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alastair-o
alastair-o
Participating Frequently
October 4, 2021
Question

Problems with the Expand - Divide tool.

  • October 4, 2021
  • 1 reply
  • 274 views

Hi 

 

The Expand - Divide tool is great for trimming off unwanted parts of an image but when I move and tweak the anchor points afterwards or animate them in say, After Effects, the lines become very fragmented.

 

I'm guessing this is because the image is now divided and the software is having to work with lots of split ends rather than just a 'clean' vector graphic. 

 

Is there any way some of the anchor points can be adjusted in unison or the image can generally just behave like it would have done before the divide took place? 

 

For example, I used the Expand - Divide tool to creat a t-shirt graphic in Illustrator but it's hard to animate in After Effects as there are far more anchor points as a result of the division. I was able to move a few of the anchor points together but the curvature tools all act independently so the image just looks disjointed and is far more time consuming to animate. 

 

Thanks! 

 

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1 reply

Monika Gause
Community Expert
Monika GauseCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 4, 2021

Please show.

alastair-o
alastair-oAuthor
Participating Frequently
October 4, 2021

I created the above dress graphic in Illustrator and used the Expand - Divide tool to secure and edit the waist pattern.

 

It's now difficult to adjust and animate the curves of the dress in Illustrator and After Effects as the Divide tool has created additional anchor points and they're all working independently. You can see in the lower right hand side there are four curvature points to work with, whereas I only had one before using the Divide tool. 

 

Here's a close up of the bottom right corner. I only need one anchor point but since using the Divide tool I've got several shooting off in different directions. 

 

I've tried grouping the anchor points but they still have seperate curvature points.

 

Is there a way to connect these anchors or move the anchor points as one?

 

 

alastair-o
alastair-oAuthor
Participating Frequently
October 4, 2021

EDIT: I can move the anchor points as one but it's the curvature points I'm having difficulty moving as one. 

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