Lost formatting

**Ron Duke** · 26 March 2006, 11:37 AM

Has anyone run up against this particular problem? Add a stone, brick, fabric or any other fill to a shape, apply a mold; everything looks fine, the shape as well as the fill conform to the mold. However, if you convert it to editable shapes, you lose the formatting of the fill. Please see attached example.
ron

**tonylondon** · 26 March 2006, 03:06 PM

... and if you try to create a bitmap copy true colour with alpha you get nothing....
Tony

**Charles Moir** · 26 March 2006, 03:22 PM

This is the correct behaviour. The Mold tool can create a correct 3D perspective of any bitmap or photo object. However when you convert the object to be an editable shape a normal bitmap fill has to be used (there is no such thing as a perspectivised bitmap fill) so the 3D perspective of the bitmap is lost.

The only way around this is to create a new perspectivised bitmap (which you can do using Create Bitmap Copy of the molded object) and then use this as the fill for the shape after you've done a Convert to editable shapes.

...and the reason Create Bitmap Copy appears not to work (and this took me some time to work out) is because all these objects are on the Background layer, rather than a normal layer. Move them to Layer1 and you can create a alpha channel bitmap as you'd expect.

**Ron Duke** · 27 March 2006, 01:11 AM

Please see attached. I've tried this over and over again in different ways, trying to apply what Charles instructed, but I just can't get it to work; that is, to get the mold and the perspective I want.
ron

**Egg Bramhill** · 27 March 2006, 02:08 AM

Ron
Is this what you're trying to achieve?
Egg

**Ron Duke** · 27 March 2006, 03:56 PM

Thanks Eric,
I've attached another file to give a little more visual of what I would like to do without all the added steps.
ron

**Egg Bramhill** · 27 March 2006, 05:18 PM

Hi Ron

You're trying to apply an envelope mold a bitmap. Whilst you can, it doesn't 'bend' the bitmap, it stays rectangular and just tiles. The only mold that effects a bitmap is a perspective mold.

So I'd say that the method you've used in the second file is the best way to create this effect.

The only way you can warp a bitmap like this is to use Xara3D, but that can be difficult as well.

Egg

**tonylondon** · 27 March 2006, 07:59 PM

Originally Posted by Charles Moir

...and the reason Create Bitmap Copy appears not to work (and this took me some time to work out) is because all these objects are on the Background layer, rather than a normal layer. Move them to Layer1 and you can create a alpha channel bitmap as you'd expect.

Now THAT's a useful tip...
Tony