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Illustrator remembering both parts of a combined path
Hi Folks,
Been using Illustrator CS2 (MAC) for some time now and I’ve begun to use it alongside the plug-in for a cutting/plotting machine. It’s a Graphtec CE3000-60 – loving the machine by the way.
If i create a path from scratch it all works fine – the blade cuts exactly where you’d expect it to go.
However, if I use a compound path – ie. a shape created from two or more paths combined in some way I get the wrong result.
For example, say I have a circle and I want a wavy flame shaped line to run through it. The easiest way is to draw a circle, draw a flame outline, select both and use the pathfinder tool to exclude the flame from the circle – I end up with a good visual on screen which looks like a coin with a flame running through the centre of it, but when I come to outputting the symbol to the cutter it cuts out the full circle AND the full flame – basically the outline that you see when you select the object in illustrator.
Another example would be having a piece of type cut away from a rectangle. If I used the letter ‘b’ the the hole inside the b would disappear altogether when I picked out the b shape from the rectangle, so what I would do is draw a thin rectangle alongside the verticle line of the b convert the b to outlines, use the pathfinder tool to exclude the thin rectangle from the overall shape of the b – that way the centre of the b stays – hope you’re getting this – a bit like using the stencil font! However, the software doesn’t recognise the combined path so not only does it cut out the full ‘b’, it also cuts out the thin rectangle!
I’m sure that someone out there knows exactly what I’m talking about here – hopefully!
I’ve just come back to these signboards after about a year or so, so hello to all of you once again. Have a bit to tell, and will catch up once my little lad stops wanting to watch Thomas the Tank Engine (for the hundredth time!)
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5 Replies
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I know exactly what you’re talking about because I get exactly the same with the middle of letters not being cut. Don’t have an answer for you yet though.
I presume the plug-in they supplied was the Flexi one because that seems to be the problem with mine. I guess it’s something to do with the settings and when I get time to work it out I’l let you know.
Unless you beat me to it of course. 😀
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I’m not 100% sure what your problems are but by the sounds of it are you sure it is not putting parts of it on to a different layer?
I get a problem with double paths on the inside pieces of letters and it cuts twice (if I missed any and didn’t delete it 😉 )
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Different layers shouldn’t matter Warren. At least in nineteen tears I’ve not had problems with that in other software.
It’s like Sunil says, if I am cutting a letter like a "b" or a "o", it cuts the outside path but not the middle. I think it’s something to do with the fact that it is seeing the inside path of the letter as a different colour to to the outside. Which it is of course, but if it is compounded it should all be seen as the same.
FineCut on a Mimaki doesn’t do it, so why should Flexi on a Graphtec?
Your problem, I think, is something to do with the merge/trim control panel. I’ve never found a cure for that either, but as it is not a big problem to me to do it manually whenever it occurs, I’ve never learned to work it properly.
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Thanks for your comments so far guys. This happened to me -years- ago with a Roland Camm-1 and a freehand plug-in. I’m talking 1993 here though.
Anyway, I don’t have a solution yet but I’m thinking I may be looking at this from the wrong angle. In illustrator, when you use the pathfinder tool on two or more paths, such as the letter or circle example above it does compound them leaving you with a vector outline of exactly what you would expect- almost a full circle with a flame through it for example, BUT if you use the pointer tool to select it you can see that illustrator retains the information for the two paths separately, which is what the plug-in software is taking as the the path – (this didn’t happen in the latest version of freehand – you combined a path from two paths, you were left with one new path, but sadly freehand just isn’t advanced enough with functionality anymore).
I’ve posted a query on the adobe forums this morning. There’s usually someone out there that can help, so when I get a reply I will post it here.
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As usual, it’s really bloomin’ simple when you know how!
Okay, here are the steps in illustrator CS2, though I would imagine they are similar for other versions.
The order in which you create shapes -is- important in that by default illustrator will always put the last object you created above a previous object. If you find it easier to create the section you are ‘cutting away’ from your final shape first, then make sure you put this object ABOVE by using right click – arrange – bring to front.
So, here goes. I’ll give you the steps, followed by the steps with my example.
A. Draw one object.
B. Draw another object.
C. Select both.
D. Go to pathfinder palette
E. To minus second object from first click on the second button in the pathfinder palette – ‘SUBTRACT FROM SHAPE AREA’
F. Keep the new, compounded object selected, and click on ‘EXPAND’. You will see illustrator, and your cutting software now recognises your shape properly.OR, in more detail, as per my example…
I want a rectangle of vinyl. Inside the rectangle I want an almost completed circle removed, but with a flame shape coming in from the bottom into the centre of the circle. I’ll be left with a rectangle minus a partial disc with my design. I’m struggling to think of a better example, but hopefully you get me.
1. Draw a circle
2. Draw a flame – the flame was done after the circle so by default it will sit above it.
3. Select both the circle AND the flame
4. Open up the pathfinder palette (if it isn’t already up)
5. For this example I want to minus the flame from the circle so I use the second icon, subtract from shape mode. Of course it depends on your design and your requirements, so play around with each button to get the idea of how paths can interract.
6. You will be left with what LOOKS to be correct – if you have set your stroke colour to black and your fill to none you will see an outline of an almost complete circle with a flame shape coming in from the bottom and running through the centre.
If at this stage you output to your plotter/cutting machine it won’t work. It will draw/cut the circle in full AND draw the flame in full. Not good as I end up with extraneous cut marks within my rectangle.
7. So, if you reselect your compound image you will see that Illustrator remembers both paths as they were originally.
8. So, back to the pathfinder palette and click on the button called ‘EXPAND’.
Hey presto, the paths combine fully, you get the cutting tool to cut where you want to. Just tried it, and it works a treat.
Hope that helps. I’m a bit of a newbie to the cutting software, hence my lack of knowledge on this front, but I’ve used illustrator and freehand for longer than I care to remember, so feel free to post me with pathing woes, I should be able to help out.
I’ve learnt something new today, so I’m off for a coffee to celebrate!
Sunil
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