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MikeMorton
Participating Frequently
December 5, 2018
Answered

Blending an "inner" circle stroke to and "outer" triangle stroke?

  • December 5, 2018
  • 4 replies
  • 2715 views

Hi, What ive done is created a triangle shape and applied no fill and a black stroke. Inside the triangle is a small circle with no fill and a black stroke. When I blend the two, the stroke doesn't blend the way I wish it to. I want it to create a number of "transition" shaped strokes, but instead it creates a sort of spinning effect. I hope it makes sense what I am looking for.. Id post a picture, but im not sure how to achieve the effect. Attached I will show the problematic blend. One is blending from Triangle to Circle. And the other is Circle to Triangle.

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Correct answer Jacob Bugge

Mike,

I believe these free scripts should work for CC:

s.h's page : Scripts for Adobe Illustrator CS

If they do, you may try to apply the Divide (length) script to both the circle and the triangle, setting the number (of added Anchor Points to each segment) to 3 for the triangle and to 2 for the circle. This should give 12 sets of corresponding Anchor Points on the two paths and thereby nice blends (either way).

This will also work similarly for whichever polygons you may choose.

Or for this case, you can use Object>Path>Add Anchor Points twice on the triangle to get the 3 added Anchor Points in each segment to give the total of 12 segments, and use a Polar Grid instead of the circle with the following extension:

1) Create the Polar Grid with the desired radius/diameter, set Concentric Dividers to 0 and set Radial Dividers to 12;

2) Deselect and Select the Radial Divider Group within the Polar Grid Group (you can do it in the (expanded) Layers palette), then tick the centre Reference Point in the Transform palette and multiply the W or H value by 1.2 (or something like that) and press Ctrl/Cmd+Enter; this will make them stick out past the circle;

3) Select the whole Polar Grid Group and Pathfinder>Divide, then Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+G to Ungroup and Ctrl/Cmd+J to Join; this will give the total of 12 segments;

The reason for the radial divider extension is the inherent bulging of a Bezier circle.

There are other similarly silly ways to obtain the desired divisions for many other combinations, but they will most likely have to be customized.

4 replies

pixxxelschubser
Community Expert
pixxxelschubserCommunity Expert
Community Expert
December 5, 2018

You need (for a "good" blend) the same corresponding anchor points for each element:

Have fun

    K
    Katie Houghton
    Inspiring
    December 5, 2018

    Two Problems may be happening

    1. Each shape carries a different number of anchor points

    2. Based on the way you draw the shape you may have the first anchor point on the other side of the shape so it will have to twist to blend.

    You may only need number 1 but if it does not fix it try choosing the first point (first vertex)

    Blends are using Anchor Points

    Blend is really an Anchor Point control. It is shaping using anchor point to anchor point. So your circle has 4 point and your triangle has 3 points. This means that 2 points in the circle need to merge.

    1. FIX: Adding the same number of points

    In the one picture below you can see by adding a 4th point to the triangle it will change the shape.

    This should fix it unless your first vertex is in another place. Below is an example of not choosing the first vertex but drawing one triangle starting on the left and one triangle starting on the right. (I am choosing the path in the image with my blend tool in the picture below and not the point but the way I created the original shapes is changing the blend)

    2. FIX: Choosing the First Point (vertex)

    I also added a picture showing if you control the first point for each you can change the shape. When the tool is a white box at the end it is choosing the first point for you if you move the tool over a point it turns black. This will be selecting the first point which will again change how it blends. (When you draw something, wherever you click down first is the first anchor point, so sometimes we need to help the shape choose the first anchor point. This means that your shape will be different depending where you started each path)

    Let me know if this helps.

      L
      Les ONeill
      Inspiring
      December 5, 2018

      You need your circle to consist of only 3 points (Astute Graphics subscribe plugin can help with this) preferably at the 0, 120 & 240° positions.

        M
        MikeMortonAuthor
        Participating Frequently
        December 5, 2018

        Ope, Here's my answer! As far as "smoothness" Thank you! You guys are great!

          pixxxelschubser
          Community Expert
          pixxxelschubserCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          December 5, 2018

          4 good similar answers from 4 helpers in less than 5 minutes. This could be a record.

          Use the required minimum of anchor points. In this case 3 anchor points will give you the best result. For getting a circle with 3 points read the Jacob Bugge​ post again.

            Jacob Bugge
            Community Expert
            Jacob BuggeCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
            Community Expert
            December 5, 2018

            Mike,

            I believe these free scripts should work for CC:

            s.h's page : Scripts for Adobe Illustrator CS

            If they do, you may try to apply the Divide (length) script to both the circle and the triangle, setting the number (of added Anchor Points to each segment) to 3 for the triangle and to 2 for the circle. This should give 12 sets of corresponding Anchor Points on the two paths and thereby nice blends (either way).

            This will also work similarly for whichever polygons you may choose.

            Or for this case, you can use Object>Path>Add Anchor Points twice on the triangle to get the 3 added Anchor Points in each segment to give the total of 12 segments, and use a Polar Grid instead of the circle with the following extension:

            1) Create the Polar Grid with the desired radius/diameter, set Concentric Dividers to 0 and set Radial Dividers to 12;

            2) Deselect and Select the Radial Divider Group within the Polar Grid Group (you can do it in the (expanded) Layers palette), then tick the centre Reference Point in the Transform palette and multiply the W or H value by 1.2 (or something like that) and press Ctrl/Cmd+Enter; this will make them stick out past the circle;

            3) Select the whole Polar Grid Group and Pathfinder>Divide, then Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+G to Ungroup and Ctrl/Cmd+J to Join; this will give the total of 12 segments;

            The reason for the radial divider extension is the inherent bulging of a Bezier circle.

            There are other similarly silly ways to obtain the desired divisions for many other combinations, but they will most likely have to be customized.

              M
              MikeMortonAuthor
              Participating Frequently
              December 5, 2018

              Worked pretty nicely! Both ways equally. Here is the result:
              (My only complaint is there is a small amount of rigidness in the transition. Obviously from the added anchors. You figure there is any way to make the transition a little less lumpy? Thanks so much, if there isn't any way I will roll with this, thank you so much for your input! Couldnt find an answer anywhere on the internet. I was surprised that the question didn't come up more.

              Jacob Bugge
              Community Expert
              Jacob BuggeCommunity Expert
              Community Expert
              December 5, 2018

              Mike,

              To create a circle with only 3 Anchor Points (with the added inherent inaccuracy relative to the standard 4 which is negligible for this kind of work), without the use of (paid) plugins, you can (mis)use the Effect>Warp>Arc as follows, Smart Guides being your friends:

              1) Draw a horizontal line (arbitrary length, the Effect>Warp>Arc with the % value 200/3 (this will give you a 120 degrees arc), then Object>Expand Appearance and Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+G (to Ungroup) to turn it into a normal path;

              2) Object>Transform>Rotate by 120 degrees and press Copy to create the first rotated copy, then deselect and reselect and ClickDrag by the relevant end Anchor Point to snap to the first path, then repeat for the second and last copy path;

              3) Select all 3 paths and Ctrl/Cmd+J to join them into the 3 segment circle.

              This will work for a number of versions reaching down into CS (and further if you Join by using the Direct Selection Tool for each set of coinciding end Anchor Points).

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