Illustrator 10 - How can I round the edges of some squared off text?

[caseywhitcher]

Ok, so say I'm using Impact font with 90 degree angles on all the corners of the characters.

is there a way that I can create outlines, and round all the corners?

I'm looking for an automated way to do this.. not corner by corner by hand. That could be 1000's of corners, and not completely accurate.

If I have to I will smooth the edges at high-Res in Photoshop, then bring that file back into illustrator and use the Auto-Trace tool, but I would rather figure out a way to do it in Illustrator.

thanks.

[mattkivett]

Set your type as you want it. Convert type to outlines, then use the pen tool to smooth out the corners you want to be rounded.

[caseywhitcher]

This is a Logo with 11 letters in it.. an H would have 12 corners on it that would need to be rounded out.... and it wouldn't be exact.

There has to be a better way.

If I have to I will smooth it in photoshop at hi res, then bring it back in and Autotrace it in Illustrator..

But I'm assuming Illustrator has a way to automate it?

Yes?

Anyone?

[mattkivett]

I guess I don't quite understand what you're asking for then.

[caseywhitcher]

for instance matt, what if I wanted to use your method on a paragraph of text??

say 50 words, so maybe 250 characters, all of which had on average 8 right angles per letter (visualize a T ) that needed to be rounded...

Would you want to go into 2000 differnt corners with the pen tool and round them all by hand?

[mattkivett]

In a scenario like that, I would say you would probably need to make yourself a custom font. That can be a tedious option as well, but I'm not really sure that there is any automated way to do what you're asking in Illustrator. You might keep asking around though; I learn new things about the program every day.

[caseywhitcher]

Originally posted by mattkivett
You might keep asking around though;

I just did ask.. in this thread


hopefully someone comes along that knows the answer

[sense]

best thing would be to find a font with rounded edges wich you won't need to change at all.

u could try this..

Ctrl+shift+O create outlines

select all

give a stroke of 5 to 10pt depending on how big the text is

select rounded edges in the stroke options panel

maybe give an offset path afterwards to contract the characters width and height



it's a long shot but if it works let me know.

[Urbansory]

you the round corner filter, I never tried it on a body of text, so it might do some weird things. Under > Effect > Stylize > Round Corners

Then expand appearance to get the actual rounded edges not the simulated, basically it's not actually rounded until you do so.

[ling500]

How about giving the text an outline stroke (in the same color) and then in the Strokes palette (i'm still stuck in AI8), select a rounded cap and join. The thicker the stroke, the rounder the edge and there's no need to convert the text to outlines.