PhotoImpact's Path Tools feature special polygon shapes that can be tweaked to become unique and intricate path shapes. Furthermore, if you combine polygon shapes with text, you can design great looking logos that can be resized and rescaled without any loss to image quality. This tutorial will show an example. First, we will create the text of the logo, then convert it into a path object, add a polygon shape to it, then frame the logo, and finally add lighting to emphasize the logo text.

Step One: Convert Text to Path Object

One of the lesser known facts of PhotoImpact is that text objects can be converted to path objects. This can be especially interesting if you want to tweak the shape of text, or if you want to combine it with a path object, which is what we want to do in this project.

NOTE: After a text object is converted to a path object, the text content will not be editable. If you are not certain what the final text or format settings will be, you may want to keep a copy of the text in a separate file in the UFO format.

First, open a new document, then use the Text Tool on the Tool Panel to create the text that you want. In this example, our text is the word, "idea".

After you have created the text, convert it to a path object by selecting Object: Convert Object Type – From Text/Image to Path. At first glance, nothing seems to have changed. However, when you switch to the Path Edit Tool on the Tool Panel, you will then see from the wireframe structure that the text has become a path and can be edited as such.

The original text object (left). After converting it to a path object, it appears as wireframe structure when using the Path Edit Tool (right).

While in Edit mode, click the dot from the "i" and then move it slightly upwards. This will allow for some space for our polygon shape. On the Attribute Toolbar, toggle to return to 2D Object mode.