Making Engraved Lettering

The Problem:

Modelling engraved lettering is really difficult - Is there an easier alternative?

The Solution:

Instead of trying to model the engraved letters and ending up with all your hair pulled out in frustration, try the effective easy-as-pie transparent png method. What you do is import into SketchUp a .png image file you've created in an illustration program or bitmap editor program. My example image below shows how it can look. It can help keep your model from having excessive geometry. Note that other than resizing and the border effect, the example image is a pure SketchUp export.

I used my favorite vector illustration program, Xara Xtreme, to produce the png images that look like engraved lettering. In Xara Xtreme I only needed to type the text, apply a bevel effect, and export as a png with a transparent background. (I presume similar png's could be done with Illustrator, CorelDraw, PhotoShop etc.) When importing to SketchUp I do so as an image -- not as a texture. When the png is positioned against a textured face in the SketchUp model, the transparency allows the png to visually merge with the textured face.

Of course the shadow in your engraved lettering is not determined by SketchUp's shadowing. The letters' shadows will be whatever you make them in the program you use to create the png's. Note that in the example the lettering shadows do correspond with SketchUp shadows -- even where the engraved letter's are rotated. In Xara Xtreme this was very easy. I had already created the basic model so I knew what I wanted the lettering to look like and was able to easily adjust the bevel shadow accordingly.

One potential use for this technique is to incorporate attractive watermarks into your model giving the look that they are modelled right in rather than applied. The result can be a little more classy than overlaying a watermark. In the example image the rotated lettering was included as example of this kind of "engraved" watermark.

The Tip:

If you want engraved lettering, think imported png with a transparent background.

The References:

The on-line help has information about importing 2d images. The kid in the example image is a component from FormFonts. The lettering style used is a font called Georgia - bold.

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Regards, Ross from the Land of Lawn Tractors--- I'm listening to this local radio station right now.