle. How can I errase part of a rounded rectangle?
You need to ungroup it first. Modify > Ungroup.
Linda Rathgeber [PVII] *Adobe Community Expert-Fireworks*
http://www.projectseven.com
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Help my knife tool is grayed out!

I have been using Fireworks for a number of years now. I need
to create a graphic header and drew a rounded-rectangle. I want to
cut it in half but noticed that my knife tool is grayed out. It has
always worked in the past. What could have happened to it? How do I
get it back to functioning? Please help!

cgacfox wrote:
> I have been using Fireworks for a number of years now. I
need to create a
> graphic header and drew a rounded-rectangle. I want to
cut it in half but
> noticed that my knife tool is grayed out. It has always
worked in the past.
> What could have happened to it? How do I get it back to
functioning? Please
> help!
Make sure you haven't accidentally flattened the object you
want to use
the knife tool on. It won't work on bitmaps.
Linda Rathgeber [PVII] *Adobe Community Expert-Fireworks*
http://www.projectseven.com
Fireworks Newsgroup:
news://forums.projectseven.com/fireworks/
CSS Newsgroup: news://forums.projectseven.com/css/
Design Aid Kits:
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Why does the knife tool leave gaps in the shape? (CS6)

When I use the knife tool on an shapeit leaves a gap where I slice. First I thought it was just an illusion in the program but it stays even after I've exported the image (both by "save as" in illustrator and "export" in inDesign). I've been careful not to move the shapeafter I used the tool so I don't think that should be a reason.
I've tried on different types of shapes like normal circles and more complex shapes. I've also attempted to start a new file from scratch but with the same result What could the reason be? Is there a setting I should be aware of?
This is what I see in Illustrator:
And this is what the image looks like when saved as pdf (in illustrator):
It also looks the same if I place it in inDesign and then export to pdf.
EDIT: I don't know if it is important but the size of the shape is about an A4 or there about.
Best regards,
SirSkorpan

Thank you for your reply, I still have a slight problem though,
Turning off anti-aliasing in illustrator did take away the gap when viewing the artwork in illustrator, but as soon as I export it through inDesign or use "save as" to make a pdf the gap is back. Is there an option to turn off anti-aliasing when exporting a document?
This is what I see when zooming in max (6400%) in acrobat reader:
When u say it's a screen issue do u mean that the gap won't show when printed? The problem is that I'm doing artwork that will be shown digital as well. Is there a way to get rid of this?
Thanks again for taking your time.
Best regards,
SirSkorpan

How to slice object and stroke with knife tool?

I am trying to slice an object into 2 pieces using the knife tool. The problem is that both cut pieces retain a complete stroke outlining the object rather than a cut stroke. How do I slice the object in half and get the effect of cutting thru the stroke as well? Thanks!

I don't believe you can do this in a single operation. You'll need to knife the object, then select the newly created segment on each object with the direct selection tool, then delete to open each path.
But this is likely to cause another problem: once you delete the path segment that you knifed through, the object's fill will form a straight edge from one open end point to the other. IOW, you'll lose any curvature you might have created with the knife.
There may be another way; others who are more adept will be along to offer it I'm sure.

Is there a tutorial on the knife tool

Finding any help on the use of the knife tool seems to have eluded me.
I expected it to be able to cut things, which it does in a way, but not as I expected it to do. I can find nothing of consequence on its use in the on line help, and the Adobe TV videos seem to have disapeared from my help system.
I draw a rectangle and cut it in half - fine. De-select it and the parts can be moved apart. Select both halves and use the knife again to cut the rectangle into 4 quarters. Result - two shapes that can best be described as each comprising two triangles joined together, when I expected 4 rectangles.
Puzzled to say the least.
Any suggestions?

The diamond shape is not the problem I'm having. I can't get the proper reflect of the diamond.
I tried doing a brown diamond which I thought would even be easier than white (see through diamond).
Still no luck... should think of a new tool for that

Knife tool with compound paths

Okay this is probably easy, but I haven't encountered it before. I could do this is Illustrator, but I'm betting it's easy to accomplish in InDesign.
I've taken a word that I've converted to outlines. Now I want to remove the dot off the "i" in the word. I can't seem to do it. The letters are all stuck together (regardless of whether I use the direct select tool or not) unless I release the compound paths which messes up all the other letters. Can I use the knife tool to cut the dot off the eye? If so, I can't really figure out how to use it. Come to think of it, I never use that knife tool and am not really sure what to do with it.
Allright let me know if you have any suggestions.
Thanks, Phyllis

Hm, it still selects the stroke on all of them. No matter how far in I zoom they're still stuck together. So it's something to do with the compound paths. I'd release them, delete the dot and put the paths back together -- only I can't figure out how to put the lower-case "g" back together as it has 2 holes in it. That's annoying. I guess I could put each letter in a separate box so that I'm only creating outlines for an individual letter. But in that case I might as well switch to Illustrator. I must be missing something....
Thanks, Phyllis

Knife Tool Annoyance

Ok, this is something I noticed with earlier versions of
Fireworks, and it's still lingering in CS3.
What happens is this: I have a rounded rectangle with a
border of 1 pixel (no fill). When I use the knife tool to cut it in
smaller parts, the resulting sections end up having a thickness of
2 pixels and become blurry/faded. This does not happen with path
having borders of 2+ pixels, only with 1 pixel.
Here's another interesting bit: let's say I do the same using
a rectangle with a 2-pixel border. The resulting sections have the
same thickness as the original (2 pixels), but if I attempt to
change it to 1 pixel, Fireworks blurs the section and its thickness
remains at 2 pixels. What gives?
Anyone ever noticed this? Is there a workaround? Is this a
bug or is this behavior by design?

mjeune,
This article might help clarify what you are seeing.
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=d6f2172a
alex
mjeune wrote:
> Ok, this is something I noticed with earlier versions of
Fireworks, and it's
> still lingering in CS3.
>
> What happens is this: I have a rounded rectangle with a
border of 1 pixel (no
> fill). When I use the knife tool to cut it in smaller
parts, the resulting
> sections end up having a thickness of 2 pixels and
become blurry/faded. This
> does not happen with path having borders of 2+ pixels,
only with 1 pixel.
>
> Here's another interesting bit: let's say I do the same
using a rectangle with
> a 2-pixel border. The resulting sections have the same
thickness as the
> original (2 pixels), but if I attempt to change it to 1
pixel, Fireworks blurs
> the section and its thickness remains at 2 pixels. What
gives?
>
> Anyone ever noticed this? Is there a workaround? Is this
a bug or is this
> behavior by design?
>

Knife Tool Oddities

Hello all. I am having two problems with the Knife Tool in
Fireworks.
I draw a "donut" using the rectangle
tool (the "doughnut" autoshape). This autoshape is a Vector
graphic, yet I cannot select the knife tool to slice it up. I know
this is how it is, but is there any way around this? Otherwise I
have to make donuts with circles and smaller circles and punching
and all that.
Now the real problem: I have a circle
made with the Circle tool and I cut it in two with the knife tool.
Now I have two halves of a circle, yet when I cut them in two again
with the knife tool, weird things happen. I know this is because
they are like Cs and not like Ds (i.e., they're missing the path
thinger in the middle). How do I fix that? I wish to make a pizza
(more or less).
(The bullets do not work correctly in
this posting forum, or at least here in the preview. Sorry. I
thought Adobe might use some Adobe technology, like the
RichTextArea component in Flex...)
Thanks to everyone in advance for your help!
Best,
Daniel

d23535 wrote:
> wow, that was weird. Here is the original post
>
> Hello all. I am having two problems with the Knife Tool
in Fireworks.
>
> I draw a "donut" using the rectangle tool (the
"doughnut"
> autoshape). This autoshape is a Vector graphic, yet I
cannot select the knife
> tool to slice it up. I know this is how it is, but is
there any way around
> this? Otherwise I have to make donuts with circles and
smaller circles and
> punching and all that.
> Now the real problem: I have a circle made with the
Circle
> tool and I cut it in two with the knife tool. Now I have
two halves of a
> circle, yet when I cut them in two again with the knife
tool, weird things
> happen. I know this is because they are like Cs and not
like Ds (i.e., they're
> missing the path thinger in the middle). How do I fix
that? I wish to make a
> pizza (more or less).
> (The bullets do not work correctly in this posting
forum, or
> at least here in the preview. Sorry. I thought Adobe
might use some Adobe
> technology, like the RichTextArea component in Flex...)
>
> Thanks to everyone in advance for your help!
>
> Best,
> Daniel
>
Hello:
point 1 - The Donut is an autoshape, so it must be ungrouped
before the
knife tool is accessible
point 2 - A much easier way to do this would be to use the
Pie shape.
Option/Alt drag to segment the "pie. When you have all the
pieces you
want, ungroup the shape and you will have ready made pie
pieces.
HTH
Jim Babbage - .:Community MX:. & .:Adobe Community
Expert:.
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CommunityMX - Free Resources:
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Adobe Community Expert
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HP LaserJet Pro 400 MFP M425dn won't print text at 72 point size or larger

My workplace recently purchased an HP LaserJet Pro 400 MFP M425dn all-in-one printer. It works excellently with the exception of the fact that it won't print text that's 72 points or larger in size. I've tried numerous fonts that're pre-installed with Windows, and all of them print properly at point size 71.5 or smaller; anything else simply doesn't show up in prints. The content that's sized at 72 points or higher *does* affect the flow of other printed content on the page, however. It's like the 72-point or larger text is occupying space, but it's completely invisible on the printed page. I've tested this using Microsoft Word 2002 on three separate computers, two of which have Windows 7 installed and one of which has Windows Vista installed. The problem is identical on all three computers. The printer is connected via ethernet cable to our wired network. I've installed the included printer software, and I don't believe that there are any updates to it that weren't installed up to this point. Any thoughts on how to resolve this issue?

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Printer won't print text documents

My HP 4300 series all in one printer prints images but won't print text from word processor documents. If I print a test page it will only print the image part but none of the text will appear. Blank pages are printed when I attempt to print text from a word processor however images are printed perfectly from web pages etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated so that I can have full functionality of my printer again.

Hello
See if the link will help you with the printing issues.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00613428&cc=uk&lc=en&dlc=en&product=1138342&tmp...
Thanks
Laura
Although I am an HP employee, I am speaking for myself and not for HP.

Knife tool won't cut text?

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