Making a perspective text reflection... Please help...

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Puffin617
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Joined: Thu Jul 16, 2009 7:23 am

Making a perspective text reflection... Please help...

Postby Puffin617 » Thu Jul 16, 2009 7:32 am

I'm on the verge of jumping off a cliff due to this problem...

I make a reflection of my text by making a clone, flipping it and pasting a white-black gradient over it. Now my problem is THIS : is it possible to make the bottom edge of the reflection "wider" (to the left and right) so it seems as if it comes closer to ones self?

Please help...

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prkos
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Re: Making a perspective text reflection... Please help...

Postby prkos » Thu Jul 16, 2009 9:42 am

You have to unlink the clone to be able to do transformations on it, after unlinking you can apply the perspective or envelope effect on the object.
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Puffin617
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Re: Making a perspective text reflection... Please help...

Postby Puffin617 » Thu Jul 16, 2009 9:54 am

As soon as I unlink it, my mask disappears.

And could you please explain to me how to do the perspective function. I've watched tutorials on Youtube and read more tutorials but as soon as I select the Perspective tool, my text disappears...

Something is not working right...

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prkos
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Re: Making a perspective text reflection... Please help...

Postby prkos » Thu Jul 16, 2009 11:28 am

Try unmasking the object before you unlink clone. That way the mask won't disappear so you'll be able to apply it on the unlinked object.

I would first make the perspective transformation, then mask the result.

To make the perspective you first have to draw an object that has 4 nodes in the shape of the perspective deformation you want to achieve. Use the Pen tool to draw it, starting with bottom left node and going clockwise. Don't forget to close the path, make 5th node merge with the first. The object you want to transform should also be converted to a path.

Select the 4-node skeleton and the object to transform, then go to Effects > Modify Path > Perspective. I'm not sure which of these two should be selected first. Also try making the skeleton about the same size as the object.

When you have the perspective done use the mask on it ;)

Read more in the guide ;)
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Inkscape Manual on Floss
Inkscape FAQ
very comprehensive Inkscape guide
Inkscape 0.48 Illustrator's Cookbook - 109 recipes to learn and explore Inkscape - with SVG examples to download

~suv
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Re: Making a perspective text reflection... Please help...

Postby ~suv » Thu Jul 16, 2009 6:10 pm

Puffin617 wrote:As soon as I unlink it, my mask disappears.

And could you please explain to me how to do the perspective function. I've watched tutorials on Youtube and read more tutorials but as soon as I select the Perspective tool, my text disappears...

Something is not working right...

There is a bug with the perspective and envelope extensions when the 'to be transformed' objects have been moved prior to applying the perspective effect/extension.

Bug report #168942 (“perspective extension fails on group with transforms”) explains it quite well. Best to experiment yourself with a minimal test case to figure out how to avoid having the transformed text floating somewhere far outside the drawing page (use 'Zoom extents' to locate it ;-). The result depends on the sequence of commands:
  • try: create text, convert text to path, move it, apply perspective
  • not: create text, move it, convert text to path, apply perspective
I tried to reproduce your mirrored text example and found it best to flip and mirror the text after all perspective effects have been applied. And you don't need to set a mask for the gradient if you edit the fill of the mirrored text and apply the gradient there (at least that worked for me...).

The sequence of the nodes of the path that will be the outline for the perspective transformation matters:
  • start (in relation to the text) lower left, then upper left, upper right, lower right.
  • for me, it worked correctly with just the 4 nodes, had no need to close the path (kind of a 'U'-shaped path, but upside-down)
hth, ~suv

<edit> attached example drawing: SVG Image</edit>
Attachments
mirrored-text-with-gradient-example.svg
(14.07 KiB) Downloaded 886 times

Puffin617
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Re: Making a perspective text reflection... Please help...

Postby Puffin617 » Thu Jul 16, 2009 11:21 pm

You guys are lifesavers!!! :-)

It's all about the sequence of events. I've noticed that I HAVE TO do the perspective BEFORE I flip the text upside down (or any transform for that matter)...

Thanx a lot!!

Cheers

~suv
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Re: Making a perspective text reflection... Please help...

Postby ~suv » Fri Jul 17, 2009 1:09 am

Another method to achieve a (more freely interpreted) 'reflection': 'tweak' the duplicated and flipped text object, with the mode 'Push parts of paths in any direction' (or others - try yourself, it's fun to play with ;-) on the Tweak Controls Bar:

mirrored-text-with-tweak-tool.png
mirrored-text-with-tweak-tool.png (7.48 KiB) Viewed 2519 times

Puffin617
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Re: Making a perspective text reflection... Please help...

Postby Puffin617 » Fri Jul 17, 2009 2:33 am

Hi...

Thanx for all the help. I'm learning so much this week about Inkscape :-)

Here's a screen-grab of what I wanted to use the reflection for... Stil in the process of re-reflecting the icons with the perspective tool...

Image

~suv
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Re: Making a perspective text reflection... Please help...

Postby ~suv » Fri Jul 17, 2009 3:00 am

Great work! I retract my :tool_tweak: tip - it's clearly not the tool of choice for your goals and its result wouldn't blend in well with the other design elements.

Puffin617
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Joined: Thu Jul 16, 2009 7:23 am

Re: Making a perspective text reflection... Please help...

Postby Puffin617 » Fri Jul 17, 2009 5:44 am

Thanx :-)


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