filling negative space/complex path drawing
Michael
I'm working on an isometric drawing of a geometric shape. There really isn't
any way, I can see, of completely closing all of the paths that make up this
drawing, so many of the paths are open while others are closed. All of these
various paths have been selected and combined into one complex path. What I
would like to do, and am having great difficulty achieving, is to apply a
solid color fill to the illustration. This works up to a point but other
sections of the drawing become only partially filled. Exporting to Photoshop
and using its tools to fill the various negative spaces of this drawing is
effective but reimporting that which is now rasterized into Illustrator
leaves much to be desired in aesthetic effect. The rasterization just ruins
Illustrator's beautiful clean edges. Perhaps, I've missed something very
fundamental about Illustrator's methodology in my learning of the program.
Regardless, I'd love to know if there is a solution to this challenge.
Thanks much.
John Dallaire
1. copy/paste behind the entire outline drawing.
2. Select inverse and lock new selection.
3. Select all, and apply a stroke to all the paths that is wide enough to visually seal all the edges.
4. Go to Object>Path>Outline Stroke. I find that ensuring rounded caps and rounded corners gives me the most reliable results.
5. Use the pathfinder/unite function to create a single shape. You should now have a "thick edged" version of your original art.
6. Go to Object>Compound Path>Release. You should now have a visually solid shape that is actually a bunch of paths.
7. Ungroup.
8. Select the shape that is within the area you want to fill with color. If you need to have some holes in your color, make sure you select them as well. The big color area will be the paths that are slightly within your original outlines..the holes will be the paths that are slightly larger than your original holes.
9. Make a compound path of your selection.
10. Select Inverse and delete.
11. If you're filling with a single, solid color you can add a stroke that matches that color in order to line it back up with your original keylines. If you're filling with anything other than a single, solid color, or want to use this shape as a mask for more complex color fills, then use the Object>Path>Offset Path function to get your new fill shape to line back up with your original keylines.
Hope this helps and is clear.
Michael
"Michael" <crackerb...@rcn.com> wrote:
Eureka! I think I found a solution. I copied the original drawing with all
of its black lines. After copying it, I then merged the original elements
and applied the 'fill' color of my choice. Doing so effectively rid the
illustration of the black path outlines I had drawn to make the object.
Next, and finally, I pasted in place the original illustration with its
black path outlines over the 'filled' copy to get an outlined and filled
object. Which is what I wanted! Though I feel very fortunate to have
discovered this, I wonder if maybe there was another way to have gone about
this. Thanks much.
James E. Talmage
1) You have a line drawing made of single-stroke, sometimes-closed and
sometimes-open paths. As is typical of isometric drawings, lines with
"air" behind them are thicker than those without. You want to quickly
fill the visually "enclosed" areas with flat colors or grads, but retain
the existing line work.
2) Drag a selection marquee around the linework of a part. Outline
Stroke. Merge Pathfinder. Now you have compound path(s).
3) DirectSelect one of the "inside" shapes you want to fill with color.
Press Option when you click the sub-path to be sure to select the whole
path and not just its segments.
4) Copy. Deselect. PasteFront (or PasteBack). Fill as desired.
JET
Unknown
1. I select the entire object and copy it a known distance off to the side. (10 inches maybe.)
2. Then I de-select all the outside lines (of the area to be filled) and delete the garbage.
3. Join the few endpoints till there is a contiguous outline.
4. Slap it with Pathfinder Unite. Interior 'holes' can be divided out.
5. Fill, return the known distance and move to back.
Somewhat simplified but if you work with the end in mind it is mucho faster. There are always exceptions and adjustments as each drawing is different. You will find your own variations/combinations of all these techniques.
When learning new tools play a lot on copies of files and not your clients original. Remember Command-Z!
Michael
<Kohnitz> wrote:
John, James, Kohnitz. Thank you all so very much for your input. There
certainly seems to be a lot of variety in the methods one could use in this
matter. Some of the options appear (upon reading) daunting but I shall try
each and every one of them in due course. Thank you all again. This has been
a great help.