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Question

Merge Outlines to 1 Solid Stroke?

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
May 20, 2022
16 replies
8684 views

Hi everyone. This has been bugging me since I started my career.

Is it at all possible to merge two outline strokes together? (See attached image).

Since you can outline a singular stroke, I don't understand why there's no option (that I know of) to do the opposite.

I've googled this problem a million different ways and most solutions involve blending the two together, offsetting the path, or rasterizing/image tracing. None of which provide results that look good or are quicker than tracing the inside with a pen tool.

I've also tried finding plugins through Adobe CC and google, but have come up with nothing.

Any info about possible solutions/plugins would be incredibly valuable.

Thanks!

Show previous replies

kphotopage

Brainiac

Scott, You could try https://online.rapidresizer.com/tracer.php

It’s a free online, trace to find center lines. Vector

So, I gave it a test run.

I was working with Fills. The Double fills shown in orange.

I fill the center with Black.

I submitted a screenshot of the black fill, .png file

It traced it, and I downloaded an .ai file.

Shown in red, center stroke. (I just had to resize it.)

Not bad.

K

S

Scott24505759lv8dAuthor

Participating Frequently

Wow that's really good!

I know I'm being a bit greedy but I was hoping to have a solution I could run within illustrator to keep my workflow as smooth as possible.

It would be cool if they also had a plugin or something.

Thanks for the info!

michelew83603738

Community Expert

Seems like there would be an easier way - the blend method as mentioned. You could also make a Live Paint Object and fill in the negative space, expand, delete the unwanted outside areas and then create an Offset Path with a negative number to get that interior area as a stroke. Just an alternative way to think about it.

Kurt Gold

Community Expert

Probably yes and no at the same time, Michele.

I think the basic idea in this case is to (possibly) mass convert outlined strokes into stroked objects again. Something that may be pretty useful in many situations. For example, you may think of a rather complex subway map with a lot of lines that, for whatever reason, have been converted to outlines (filled paths). Then there may be many reasons why one would want to convert those filled paths into stroked paths again.

The Blend method is of course a very good approach, but it certainly would have to be done path by path. A nightmare if you are dealing, for example, with subway maps of Paris or some other metropolitan areas.

Therefore I tried to create a way to automate the conversion with a selection of many filled paths at the same time. If you take a look at the Happy New Year sample file and run the action, you can see what I mean.

Admittedly, the Stroker action will still have to be improved, but it already works in many cases. There are already improvements and perhaps I may post them if desired.

S

Scott24505759lv8dAuthor

Participating Frequently

It would be great to see the updated actions posted. I'm dying to see how they work.

S

Scott24505759lv8dAuthor

Participating Frequently

Edit: Attached is a link to the AI file containing the object I'm working with for better reference. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mVUf1h_TkRvtdKkL6sam-_EddrXQxa1x/view?usp=sharing

chanaart

Community Expert

Create a brush from your drawing ( the Yellow part)

Apply the brush to a line... Expand apperanse. UnGroup and use the shape builder tool to merge what you need.

1. Create a brush from an appearance.

2. Draw the brush

3. Expand apperance

4. Ungroup

5. Slect and use shape builder.

S

Scott24505759lv8dAuthor

Participating Frequently

Thanks, chanaart! That didn't work, unfortunately.

Attached is a link to the AI file containing the object I'm working with for better reference. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mVUf1h_TkRvtdKkL6sam-_EddrXQxa1x/view?usp=sharing

Kurt Gold

Community Expert

Not quite sure if this may be useful for you, but you may have a look here:

Stroker

In the meantime, I've improved this approach a couple of times (among other things with the ability to convert multi-coloured filled objects into stroked objects, but then I didn't follow it up because there was almost no feedback, so there are chances that only a few Illustrator users actually need this kind of conversion.