Border for vector brush
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2025 11:46 am
I have a function that fits an SVG into a specified area for various purposes. Now I wanted to use it for text on my on-screen keyboard and therefore create a vector brush that is used in the same way as the SVGs loaded by the preprocessor. My SVGs all have a border, so I need one for the vector brush I create to make it look consistent.
But I haven't found a way to set the page size for the paths or the vector brush directly. ExtendBrush doesn't work for vector brushes. So I first create a brush from the text to determine its size, then delete this brush and add a second path that forces the border on the right and bottom. Then I create the resulting brush, with the second path transparent. The border at the top and left is created by specifying the position for the first path.
This works, but it seems cumbersome to me. Have I overlooked a more elegant solution?
But I haven't found a way to set the page size for the paths or the vector brush directly. ExtendBrush doesn't work for vector brushes. So I first create a brush from the text to determine its size, then delete this brush and add a second path that forces the border on the right and bottom. Then I create the resulting brush, with the second path transparent. The border at the top and left is created by specifying the position for the first path.
This works, but it seems cumbersome to me. Have I overlooked a more elegant solution?
Code: Select all
@DISPLAY {Width = 800, Height = 400, Color=$004466, Layers = True}
Function p_MakeTextVectorBrush(text$, font, fontsize, color)
SetFillStyle(#FILLCOLOR)
SetFormStyle(#ANTIALIAS)
SetFont(font, fontsize, {Engine = #FONTENGINE_INBUILT})
Local pid1=StartPath(Nil)
MoveTo(pid1, 0, 0)
AddTextToPath(pid1, text$)
ClosePath(pid1)
brushid=PathToBrush(Nil, {{ID=pid1, Color=color, X=0}})
Local svgW=GetAttribute(#BRUSH,brushid,#ATTRWIDTH)
Local svgH=GetAttribute(#BRUSH,brushid,#ATTRHEIGHT)
FreeBrush(brushid)
Local border=fontsize/6
Local pid2=StartPath(Nil) ; Path for creating the right and bottom borders
MoveTo(pid2, border+svgW,0) ; right edge of the text
LineTo(pid2, border+svgW+border,1) ; border width
LineTo(pid2, border+svgW+border,border+svgH+border) ; bottom border
ClosePath(pid2)
; Path 2 is only used to enlarge the vector object to the right and down
; and is output transparently (ARGB value for Color):
brushid=PathToBrush(Nil, {{ID=pid1, Color=color, X=border, Y=border},{ID=pid2, Color=0xffeeeeee, X=border+svgW}})
FreePath(pid1)
FreePath(pid2)
Return(brushid)
EndFunction
brushid=p_MakeTextVectorBrush("Vector text", #SANS, 60, #YELLOW)
DisplayBrush(brushid, 100, 50, {Name="brushlayer"})
SetFillStyle(#FILLNONE)
; Green box to illustrate the size of the vector brush
Box(100, 50, GetAttribute(#BRUSH,brushid,#ATTRWIDTH), GetAttribute(#BRUSH,brushid,#ATTRHEIGHT), #GREEN )
FreeBrush(brushid)
WaitLeftMouse
RemoveLayer("brushlayer")
