How to erase parts of a circle (or line etc)
adrian.stock22
I am a beginner and use Fireworks MX. I am drawing a stylised map consisting
largely of straight lines and quarter circles.
After having drawn a circle (Ellipse Tool) and a line (Line Tool), I want to
erase part of these (e.g. shorten the line), using the Eraser tool.
This does NOT work.
I have a hunch that this has something to do with the fact that Ellipse and
Line tool are Vector Tools, and Erase Tool is a Bitmap tool.
- So I must either convert the Vector Ojects into Bitmap object: but how?
- Or I must draw the line and the circle with bitmap tools: but I cannot find
any convenient tools in that section.
Can someone please tell me an efficient way of carrying out such tasks? They
will come up again and again.
Many thanks.
Adrian
PJR
|| Hi All,
||
|| I have a hunch that this has something to do with the fact that
|| Ellipse and Line tool are Vector Tools, and Erase Tool is a Bitmap
|| tool.
||
|| - So I must either convert the Vector Ojects into Bitmap object:
|| but how?
Adrian:
Your hunch is correct.
Select your line or circle go to Modify and select Flatten selection from
the drop down menu. This will convert the vector shape to a bitmap and the
eraser will now work.
Peter
Linda Rathgeber-TMM
> Can someone please tell me an efficient way of carrying out such tasks? They
> will come up again and again.
Instead of cutting the circle, use the Pie Auto Shape and segment it as
you wish. Once you get the shape you want, ungroup the pie (Modify >
Ungroup) and remove the fill color. Add a stroke. Instead of cutting a
line, just shorten it. Draw line segments with the Vector Line tool. To
lengthen or shorten them, grab one of the ends with the Subselection
tool and stretch or shrink. You can use the Knife tool to cut shapes, if
you like, or punch other shapes through them.
--
Cheers,
Linda Rathgeber
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Lanny Chambers
"adrian.stock22" <webfor...@macromedia.com> wrote:
> I have a hunch that this has something to do with the fact that Ellipse and
> Line tool are Vector Tools, and Erase Tool is a Bitmap tool.
>
> - So I must either convert the Vector Ojects into Bitmap object: but how?
No no no no! Never use bitmaps if you don't have to.
Forget the Eraser tool. The easiest way to make part of a vector object
go away is to cover the unwanted part with a vector rectangle, then
Modify > Combine > Punch.
--
Lanny Chambers, St. Louis, USA
http://www.hummingbirds.net/
PJR
I have a hunch that this has something to do with the fact that
Ellipse and Line tool are Vector Tools, and Erase Tool is a Bitmap
tool.
- So I must either convert the Vector Ojects into Bitmap object: but
how?
No no no no! Never use bitmaps if you don't have to.
__________________________________________________________
It does depend on what you are doing. Last time I used it was on
Linda's instruction..
"With the line selected, choose Modify Flatten Selection to rasterize it."
Ring any bells :)
Peter
Richie Bee
to work with vectors unless there's no way that they would work in a
situation. This is not the case here.
R.
--
www.richiebee.ca
Scenic Newfoundland :: MM Fireworks Resources
www.richiebee.ca/blog.htm
See what's new... the page to bookmark!
"PJR" <fl...@SLICEreclusivebillionaire.com> wrote in message
news:cbhg1g$mph$1...@forums.macromedia.com...
adrian.stock22
Lots of interesting and unexpected suggestions (= novel approaches for me),
with which I will now experiment.
I have already acted on Peter's suggestion (select vector object, flatten it,
then tackle it with Erase or whatever) before receiving the subsequent answers.
That approach worked, but I have the impression that the flattening is only
temporary. The flattened objects seem to revert to vector after (... I do not
know how and when). Is this a correct observation?
I will now try to learn the other approaches, all of which will be very useful
because I have to carry out these tasks quite frequently.
Thanks to all of you again.
Adrian
Linda Rathgeber-TMM
> That approach worked, but I have the impression that the flattening is only
> temporary. The flattened objects seem to revert to vector after (... I do not
> know how and when). Is this a correct observation?
That is incorrect. One they are flattened, they stay that way. :-)
Stéphane Bergeron
> Hi, and thank you to Peter, Linda and Lanny,
>
> Lots of interesting and unexpected suggestions (= novel approaches for me),
> with which I will now experiment.
Welcome to Fireworks and the wonderful world of vectors... ;-)
> I have already acted on Peter's suggestion (select vector object, flatten it,
> then tackle it with Erase or whatever) before receiving the subsequent answers.
Like Rich and Lanny I would advise against using the bitmap route.
You're in Fireworks now, not in Photoshop (or whatever bitmap app you're
used to). Working with vectors as much as possible is far more efficient
than working with bitmap objects.
> That approach worked, but I have the impression that the flattening is only
> temporary. The flattened objects seem to revert to vector after (... I do not
> know how and when). Is this a correct observation?
No. Flattening is a one way trip and you are stuck with pixels which are
much more awkward to edit than vector objects, especially for what you
want to do.
> I will now try to learn the other approaches, all of which will be very useful
> because I have to carry out these tasks quite frequently.
Good! Like Linda I would suggest the Pie AutoShape for this. Once you
have separated it in 4 quarter pieces, don't ungroup it but use the sub
select tool (white arrow) to select each quarter you don't need and give
it no fill and no stroke (use the Property Inspector to change object
properties). It will look like they're gone but you will still have a
whole editable Pie AutoShape that you can copy, resize and recolor at
will (to turn other quarter pieces "on or off"). Vector objects have
properties that can be modified at will at any time and that's what
makes them far more effective than working with pixels.
HTH!
Stéphane