Expanding appearance on rounded but cap defaults to flat cap

[A_d_a_m_]

I drew a line. I put a rounded cap on it. I expanded appearance. It defaults to flat cap. See video. Thoughts?

Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zwfieeaksnw6omk/2020-03-17_16-00-56.mp4?dl=0

[rcraighead]

Does it happen on ALL rounded strokes? What's happening on the other end of this stroke when outlined?

Have you tried "Flatten Transparency" instead? Creates more points, but may work.

Other thoughts: GPU Performance on/off?

Is there a fill?

[Mike_Gondek]

Could not replicate your issue. Can you please post your file, or just the stroke that is acting up. 

Shift C to switch to anchor point tool, and click on that point to reset the bezier handles. Was the stroke drawn in Illustrator, or imported from another app like corel draw?

[A_d_a_m_]

Stroke was drawn in Illustrator. Outlining the stroke but it did not work. It replicated the same problem. It only flattens one end, the first point of the line, not the points that follow. Origina file https://drive.google.com/open?id=1866NRgHepD-dZSWb0IuWz9q7ux9YAcZR

[A_d_a_m_]

I did. posted above. Thx!

[A_d_a_m_]

The other end is rounded.
ᐧ

[Psychrome]

I got around this problem by making a brush. So, my lines were simple 1.5pt lines with rounded edges. I made a new calligraphic brush that was 1.5pt in size and just round. I applied it to all my lines and expanded and this eliminatated the problem. Illustrator, I have defeated you. 😆😆😆

[Jacob Bugge]

Adam,

Or what happens if you Object>Path>Outline Stroke?

Or I wonder whether it may be time for the list, hoping for one of the easy ones at the top, especially 1) - 3).

Hi Ray.

THE LIST

If things that should work simply refuse to (all possibilities exhausted including the A) - C) below (and carefully making sure you are performing (all) the needed things)), you may try (the relevant part(s) of) the list 1) - 8 ) below.

Sometimes, (certain) things may fail or stop working for no apparent reason. When the (other) possible reasons/cures fail to work, it may be some kind of (temporay or permanent) corruption, or even some inconvenient preference setting(s), which may be cured with something on the following list set up in an attempt to provide a catchall solution for otherwise unsolvable cases. It starts with a few easy and harmless suggestions 1) - 3) for milder cases, and goes on with three alternative ways 4) - 6) of resetting preferences to the defaults (easily but irreversibly and more laboriously but more thoroughly and also reversibly), then follows a list 7) of various other possibilities, and it ends with a full reinstallation 8 ). If no other suggestions work, or if no other suggestions appear, you may start on the list and decide how far to go and/or which may be relevant.

The following is a general list of things you may try when

A) The issue is not in a specific file,

B) You have a printer correctly installed, connected, and turned on if it is physical printer (you may use Adobe PDF/Acrobat Distiller as the default printer with no need to have a printer turned on, obviously you will need to specify when you actually need to print on paper), and

C) It is not caused by issues with opening a file from external media.

D) It is not caused by other applications (you may close down/disable everything else running, including browsers and antivirus, then try again). There are quite a few usual suspects that may disturb and confuse Illy (job description Adobe Illustrator) so she moves in mysterious ways (even more than usual, some would say).

You may have tried/done some of them already; 1) and 2) and 3) are the easy ones for temporary strangenesses, and 4) and 5) and 6) are specifically aimed at possibly corrupt/inconvenient preferences); 7) is a list in itself, and 8 ) is the last resort.

If possible/applicable, you should save current artwork first, of course.

1) Close down Illy and open again;

2) Restart the computer (you may do that up to at least 5 times);

3) Log out of your Adobe account and log back in;

4a) Close down Illy and press Ctrl+Alt+Shift/Cmd+Option+Shift during startup (easy but irreversible);

4b) Or in the current CC version click Reset Preferences at the bottom right of the Preferences window and restart (also easy but irreversible);

5) Move the folder (follow the link with that name) with Illy closed (more tedious but also more thorough and reversible), for CS3 - CC you may find the folder here:

https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/kb/preference-file-location-illustrator.html

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator/moved-anchor-points-snap-back-to-original-location-after-...

6) Follow the instructions here: https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/setting-preferences.html

7) Look through and try out the relevant among the Other options (follow the link with that name, Item 7) is a list of usual suspects among other applications that may disturb and confuse Illy, Item 15) applies to CC, CS6, and maybe CS5);

Even more seriously (this may be serious because you may need to restore plugins and whatnot afterwards if you have customized things), you may:

8 ) A) Uninstall (ticking the box to delete the preferences if applicable), B) run the Cleaner Tool (if you have CS3/CS4/CS5/CS6/CC), and C) reinstall. You may try without step B), but sometimes it is needed, because otherwise things may linger.

As it appears from this thread, it may be worth repeating this if it fails to help the first time:

https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2283530

To uninstall:

https://www.adobe.com/search.html#q=uninstall%20illustrator&sort=relevancy&start=1

Cleaner Tool:

http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cscleanertool.html

[rcraighead]

Hi Jacob.  Totally forgot about "Object>Path>Outline Stroke". 🙂

[Jacob Bugge]

Adam,

You may have a closer look at the still stroked path and see whether you have a duplicate Anchor Point at the offending end, and delete it if there is one (you may simply Click at the end with the Direct Selection Tool and press delete, then see whether it looks the the or the end disappears; it it is still there, you can try again; if it is gone you can Undo.

Edit: written without having seen the document.

Edit edit: Hi Ray.

Based on the consideration above, I doubt whether the outline stroke would be any better; but I always use that to do it.

[Ton Frederiks]

I have no idea what's causing this, but when you copy the path and paste it into a new document solves it.

Adding an additional point or moving the top point solves it as well.

I cannot detect anything special about the path.

[Jacob Bugge]

Ton,

I believe it is a corrupt file case then, as in exception A) to try in the list before starting on 1) - 8 ).

[Ton Frederiks]

I think so too, Jacob.

I wonder if  A_d_a_m_1 can reproduce it in other files or if this is an exceptional case.

[Psychrome]

I have this exact same problem. It doesn't happen to all lines and sometimes happens to only one end of a line. It's so annoying. I've spent ages making a nice piece of artwork to print and now I've come to separate the colours it's messed up!! 😡😡😡

[Ton Frederiks]

You may want to add your vote here: https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447-illustrator-desktop-bugs/suggestions/32445848-shape-...

[christian is72793406]

Hello! I have also experienced and looked at this thread for solutions. On my end, it happened on a smaller size. The affected part of the illustration was about 30x30 px. What I did was scale up the size with the transform tool and tried to Object > Expand it as usual. The rounded caps were outlined properly. Also in my case, scaling it down before expanding also works. I'm not really sure why it won't expand properly using its original dimension.

I have replicated the problem within the same file and everytime I tried to expand a stroke with a rounded cap without scaling it up first, the caps went back to flat. 

TLDR: Try scaling it up or down (make to check Scale Stroke & Effects in the Transform tab) before doing the Object > Expand process. Hope this helps. 🙂

[christian is72793406]

Object > Path > Outline Stroke also does not work when the object is in its original size. I needed to significantly scale the object up or down first before either Object > Expand or Object > Path > Outline Stroke works.

[moniqueb86988046 · Accepted solution]

fyi for future reference, was able to get the cap by converting to a compound path first (Object > Compound Path > Make) and then Expanding (Object >  Expand). Works on illustrator 26.1.

[jeddolmstead · Accepted solution]

This was driving me crazy but I think I figured out the correct fix.

The last point has to be a bezier curve (with handles), however small.