Hello,
I am trying to convert a solid fill object (see attached image) into a single line.
The reason I want to do this is so that I can make the solid fill object thinner.
If it was a single line, this would be easy, because I could simply reduce the stroke of the line and have control over how thin the line was.
Is this possible please without having to re-draw it.
Thank you.
1 Correct answer
James,
Here is an improved description, and a set of screenshots (using a Helvetica S):
1) With the Direct Selection Tool (first deselect by Clicking an empty spot and then) Click each end path segment and press Delete (that will give you two paths forming the curved parts);
2) Select everything and switch from Fill to Stroke in the Toolbox (that will give you stroked paths (and you can see what you are doing));
3) Object>Blend>Blend Options, set Spacing to Specified Step with 1 step (that will prep
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James,
Here is an improved description, and a set of screenshots (using a Helvetica S):
1) With the Direct Selection Tool (first deselect by Clicking an empty spot and then) Click each end path segment and press Delete (that will give you two paths forming the curved parts);
2) Select everything and switch from Fill to Stroke in the Toolbox (that will give you stroked paths (and you can see what you are doing));
3) Object>Blend>Blend Options, set Spacing to Specified Step with 1 step (that will prepare the right blend);
4) Select everything and Object>Blend>Make, then Object>Blend>Expand, then Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+G to Ungroup, then hide or delete both the original paths (that will give you the stroked path midway between the curved paths), then set the Stroke Weight as desired (in the screenshot both paths are kept to show that the middle path fits).
James,
And here is another way using Offset Path to get the full length and (also) accurate shape of the stroked path, here starting with the original stroked path (as 0) to show the fundamental identity:
0) Select the original stroked path and Object>Path>Outline Stroke (this is what has been done already, in the past);
1) Select the filled path and switch from Fill to Stroke in the Toolbox (that will give you stroked paths (and you can see what you are doing));
2) With the Direct Selection Tool (first deselect by Clicking an empty spot and then) Click each end path segment and press Delete (that will give you two paths forming the curved parts), then Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+G to Ungroup;
3) Select one of the paths and increase the Stroke Weight to equal the distance between the paths (identical to the original Stroke Weight);
4) Object>Path>Outline Stroke;
5) Switch from Fill to Stroke;
6) Cut at the ends of the desired mid path with the Scissors Tool and delete the unwanted part/path with the end segments;
7) Select the mid path and increase the Stroke Weight to the original value; now it is identical to the original.
The original shapes of the filled path are kept (visible) so you can see the development and accuracy clearly.
It is crucial to use Object>Path>Outline Stroke on an open path as here to keep the full length, because the path will be shortened for a closed path as you can see on the additional image below.
James,
To convert all the shapes to lines is almost impossible, as you know all the shapes have X and Y dimension. For example how can you convert an ellipse to line?
Ok, maybe, a line with a good profile can do that. But what about the star? The result is smaller shape.
If you have one or two shapes, you can use all above mention methods. But what about some lines of text?
There is another approach that can convert shapes to lines, but it works best with letters and numbers.
First you Rasterize (object>Rasterize), and then you Image trace, using LINE ART preset.
I hope this helps!
Monika is correct — just use Offset Path if you want to make the shape thinner. Incidentally, if you really want to turn this particular shape into a single path, it should take you about 30 seconds to make it from scratch. Take a circle, delete one of the four arcs, rotate 45°, flip and duplicate, connect two of the endpoints, and extend the others a bit.
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