How do I give text an offset path in Illustrator?

Question

Okay, I am just trying out the offset path effect for a custom font. I followed this tutorial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU2wDdLNTdE I tried doing the same, typed a word and expanded it,then put a stroke to it and finally offset path.I got the desired effect- the expanded version of my base letter,without expanding the red stroke proportionally.

I tried to repeat the effect, as told in the tutorial,but by applying offset path again I get this- However this was not my desired effect.All this has done is increased the fill for the inner 'o'. I want the stroke to be retained for the blue path. In other words, I want multiple 'o's beneath the previous 'o'. Each bigger than the previous, but the stroke should remain- As shown in the tutorial. How do I achieve that ?

Answer 1

Your problem lies in the fact that the 'o' you are trying to give an effect is two separate paths, probably in a group. Effects like offset will not work properly, indeed. You will want to select all the o's paths and then make them into a Compound Path: Object > Compound Path > Make or right click > Make Compound Path.

Besides, this effect is more easily achievable using the Appearance panel:

1. Type your text. If you want part of the letters to have the effect, type them as a separate object;
2. Be sure the object is selected;
3. Open the Apperance panel, Window > Appearance or Shift+F6;
4. In the panel, select the Characters object and choose Add New Fill, either through the panel options or the filled square icon in the lower right:
   
5. With that fill selected, give it a different colour and choose Effect > Path > Offset Path. Use Preview to fiddle with the offset value;
6. In the Appearance panel, drag the new fill below the characters. The Appearance panel works just like a layers panel.
7. Repeat with different colours and different offset values to create a multi-stroke effect.

Be sure during the whole process that your object stays selected, or it will not pick up the changes you make in the Appearance panel.