Jagged edges with blend tool

[busybear10]

I'm getting weird jagged edges when using the blend tool. I've tried 1) viewing on CPU, 2) turning off snap to grid, snap to pixel, etc. 3) increasing the steps to 400! which didn't do anything except seriously slow down my computer 4) restarting the whole kit and caboodle.

My illustrator is up to date.

Solutions?

[Monika Gause]

Of course you get steps with the blend tool.

What do you want to achieve? A long shadow kind of design? Try the plugin opo for that.

http://63mutants.com/subc/products/opo_m01/opo_m01.php

[Srishti Bali]

Hi there,

I would like to know if the plugin shared by Monika helped you, or the issue still persists.

Kindly update the discussion if you need further assistance with it.

Thanks,

Srishti

[popcorn83]

I am still having this issue in Adobe Illstrator 2021. I understand that when you choose "steps" it will make steps, but it looks horrible. How is there no complete smoothing tool for this effect?

[Monika Gause]

Because it creates in-between copies. That is how it works.

[popcorn83]

I'm not saying I don't understand how it works, I'm saying I think it looks atrocious and I don't know why anyone would want the effect shown by the OP.

[Monika Gause]

You can dosuch a lot of things with blends.

Just not this fake 3D thing.

There are tools available to create extrusions. So why just blends at all?

Also: when you export to pixels, blends will just work fine.

[MrWingate]

Dear Monika,

The attitude doesn't really help the situation. There are thousands of people that are looking for answers to this blending issue. It's the natural way people are trying to make that kind of "Fake 3D Thing" effect. Instead of helping the cause you're diverting us to a 3rd party plugin or saying deal with it. It doesn't help.

Has anyone else found a solution or are we still talking to walls here?

Thank you.

[Jacob Bugge]

linzlovesyou,

Which paths form the basis of the blend?

What appears in your screenshot/image could just be one darker/bluer filled path on a paler/greener background (obviously without the steps/jagged lines that only show on some of the slanting edges).

[Victor Duron]

That is something that many designers tell to adobe for do in illustrator is like a block shadow, extrude shadow we have updates and updates and nobody do something for resolve that without a plugin, the 3 ways that I know you obtain little steps when you expand, or do all manually, even if you do with the blend tool in smooth you see a great plain extrude effect but when you expand you can see those steps again, Adobe Help please

[Monika Gause]

Actually you can get long shadows without plugins: https://www.vektorgarten.de/long-shadows-with-illustrator.html

[Victor Duron]

Is a good way of do long shadows but has steps that are not the optimus for obtain something easy like a extrude, with any adjust of move something that I'm founding is a tool that make the extrude and you can adjust perspective, the extrude, but not using effects to resolve the problem of the other, is a good option but we need have a tool more, something like Corel draw has and in one tool you can make the extrude in parallel or with perspective and even you can expand and you obtain the front face of the paths and you can separate without use pathfinders to unit or remove the parts that you don't need the software Freehand has a similar tool too for make extrude easy and without the little steps, those tool in corel and freehand don't keep the littles steps, why not this kind of tool in Illustrator to not make many things, will be great. Monika Thanks for share your knwoledge

[Monika Gause]

Well, opo costs 5 bucks, you save more than the eqivalent of that in time compared to the process I outlined, so why don't you just go ahead and support an independent developer?

[Victor Duron]

yes there is an option but I have other method to do that in illustrator and is with the blend but I need use a script to remove all reboundant point after we union the many paths created (little steps) and about OPO is not updated to CC 2019 and I use the plug in before update the AI version and yes work good but doesn't have to keep the front face intact and give a perspective to the the extrude part

[ckelsch]

Let me rpely to this 6 years later...

First thign to try is

object > path > Simplify and move the slider to the left. This may create rounded edges so expand the options and change the slider closer to straight lines.

Sometimes the above will not get what you want and if you are making an SVG you will need as little points as possible and the above will not achieve that perfectly.

If your shapes are relatively simple then your best bet will be to rasterize at a very large scale with transparency then live trace it and ignore white then expand your shape. Its a backwards process but it will create simple shapes with less points than the simplify tool.

Hope this helps those browsing a solve for this

[editor3z67652984]

The solution to this is to use specifed distance and set it to something small like .01. This will remove any jagged steps.

[Monika Gause · Accepted solution]

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@editor3z67652984  schrieb:

The solution to this is to use specifed distance and set it to something small like .01. This will remove any jagged steps.

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At the expense of creating hundreds or thousands of paths. That is OK for exporting to pixels. It will be a mess when exporting a vector file. It will be unusable as a logo.

The method doesn't work and that's it.

The plugin opo no longer exists. You can use Astute Graphics AG Blockshadow (not free)

Or this method for a clean result: https://youtu.be/wm1_H_CE7uo