How to remove part of an image in the shape of a font without affecting the background?

I am entirely new to graphic design. I have a background image and a “foreground” image. I want to modify the foreground image by omitting parts of it (so that the background takes its place); in particular I want the omitted parts to be in the form of a font. I don’t have Adobe Photoshop, and I am looking for a free way to do this. I would appreciate your suggestions on how to do this.

Is it possible (and usually done) to create such grainy effect in Illustrator?

Sharing some illustrations from Handsomefrank agency. If you see them, all have dotted / grainy colors. I’ve highlighted the thing I want to ask about by yellow color. It’s not limited to one artist. For example, you can see this artist’s work also, where in some illustration you would find similar grains or grainy gradient … Read more