Participating Frequently

Question

How to 'cookie cut' a series of paths (not closed shapes)?

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
April 21, 2020
15 replies
2272 views

I have a series of paths like a clock face, each one of which denotes seconds, radially disposed around a common centre, so there are 60 of them. I then have a closed shape ( a circle) above them all and over-lapping them. I'd like to drop this shape through all 60 paths at once, effectively cutting each of my 60 paths where the circular path ovelaps each. Is this possible?

Thanks in advance

Draw and design

This topic has been closed for replies.

Show previous replies

Egor Chistyakov

Inspiring

What you probably need, is a SplitPath script by Sergey Osokin
You can find it here:
https://github.com/creold/illustrator-scripts

dickpowellAuthor

Participating Frequently

Thanks Egor, but I wouldn't know where to begin with Scripts and would rather not go there if it can be avoided!

Egor Chistyakov

Inspiring

But if you are after precision, then the script won't suite you. Unfortunately, a bug in one of inner Illustrator's operations this script utilizes, moves each point just a thousandth of a millimeter. Not much but it can be cricial 😞

Kurt Gold

Community Expert

Powell,

you can just select all, take the Shape Builder tool and then – while holding down the Alt key – drag across the parts you are going to delete/trim.

Keep in mind that by double clicking the tool in the Tools palette you can set up some tool options, for example the Selection mode (straight line or freeform).

dickpowellAuthor

Participating Frequently

Thanks again for your help Kurt, but I don't think that's going to do what I need. I'm actually designing watches and getting by with laboriously adding a point (using the scissor tool) at the intersection of one 'second' line and my circle, and then rotating the smaller part which is left and then duplicating that to reproduce the below, which is where I need to get to.

Watch design is way more complex than this example, as there are many elements, and it requires very high precision - so, for example, you can easily get microscopic drifts off centre when you radially duplicate a line many times. This is why I'd like to be able to just cookie cut my circle through the radial lines just as I can do with the Shape Mode 'Minus Front' tool in the Pathfinder palette, in a single action.

I'm an old Freehand guy and this was possible in Freehand!

S

SJRiegel

Legend

If you first group the radial paths, you could use the transparency pallet to make gaps in the path.

Jacob Bugge

Community Expert

Dick,

If you have an older shapebuilderless version, and/or if you wish to be able very easily go back and edit/move/whatever the (whole) paths, you may select all and Ctrl/Cmd+7.

Hi Kurt, drought there as well?

Kurt Gold

Community Expert

Yes, Jacob. Drought here as well, unfortunately.

Some slightly brownish meadows detected today.

Kurt Gold

Community Expert

Does your version of Illustrator have the Shape Builder tool?

If so, it can be done with it.

dickpowellAuthor

Participating Frequently

Thank you for your response Kurt. Yes, I do have the Shape Builder Tool and I had a quick scan of Illustrator help to try and figure it out, but its use is not entirely obnvious to me for what I need. Below is a screen shot of what I am trying to do. I'd like to cut all those radial paths with the circle! If you could bear to explain how, I'd really appreciate it!

D

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.