Drawing Perfect Circle With Equally Spaced Cutaways

[Thomas22842972ml5u]

Hello all!

I request your help with the following:

I would like to draw a perfect circle, with a specific number of equally spaced cutaways, each of equal size. I also need to be able to specify the amount of the line that is removed by each cutaway.

Essentially, I want to make a circle with a dotted line, as in the attached image. However, I need to be able to specify each of the parameters mentioned above.

Thank you!

[Monika Gause]

Are you referring to dashes? CHeck out the stroke panel.

[Thomas22842972ml5u]

But the stroke panel doesn't allow me to specify the parameters I've mentioned.

[Monika Gause]

Specifying gaps and dashes does not work?

[Thomas22842972ml5u]

I need to be able to choose the exact number of dashes that I want. 

[Monika Gause]

OK, that would require some math.

So if you do not want to do that, you would need to create this differently. Do you need to get single lines as a result? Or shapes?

[Thomas22842972ml5u]

I don't mind doing some math if it allows me to achieve my goal.

What do you mean by single lines versus shapes? I need a single dashed circle, with a specific number of equally sized and equally spaced dashes.

Thanks for your help.

[Monika Gause]

Other methods would require that you subtract shapes from the circle. Doing so efficiently (and also having the gaps deleted) will create shapes, not open paths. It's not impossible to do, but it will be a manual thing. Unless you find a script to do it (or write one). 

[Thomas22842972ml5u]

Thanks for your suggestions. 

How would I go about using the math approach you mentioned?

[Monika Gause]

If you draw a circle, then in the Document info panel you can see the path length. You need to select Objects from the panel menu.

You should also be able to calculate the length from the radius using the pi integer.

Then you want a specific number of dashes n + you'll need the amount of gaps n-1

Divide the length of the path by that and you have your length.

[Thomas22842972ml5u]

Thanks!

[Thomas22842972ml5u]

It looks like I've been able to achieve a satisfactory result by simply tweaking the the dashes/gaps in the stroke panel.

My question now is: how do I rotate the circle so that the gaps are in a specific place?

[pixxxelschubser]

Several possibilities:

1. Rotate Tool  or
2. menu: Transform --> Rotate  or
3. Rotate in the Properties Panel (editable and reversibel)  or
4. Transform Effekt on the circle (editable and reversibel)  or
5. Transform Effekt on the stroke of the circle (editable and reversibel)

[Thomas22842972ml5u]

Thanks, but I had already tried the rotate options — they do not change the placement of the dashes. 

Do options 4 and 5 do this? What do you mean by Transform Effekt?

[pixxxelschubser]

All variants should do this. Do you have selected the circle?

Or do you mean something different?

[pixxxelschubser]

Hello all!

I request your help with the following:

I would like to draw a perfect circle, with a specific number of equally spaced cutaways, each of equal size. I also need to be able to specify the amount of the line that is removed by each cutaway.

Essentially, I want to make a circle with a dotted line, as in the attached image. However, I need to be able to specify each of the parameters mentioned above.

Thank you!

By @Thomas22842972ml5u

First of all: What you want is not possible according to logic!

If the circle exists, then you cannot define the number of lines (and the necessary gaps) as well as the length of the lines and the length of the gaps - and at the same time maintain the diameter of the circle.

Assuming that the diameter of the circle is given and should be retained, you can, for example, change the number of lines (and the required gaps) and the length of the lines. The length of the gaps is then a value that results from the calculation.

To get started, here is a simple script that assigns a dashed outline to a selected circle (existing in the Illustrator document). The required number of lines is queried in the dialogue box (I have not included error management).

var aDoc = app.activeDocument;
var aSel = aDoc.selection[0];
var aSelLen = aSel.length;
var amount = prompt ("how many dashes?", 20, "how many dashes?");
var amountDashes = Number (amount);
var lineLen, gapLen = null;
lineLen = Math.round(aSelLen/(amountDashes*2)*10000)/10000;
aSel.strokeDashes = [lineLen];

[Thomas22842972ml5u]

I understand that the diameter of the circle will limit the result. The parameters I've mentioned can nevertheless still be specified within these limits.

Thank you for the script. I've never used a script in Illustrator; how do I go about this?

[pixxxelschubser]

… Thank you for the script. I've never used a script in Illustrator; how do I go about this?

By @Thomas22842972ml5u

1. Copy the code and paste it into a text editor (please do not use Word or similar).
2. Save as your-new-script.txt (as *.txt -> Plain text !!!).
3. Now change the extension from ‘.txt’ to ‘.jsx’ in Windows Explorer or in the Mac Finder.
4. Move this file to the script directory corresponding to your Illustrator version.
       On my German Windows system, I use the following folder for my scripts:
       C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator 2024\Presets\de_DE\Skripten
       C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator [your version]\Presets\[your language folder]\Scripts
   
   
5. Restart Illustrator!

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From Illustrator Scripting Guide:
Installing scripts in the Scripts menu

To include a script in the Scripts menu (File > Scripts), save the script in the Scripts folder, located in the /lllustrator CC/Presets folder in your lllustrator CC installation directory.

The script’s filename, minus the file extension, appears in the Scripts menu.

Scripts that you add to the Scripts folder while Illustrator is running do not appear in the Scripts menu until the next time you launch Illustrator.

Any number of scripts can be installed in the Scripts menu. If you have many scripts, use subfolders in the Scripts folder to help organize the scripts in the Scripts menu.

Each subfolder is displayed as a separate submenu containing the scripts in that subfolder.