Turn Compound Path Back Into A Path?

c.cloud, everyone,

Rereading this old and intruguing thread, I believe I may have finally grasped the hidden meaning of the OP (the OP (author) was last logged in between the posts #27 & 28, only 2 months into the thread so hopefully the solution was found elsewhere back then).

It is possible that the unmentioned, maybe forgotten, way of creating the Compound Path was from a stroke/nofill path, simply with Object>Path>Outline Stroke.

The forgotten way back (after the undoing of the Undoing option) to a path (hopefully completely or at least close to) identical to the original stroke/nofill path could have been:

1) Select the Compound Path, then switch from Fill to Stroke, then Object>Compound Path>Release, then Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+G to Ungroup; if needed clean up Anchor Points to ensure best fit in positions and numbers;

2) Determine the distance between the paths which corresponds to the original Stroke Weight, probably most easily done by halving the difference between the W or H values in the Transform palette when selecting first the outer path then the inner path;

3) Object>Blend>Blend Options, setting Specified Steps to 1;

4) Object>Blend>Make, then Object>Blend>Expand, then delete the outer/inner paths;

5) Apply the Stroke Weight determined in 2).

In any case, this case shows the validity of saving a copy of the artwork before destroying it by doing something irreversible.

Not sure if anyone advised this already, didn't go through all the comments.

But try to do next:

After applying compound path, use any of shape modes or pathfinders. I tried to do it with Unite shape mode and I think I got what you needed. As I understood right, you needed to expand Compound path and see the same as result as when it was a compound path.

I know that this topic is very old and most likely abandoned but I ran across this thread when trying to figure out how to do something very similar to what (I believe) D.Cloud originally asked.

I have a bunch of old packaging templates where the stroked template lines had been converted to compound paths. I need these to now just be single stroked lines (paths) again. I believe that this is essentially what the original question was asking for.

I found a solution that more or less works and may work for anyone else that may run across a similar need. It is not perfect  but comes pretty close.

Here I have an image of a section of the template. It is a section of a larger compound path.

If you take this selected object and rasterize it

You can then do a Live Trace with the "Line Art" option

And then "expand" this

You then get a bunch of stroked paths.

This may not be perfect from a CAD or engineering standpoint but it definitely gives you something that you can edit and get to that perfect point.

I hope that someone finds this useful.

While looking up a way to overcome a similar problem today I came across this post. I think (just think) I know what dcloud might have been asking or trying to do. I purchased a vector this morning on a stock image website. I needed to remove some of the text on the image (Not sure if I am allowed to do this, but it was Shutterstock 189558527 for anyone interested.)

The image is made up almost entirely of compound paths, but when I release them (hard to explain this) instead of baing able to select each individual letter or point on the path, all I get is the blue selection line when I hover over the word. Nothing remains selected, and so editing it is not impossible it seems, but the only way that I am  able to do this is to go into the layers palette and delete what I hope is the right path. I actually tried this and ended up deleting things that I did not want to delete. So maybe this is that dcloud meant. It does not seem possible to edit any of the paths in the object or even select them. Selecting of the individual paths being the key. I have sat here humming Final Jeopardy for over half and hour and I am ready to give up.

This was an older post, so if there is a solution to this and anyone knows the answer. And I would think that since all Illustrator objects are made of paths and points, that the original artist had to have used them, I would be greatly appreciative of an answer. Attached is a screen capture of the layers panel, but selecting any of these singular elements/paths is impossible.

Thank you

Hi there people, I expect you guys dont crucify me, but I have the same problem that d.cloud had. I'll try to explain it better and for this i'll use this image:

Step 1: There we have 2 circles, A and B. B is in front of A.

Step 2: I had aligned B inside A.

Step3: I used the pathfinder > Minus Front and got this result.

Everything ok until now, the visual result of what I want is exactly that, BUT this shape (in step 3) is a compound path now, as we see below:

I wonder if I needed this shape for making a logo, leave the compount paths on a logo is not the best think to do, right?

Thats why I have the same problem that d. cloud had. Is there any possible way to convert this compound shape into a simple path? Or is there any other way for doing this shape giving the same result with a simple path?

Thaks a lot guys!

Not sure if you're still wondering about this d.cloud but I did find a way, sort of. Make your compound path and take the knife to it. Breaks the compound path and keeps the shape, making one path. It's not perfect, obviously you end up with a slice through it, but it worked for what I was trying to do. Hope it helps.

D. Cloud,

You simply need to stop clinging to something you evidently misunderstood in some tutorial somewhere and once and for all acquaint yourself with what Compound Paths are by reading and working through the actual AI documentation.

If you still don't understand, then you need to figure out a way to state clearly and accurately (using the terminology of program's interface):

• what you start with
• what exactly you are doing to it
• what you get as results
• what you expect as results

Screenshots would be a big help, because you are struggling with terminology and thereby not being clear. What you are saying you want to do simply does not make sense. The only way a Compound Path becomes a "regular path" is to release the compounding. There are multiple ways to do that. It can happen as a result of explicitly selecting the Release command, and it can happen automatically as a consequence of other operations. So if releaseing the compound does not do what you want and you think that means that "I just don't know how to do it," I assure you what it really means is you don't know how to state it.

Beyond that, until you can clearly convey your issue, I can offer you these facts that may or may not help clear up some of your confusion:

• Compound paths are nothing but special Groups which combine multiple paths (which, when compounded, are generically called subpaths) so that they occupy the same position in the z-stacking order. They share the same fill/stroke attributes as if one object.
• If the winding rule is set to even/odd, then the subpaths reverse each other's fill where they intersect. If set to non-zero winding rule, they don't.
• Compound Paths are not only for "making holes". Subpaths commonly do not intersect.
• Compound Paths do not require more than one subpath. There's nothing preventing you from creating a Compound Path out of one path. If you do, the Appearance palette and the Control Panel will list it as a Compound Path.
• In Illustrator, subpaths of Compound Paths do not have to be closed.
• Compound Shapes (usually created in the Pathfinder palette) are entirely different things from Compound Paths.

JET

I think I understand what dcloud was asking, can you make a compound path into a single "shape".  For example you type a capital "R".  You convert to outlines and this results in a compound path - the "R" and the "hole" at the top.  I think dcloud wants to flatten this so that the "hole" disappears completely.  If you use the pathfinder tools to cut the "hole" away - it appears gone but it's still a comound path as the release command still brings the hole back.

Maybe dcloud was mixing up Illustrator and Fireworks - which allows you to subtract/punch a hole in a shape and then hit the "combine" button beneath the shaping tools to create one path (shape)??

Following KnifeJob's solution results in my "R" as a solid path with no "hole".

I had the exact same problem, and found this high up in Google search results, so I thought I'd condense the solution I culled from this thread.

Select the compound path.

Hit Unite in Pathfinder.

Go through with the Direct Selection Tool and delete any unwanted segments that have resulted.

Joint points from seperate paths.

Okay d.cloud, forget what everybody just said...now help me out here to better understand your problem.

First question is: In your defination, what is a compound path?

The reason I am asking this because I don't think everybody here is on the same page, so if you can tell me what YOU think a compound path is, then we might be able to find a solution for you.

Thanks!