Vector Studio Part I -- Creating Cut Out Shapes in CorelDRAW

CorelDRAW 8 and 9

Select the Text Tool (F8). Click inside the rectangle and key in a symbol or character. I've used the letter Q in Adobe's Critter font. (Available from www.eyewire.com). Set the point size to 108 points.

Select the rectangle, and the symbol or character, and center align them horizontally and vertically by pressing the Align button on the Property Bar, then clicking the Center (Horizontal) and Center (Vertical) check boxes. Press Enter to apply your changes. Editor's Note: Or press C followed by E on your keyboard.

Select both the symbol and the rectangle and press the Combine button on the Property Bar. Apply a light gray fill. We'll change it to white later.

Select the duplicate shape with the Shape Tool (F10), and move the outside edges of the duplicate shape towards the center 3 or 4 points. Apply a 20% black fill by clicking the 20% black swatch on the onscreen color palette.

Create a new rectangle, smaller than the duplicate shape but larger than the symbol or character opening. Apply a 10% black fill. Send the rectangle to the back (Shift - Page Down).

Select the duplicate shape, and the smaller rectangle, and Convert to Bitmap (Bitmaps menu). Set the Color to Grayscale, Select the Anti-aliasing option, and set the resolution according to your final use-72 dpi for Macintosh web graphics, 96 dpi for Windows web graphics, or 300 dpi (or higher) for commercial printing. Press OK to apply your settings.

With the new bitmap selected, select Bitmaps | Blur | Gaussian Blur. Set the Blur Radius to 1 for low resolution or between 2 to 4 for higher resolution images. Press OK to apply the blur.

Send the blurred bitmap behind the original shape (Shift - Page Down), and offset it so the shadow is below the opening and to the left.

Select the top shape and apply a white fill, or the same color fill or texture as your background.

NOTE: Adding the 5% black rectangle to the very back helps create the illusion of depth.

A DRAW Variation

changed the fill to the linen bitmap fill found in DRAW's Pattern Fill | Bitmap fill dialog. I create a rectangle larger than the quail-shaped opening and applied the same linen fill and sent it to the back (Shift - Page Down). I selected the blurred bitmap and applied an Interactive Transparency, type Subtract, amount 0%. To make the fill darker, I duplicated the blurred bitmap (+).

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