Expert: Kevin Stohlmeyer - 2/10/2009

Question
this is kind of a confusing question to ask but i will do my best.  I have some
words i put together with a font.  i then created the outlines for the font and
gave it a specific brush with a stroke weight of 1.  Then i copy and pasted the
same thing but this time with a white font and smaller stroke weight to put
inside the other letters.  What i would like to do is have the inner letters act as
an eraser so when i put this title in a movie the inside is clear and picture can
be seen through the outline.

Answer
Hi Colin,

What you will do is select each letter individually (first the filled then the white versions) and go to Object>Expand. This will turn your brush strokes into actual objects.

Now select each object (again individually) and open your pathfinder palette (window>pathfinder). Select the "unite" function (top left button) and then hit "expand". This will now turn your expanded object into one shape. This is important before you attempt the next step, or the shape created by the brush will mess this up.

Now select both letter objects (the fill and the white one) and go to Object>Compound Path>Make.

This will knockout the overlap between the two objects leaving you with a transparent interior.

That should do it. Repeat these steps for each letter and you are good to go.