Expert: Amy - 3/14/2006

Question
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Followup To
Question -
AMY,
Thanks for the info. I tried your suggestion and it is much closer than my efforts.  Part of the effect that I want is if you use your chop and you are using the real chinese red ink pad you will notice that there are blank spots where the ink just doesn't get to the paper.  If you take your time and put lots of ink on the chop and then carefully apply it you will get a very clean impression but most times the chop is inked and stamped fairly quickly and a less than perfect impression is the result.   I have used the splatter filter and it gives me most of what I am looking for but do these filters only work on lines and not fills?  Try the splatter and you will see what I mean.
Ron

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Followup To
Question -
Amy:

I am using an iMac 450, OS 10.3.9, Illustrator 10. I am designing a logo and with the following effect:  

I want the logo to look like it has been stamped with a chinese "chop".  If you are not familiar with a chop, it is a carved ivory instument that chinese use to sign their names or for artists to sign their work.  You use an ink pad to get ink on the chop and then you stamp onto paper or any other surface.  The end result is slightly rough looking and that is what I am trying to achieve. Appreciate any tips you might have.

Ron
Answer -
Hi again Ron.

I actually have a chop!

Let's see...  I guess I'd apply some roughness to the paths after creating them.  

Create chinese symbol path (I used a square for this example).
Select your symbol and choose
Filter>Distort & Transform>Roughen
Put .5% (that's half a percent) in the Size box
Choose "relative"
Put 100% in the DETAIL box
Choose "Round" in the Points option.

Does that help?  I don't know if those numbers will be right for the size of the imprint you'll end up - you can certainly adjust them.

-Amy


Answer -
I guess that's one of the reasons that some projects are meant for raster programs like PhotoShop and some effects can be achieved in Illustrator.I don't suppose you want to delve into that - I suspect you want transparency without clipping paths.

My goodness, if the programs were interchangeable, that'd be a whole lot of lost sales!  =)

The spatter filter works toward the edges of any shape - that's usually where spatter is. Solid toward the middle.  If you play with the numbers in the spatter dialog, you can get the spatter amount to extend further into the shape.  Don't use it on shapes with strokes...  then it concentrates on the stroke. The effect is very pixelly, though. I don't like that.

=)

Amy

Amy,

Photoshop?  I have Photoshop 8 but I don't use photoshop to design logos unless there is embossing involved.  I am not that confident using photoshop versus illustrator for logo designs but if it gets me the effect that I want then what would you suggest?

Ron

Answer
Oh, wow.  There are so many ways you could go about it.

http://www.graficalicus.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=18

That's a decent simple tutorial on getting a "rubber stamp" look.

I got one to look pretty neat - see it here
http://webpages.charter.net/2thuns/stamp.jpg

Create the layer with the text (black text)
Layer>Rasterize
Filter>Sketch>Stamp   (rounds edges)
  (light dk balance 49 / smoothness 13)
Filter>Stylize>Diffuse
  (darken only)
Filter>Brush Strokes>Spatter
  (Radius 22 / Smoothness 6)
Filter>Blue>Gaussian Blur (to taste)
Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation
  (Hue: 0 / Sat: 100 / Lightness: +59 / Colorize selected)
Layer>Duplicate Layer
  (from now on work on top layer)
Filter>Brush Strokes>Spatter
  (Radius: 7 / Smoothness: 2)
Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur
Then set the blending mode of top layer to Dissolve
Filter>Texture>Texturizer
  (canvas texture - optional)
Then select only the red area
Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast to darken it up a bit.
Layers>Flatten Image
Filter>Blur>Blur More (twice)
Then Image Adjustments>Levels to fine tune color of red.

I suppose you could also use a spatter brush to get more white areas in the middle???

-Amy