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Anonymous
Feb 17, 2011 4:27 AM UTC
Answered

Reverse path direction

It's annoying when you use a special brush which has different ends, and you want to switch the direction with just a click of a button

    EricDuboisMDDCorrect answer
    Inspiring
    Sep 9, 2014 3:02 PM UTC

    Thanks Frank. The most important part of the video was glossed over at the very end with a "I'll talk about it later".

    The part that's really useful is in this video (also in French), with the script available here (in German). It does what Marius asked for: switch the direction with just a click of a button.

    Oscar, the "reverse path direction" button is in the Attributes panel, but it's only available for compound paths.


    Step-by-step instructions in English

    Install script:

    (optional) Create action:

    • Create a new action
    • Select "Insert Menu Item" in the action panel's top right menu
    • Type part of the name. Click OK
    • Assign a command to the action if you want
    View reply

    19 replies

    georgecoghill
    georgecoghill
    Participating Frequently
    Feb 25, 2019 10:10 PM UTC

    To reverse the direction of an open path in earlier versions of Illustrator:

    1. select the path
    2. using the Pen tool, click on the anchor point you want to be the end point
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    Jeff Witchel, ACI
    Community Expert
    Jeff Witchel, ACICommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    Aug 11, 2018 12:02 AM UTC

    Object > Path > Reverse Path Direction works for Type on a Path, Arrow Heads, Brushes, and more. It's almost as if you drew the path in the opposite direction.

    Translate
      davidh27858718
      Participant
      Oct 30, 2015 5:37 AM UTC

      Okay, assuming I'm understanding this, you want to reverse or mirror the direction of a vector brush image that is a stroke on an object. I found two ways that should work, at least in Illustrator CC:

      1. To reverse the direction of a single instance of the brush:
        • Select your object (ie. with the Selection Tool (V)). You will need the Control panel to be visible.
        • In the Control panel, open the dropdown menu for the Brush Definition.
        • At the very bottom of the dropdown menu is a series of icons. Select Options for Selected Object (4th icon from the left). This should open the Stroke Options panel.
        • Make sure the Preview box is checked in case your version of Illustrator works differently.
        • Check one of the Flip boxes, depending on the direction you need it to mirror.
      2. To reverse the direction of all instances of the brush (may reset things like width profile of stroke):
        • Open the Brushes panel.
        • Select your brush from the list. (You can just click on your object to select whatever it's brush is)
        • Open the Brush panel Options menu (upper right corner of panel) and choose Brush Options... to open the Art Brush Options panel.
        • Make sure the Preview box is checked.
        • Either choose a Direction or from Options choose a Flip. If it doesn't look right, cancel and go back to Brush Options.

      I just did a piece where I needed to do this to dozens of objects at once, and as long as they had the same brush definitions, it seems to work.

      Translate
        George Langley
        George Langley
        Known Participant
        Aug 10, 2018 9:36 PM UTC

        davidh27858718's solution worked for me, thanks! My pointy paths are pointing outside again on the flipped objects.

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        Franck Payen
        Franck Payen
        Inspiring
        May 4, 2012 4:53 AM UTC

        Or make the use of the "reverse path direction" button in the object options available for ANY path, and, moreover MANY paths.

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          Oscar Ovalle
          Participating Frequently
          Sep 3, 2014 10:29 PM UTC

          Where is tha buttont? Can you send a pic please?

          Translate
          Franck Payen
          Franck Payen
          Inspiring
          Sep 4, 2014 4:25 AM UTC

          See this video Illustrator - Inverser le sens du tracé on Vimeo 1'15'' It's french but could guide you.

          Translate
          Mariusz Go
          Known Participant
          Mar 14, 2011 7:46 PM UTC

          The strange thing is that it's so understandable and essential for those who work inIllustrator, but not for Adobe.

          Are stubborn and do not know what?

          Translate
            needforname
            Known Participant
            Feb 26, 2020 11:09 PM UTC

            Yep, seems like common sense doesn't it? Not sure why there isn't the ability to adjust the direction of a brush on the fly by simply holding down a keyboard key. When working on a more intricate design with dozens of paths, having no way to quickly change the direction of applied brushes is a huge waste of time. I think a great approach would be to enable some sort of setting that allows a user to cmd click on all paths which require a brush to be flipped. This would allow a more visual / on the fly approach for users to see which paths they want flipped. Quicker than the current option too.

             

            There are dozens of things just like this that I scratch my head over and wonder if the folks at Adobe even use their own software. Because if they did, they'd notice these annoyances and remedy them. Like the lack of ability to simply right click on a layer in the layers panel to access frequently used functions. The ability to hide a text selection box without disabling gpu processing. The ability to use a Mac's Touch Bar with Illustrator (still not sure why this is available with Photoshop yet not Illustrator). I could go on and on. 

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              EricDuboisMDD
              Inspiring
              Mar 14, 2011 7:09 PM UTC

              I was just about to add that request when I saw your post. In my case, it's primarily for arrowheads. FreeHand had that feature for eons now so it's about time to integrate it in Illustrator.

              I know clicking on one end of the path with the pen tool will make it the "end point". But depending on how complex the illustration is, it may not be convenient.

              Translate
                Mariusz Go
                Known Participant
                Feb 17, 2011 9:45 AM UTC

                You can click on the other end of the PEN TOOL This tool will change the orientation of the path.

                But it is not bright enough to use. I do not know why you liked Illustrator after clicking has added a separate option in the Stroke palette?

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