Creating a CANDY Text Effect in Corel Photo-Paint, by David Mutch, September, 2002.

The method described here to create a candy text effect employs three basic parts:
1) constructing a diagonal stripe tile,
2) creating a displacement map, and
3) applying parts 1 and 2 to the text itself.

The effect can be done in version 8 and higher but is written using version 10 so there are some minor menu command differences for version 8.

You should make up all the required components yourself - the tile, the mask and the displacement map - as described in this tutorial below. However, if you get stuck you can use the ones I used in creating this tutorial by downloading THIS ZIP file. If you do use these, unzip the file and place the components in the suggested folders indicated in the steps below.
 

STEPS:

PART 1: Creating a diagonal stripe tile.
There are a number of different ways such a tile can be created but I found this method to be the easiest to follow for tutorial purposes.
 

Create a new image:
24-Bit RGB, white background, 32x32 pixels (dpi is irrelevant here).

The new image appears in the workspace.

To make it easier to create our initial stripe, change the Zoom level on the Toolbar to 300%, then drag on the corner of the new image window and expand the window about an inch past the image boundary (Fig 1 ->).

Draw the first line.
Change the Paint colour to Red, then select the Line Tool (L, in the Rectangle Tool Flyout).

Change the Property Bar settings to Shape Width = 16, Transparency = 0, Paint Mode = Normal, Shape Joints = Butt, Anti-Aliasing = OFF, Render to Object = On.

Place your cursor as close as possible to the top RH corner of the image, hold down the CTRL key and drag a line to the lower LH corner. Holding down the CTRL key while dragging lines constrains the angle of the line to 45 degree intervals.

Align the line object to the centre of the document (Object > Arrange > Align and Distribute, To Center of Document) (Fig 2 ->)

Duplicate then combine.
With the line object selected, duplicate it (CRTL+D).

Now there are three objects: the white background, and two line objects.

Select any line object and combine it with the background (CTRL+DnArrow).

Your Object Docker should look like this: (Fig 3 ->).

Offset the background object.
Select the BACKGROUND Object.

Apply an Offset Effect (Effects > Distort > Offset) with both Horizontal and Vertical Shifts set to 50% and Undefined Areas = Wrap Around.

Press OK. (Fig 4 ->)

Combine and save.
Combine all objects together (CTRL+SHIFT+DnArrow) and save the image as a CPT file.

If you want to find the file easily later when you use it as a bitmap fill, save it in the default Bitmap Fill file that Corel uses: Graphics X\Custom\Tiles (where X = your version of the Corel Draw suite) . Suggested filename = red_stripe.cpt.

This completes the construction of the diagonal stripe tile. If you had difficulties in this section you can download and use the one I have made HERE (This file contains the tile, the mask and the displacement map required for this tutorial, unzip before use).

Create some white text.
Change the Paint colour to White then select the text tool and create some text.

Use a thick rounded font and a size that uses much of the image area.

In the example shown I used Swis721 BlkRnd BT at 24 points. Arial Rounded and Helvetica Rounded are also great if you have them.

Centre the text to the document. (Fig 5 ->).

Create a mask from the text and save to Disk.
(CTRL+M) and the save this mask To DISK (as a FILE, not as a Channel!).

Save as a CPT file to a favourite location. Suggested filename = candy_mask.cpt.

Remove the mask the combine.
(CTRL+SHIFT+R) then combine the text object with the background (CTRL+DnArrow).

Now you have have a background with the centred text on it.

Save the image as a Displacement Map.
Oddly, Corel uses PCX images as Displacement maps, although many image formats can be used successfully.

To make it easy to use this map later, save the image as a PCX file in Corel’s default Displacement Map folder: GraphicsX\Custom\Displace (where X = your version number). Suggested filename = candy_text_displace.pcx.

PART 3: Creating the Candy Text Effect.
As mentioned earlier, the displacement map used is specific for the text used and the mask saved from the text shape. For different text or objects, you will need to recreate the saved mask and displacement map each time.
 

Load and use the diagonal stripe bitmap fill.
Select the Fill (Bucket) Tool, then choose the Bitmap Fill type from the Property Bar (red and purple chequered icon).

Click the Edit Fill icon on the Property Bar to display the Bitmap Fill dialogue box.

Click the Load button. Locate and open the red_stripe fill you saved earlier.

Use the default settings for Bitmap fills: Use Original Size, with all other options set to 0. Click Ok to set this fill as the Bitmap Fill type.

Now click anywhere inside the image to fill the new blank object with this fill. (Fig 7 ->)

Apply the displacement map.
Ensure the stripe-filled object is selected.
Apply the displacement map as follows: From the menu choose Effects > Distort > Displace to display the Displacement Map dialogue box.

Click the folder icon to the right of the map filename and locate and open the displacement map you saved earlier.

Adjust the settings to Stretch to Fit and a value or 5 for both horizontal and vertical scale.

You could use different settings here, depending on the desired effect.

Then Press OK

(Fig 8 ->)

Load the saved mask.
Use Mask > Load > Load from Disk and locate and open the mask you saved earlier. Click the cursor anywhere in your image to load the mask at the default position (0,0,)
(Fig 9a ->).

If the Mask Marquee is Visible your image should look like Fig 9b (below).

The way the mask loads will depend on the current Mask Mode setting.

Create the object.
Use CTRL+SHIFT+I or Mask > Invert to invert the mask.

Select any Mask Tool and then press DEL.
This removes the area of the object enclosed in the inverted mask.

If you don’t select a mask tool first the mask will be deleted instead of the object. Just UNDO once if you do this.

The red stripe may look a little chunky after the displacement. If so, you can apply this optional step: Invert the mask again so only the text shape is surrounded then apply a very light Gaussian Blur (say, radius = 0.5).

Then remove the mask (CTRL+SHIFT+R) (Fig 10 ->)

Apply a 3D Texture and a Drop Shadow.
A 3D Texture or Effect will make the text look much better.

My choice is the Plastic Texture in Photo-Paint 9+. Version 8 users could use the Boss or Glass 3D Effect.

Make sure the Text-shaped object is still selected then use Effects > Texture > Plastic.
The settings I used were: Highlight = 95, Depth = 8, Smoothness = 90, Light Direction = 315, Light Colour = White.

Click OK.

Apply a mild drop shadow. (Fig 11 ->)

If you like, add some extras such as another striped object, warped and with eliptical transparency, and some lollies using the CandyList Image List. This image list was originally available from www.designer.com but if you can't find it there, you can get it here. (Fig 12, below)