Exporting a complex shape to PNG results in unintentional holes

[Brixs]

Hi, Adobe community, I'm encountering a really strange export bug with my Illustrator project that I cannot shake off.

I've created this little shape using the Spiral tool and the width tool and applied a gradient along the stroke. Pretty simple:

I'm extremely happy with the result, but when I export it to PNG, the final result has these really nasty holes that I cannot get rid of:

The number and severity of the holes relates to the physical pixel size of the object, and I cannot figure out a size that results in the holes disappearing.

I've tried making the shape REALLY big (about a quarter of the maximum canvas size), REALLY small, and playing around with the export settings, but I cannot figure out the cause.

This is what the spiral's geometry looks like when I activate the width tool:

Is there anything else I can try to remedy the issue? I'm sure it's a bug relating to the export feature (it probably does not like this really curvy stroke geometry), but I do not know what I should do about it. Any help is appreciated!

[Ton Frederiks]

As a workaround you could try to use Object > Rasterize 

[Brixs]

The workaround I currently used is to export the SVG and rasterize in Photoshop. I assume that would work as well, but I wish that rasterizing before the export wasn't the correct answer.

[Ton Frederiks]

Yes a similar workaround, rasterize in Illustrator saves some steps.

You may want to post your problem here:

https://illustrator.uservoice.com/

[jeromevadon]

Hi Brixs,
I am facing the exact same problem (today > August 25).
Still no idea how to solve this? (beside rasterizing)

[Ton Frederiks]

You can use Effect > Rasterize...to rasterize it before exporting. Effects can be turned on and off and do not destruct your artwork.