I'm trying to blend 2 complex shapes together to give a 3D appearance but I keep having issues with the edges that choose to blend together. The image below shows what I want it to look like (small square on the left, smooth color blend) and what the shape looks like (shape on the right). The paths have the same number of anchor points and the white shape on top is an expanded offset version of the green shape on the bottom. The purple lines show what anchor points should be blending together.
For some reason it is blending to a location somewhere in the middle of the path and not to the corners. I have gone over the two paths and made sure that there are no points that shouldn't be there, as i know that can cause issues with blending.
I have a 9 layer Illustrator file that uses multiple transparency effects. I need to combine all the elements so that I can use the pieces with a transparent background, but no matter what I do, it requires a white background to look right. File is here:
I have different colored circles that intersect. I want the intersection to be a transparent combination of the two colors. How do I highlight just the intersection to do that?
I'm trying to create a star icon with lines through it. I used the star shape builder tool and then the line segment tool, but the lines are not being recognised as part of the star shape. For example, when I try to turn the star, the lines remain in the same place. This is pretty much exactly what I am trying to make, but I can't form the segments into one cohesive, editable shape.
I have a topo map in max, and I'm trying to raise and sink parts of it to make sidewalks and parking lots. My thought was to import line objects from dwg files, shape merge them onto the terrain, change the material number, then extrude. The problem is that shape merge doesn't maintain the correct shape.
I've made sure that I'm in orthographic mode, looking straight down on the surface, but anywhere there's a curve it messes things up. Circles become irregular ellipses. Arcs become more convex or concave. Where I'm shape merging two different objects at different times, objects that had lined up, the curves are now different and they either overlap or no longer touch.
I'm assuming that it's because my terrain mesh is too complex, but I'm not sure how to get around that.
I have a shape that happens to have many nodes; it was simple to extrude it (inventor saw it as a complete shape) but adding fillets is another story. each tiny segment requires a click to select it. is there any way to simplify this — either through simplifying the path somehow or by selecting the edge in some other manner?
i saw a thread on the forums about imported 2d vector files with a similar issue. I did import my file but it came from rhino. everything is fine except this one issue. i guess i could go back to rhino but i would prefer not to.
i have attached a small screenshot of one area of my sketch.
Typically a door hadle lever comprising initially circular geometry at the rose (fixing point) with round bar (x place)geometry up to and around the initial lever bend. Then the lever elongates in section and curves along a y plane and possible twists along its sweep path. Ive tried mass and create solid using a path with worlplane aligned geometry with fail every time, Also tried in face based generic. The problem is a bit abstract in that only trying to take an image in a manufacturers catalog of a manufactured component and recreate the design phase. Can this be done (sucessfully) simply. If only there were a way to do a swept bleand withj sveral profiles on the path. Hosting circles and then curved profiles is not working for me - cant get uniformity in the way the circles sweep into the curved parts
I used to be able to hatch most anything without problem. Now with Civil 3d 2011 anything more complex that a box or a circle AutoCAD will not find the boundary even when the quick preview seems to find a boundary.
I've tried overlapping the lines and then trimming. I've tried extending to the other lines. I've tried setting the tolerance to 1/2". I've checked that the lines are snapped to endpoints and meet cleanly.
In testing I've found that sometimes it will find the boundary, and other times it will not even when nothing has changed? Noticing that they have to try multiple times and methods to get C3D 2011 to hatch correctly?
The attached file shows the different results (boundaries extracted from successful hatches) that I'm seeing, and sometimes can't find a boundary at all, sometimes it does. Seems to get different results when I regent and at different zooms (not sure if that's the correct terminology?).
I designed a logo, that contains of several shapes and letterings on different layers. Now I'd like to export this logo as a vector based file, and I also want to create a stamp shape (or how is it called?) of it inside photoshop, so I can easily paint the logo with a single click and resize/transform it wherever I am.
How do I do that best? I guess I'll have to merge the different layers somehow, but how do I do that without rasterizing them?
"Select Transparency Shapes Layers to restrict layer effects and knockouts to opaque areas of the layer. Deselecting this option, which is always selected by default, applies these effects throughout the layer."
What is the meaning of applying effects throughout the layer?
When I deselect this option, I can never see any effect applied ...
I would like to use a vector object made in AI as a custom shape to be used as a cookie cutter in elements.. I imported the AI file in photoshop but the "define custom shape" entry under "edit" was grayed out.
I was sent a complex illustrator file recently that contained a lot of distress patterns and points that is basically impossible to work with. It takes 10-15 seconds just to select or deselect any of the objects. I'll I need to do is move the art around a little and resize stuff, but it's taking ages with the lag. I'm using CC on Windows 7 64bit. What options are there to work around this? Is there a way to tell Illustartor to stop rendering, so I can just move stuff around without it lagging so bad? I thought the new engine was supposed to be faster and better at rendering.
i keep getting the error message "Not enough Memory was available or an object was too complex" . . it's a small file and i have a new computer and this was happening on my old computer ?
I am trying to save an illustrator EPS file to a High Quality PDF file
I've been trying to hatch a complex image with a single pattern, but with different stroke weights.
Here I added an image of a simple greyscale image with below the hatching that I'm trying to make. In short: I want to use only 45 deg. hatches in this direction. However, based on the grey value, I'd like the hatches to have different weights.
However, since this image is quite simple, only four different weights were needed. However, I'd like to know if there is an easy way to do this for complex images. For this image I just used pattern fills with different stroke weights, but I'd like a smoother and easier solution, preferably one where it would be possible to have many different weights without having to split up the image in thirty different parts and making thirty different pattern fills.
I'm not sure if this is possible, but I might be overlooking something. If it would be possible with a plugin, I'd like to know too. Even if there might be a workaround via Photoshop, and the end-result would not be a perfect vector, It'd be fine.
I have very complex file, with hundreds of paths, shapes, text, outlined text, etc... It's a brochure with graphs, scematich drawings and text.
Last moment, the client like the reverse the colors from (current) Black on white, to all White on dark gray background.
Problem is, I can't seem to find easy way to just change the colors, without selecting one by one, every single object. When I selest all and choose white, it start filling paths with solid fill... Editing it wastes allot of my time and I have many pages to do.
Is there any way to simple change color of everything at once, just from black to white ? Or do I have to go object by object manually ?
With Eyedropper Tool click unselected Source Object, (which has 1 fill and 2 stroke attributes) the Eyedropper Tool stem detects Source Object's attributes...then, pressing Option key, click on Destination Object (which contains a default fill and stroke).The Destination Object only receives the base fill and stroke of the Source Object... it should receive all the attributes of the Source Object.
NOTE: 'New Art has Basic Appearance' is unchecked in the Appearance Panel.
So I keep seeing this method of design on sites like dribbble or behance but I don't know how to do it!
Here's an example: Basically a bunch of circles are used to create this awesome shape and design. I have a general idea on how to use the pathfinder tool and I have used it a lot in the past, but how do you snap circles together with smart guides? It seems that the smart guides only snap based on 90 or 45 angles and don't snap edges of objects together unless there are two anchors.
Here's an example: I want to use the curves from 2 circle shapes to make a complex path. But I can't get the two paths to snap together
Ultimately to create something like the raindrop image above. I want to use the perfect curves on circles to create more complex shapes but since the paths do not snap together, I'm just eyeballing it to be close enough to do something with the pathfinder tool.
I have a complex vector object, containing of forms of all kinds and what not. They have two colours: black and red. To use this logo in a background area, I need to make it all grey. Everything which is black or red shall then be light grey or so. But the appearance panel can't do a single thing. It just says "this is a group, I can't handle that". So I ungrouped the entire object, then there were other sub-groups. I could go on ungrouping everything forever, but that can't be the solution. When I just click on a colour in that colour panel instead, it sets the outline colour of every single element. It hasn't always done that, there were times when it would set the fill colour of all elements. But there's no switch to tell it what exactly to set. Should I way until an even or odd day so that it would set the fill colour again?
I have created a piece of artwork in illustrator which is to be printed 4x3m for a wall mural. Therefore the file I am working with must either be a vecor or a large enough raster to be printed at such as size. I have set it up at 1 to 10 so its currently A3ish size. Each component of the collage is a separate ai file and contains many points as they are all live traces. It was no problem linking in all these initially but I now need to embed them so as I can give the printers a complete file. I have succeeded embedding every image apart from one last complex one which is crashing the whole thing. Are there any settings I may be able to change to reduce the file size or simplify the graphic (whilst remaining vectors.) Below is the file with the linked images and also the outline of the embedded version so far. The problem I am having is basically because of the final output size required.
The only thing I can think of doing is opening each separate component and saving as a raster then relinking these - but will this be even more problematic for illustrator that thousands of vector points? I can do it in photoshop if needs be but as the final image is to be printed 4x3m will this be too large to handle? The ai file with all images linked was 25MB but now 500MB with the sky still to embed.
how I go about taking this complex graphic full of various lines to one simplified and united line drawing? We want to take and cut a vinyl window application. The white in the logo is what we want the vinyl to be. The gray only indicates the window.
Why cant I save a cdr job with all the merge fields setup so that next time I open the file I can go straight to 'merge to new document'.
So Ive set up a 10 to view raffle tickets job. Inserted 20 numerical merge fields, positioned, resized, applied font size color alignment etc etc etc.. Takes ages..... So then merge to a new document, works nice and I can save it fine.
There are a hundred reasons why i may have to close the 'master' merge file before the job has been successfully printed. It may be a repeat print job.
Any which way I really dont get why the live merge data fields are lost on closing the file.
Whenever I try to trim or merge a gradient it only divides it, but when it's solid it works. Why? I'm trying to trim/merge some artwork with a lot of gradients and it's making it impossible. Any way to do this with gradients. Here is an image of what I'm talking about showing it working with solids, but not gradients.