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Aaron-A-Ron
Participating Frequently
March 5, 2019
Answered

Pathfinder Merge tool actually Dividing, leaving cut out objects behind

  • March 5, 2019
  • 1 reply
  • 2022 views

This has been a thorn in my side for so long I can no longer ignore it. I don't know when it happened but at some point Illustrator's Merge tool started dividing objects instead of merging them, and leaves behind cut up versions of objects that are behind the visible objects.

MacBook Pro 15 2017

macOS Mojave Version 10.14.2

2.9 GHz Intel Core i7

16GB memory

using Illustrator CC 2019 version 23.0.2

I'm pretty sure this still happens on my windows 10 computer at home as well.

Interestingly, if I have only a few objects involved, it merges just fine, but when I'm working on logos that are even minutely complex it pitches a fit. I've expanded appearance, expanded text, expanded strokes, ungrouped objects, and put them all on the same layer and it still doesn't work. Thing is, the objects I'm merging aren't even terribly complex, and as a test I made 15 rectangles of various colors (some the same and some different) and had them overlapping in various ways.

Here you see the objects selected so you can see the outlines and how the layers are organized.

Here's what happens when I try to merge (you can barely see the gaps that show the color behind them

I moved part of the blue area at the top to show the navy object underneath has not been deleted.

So with the objects now properly ruined, here's what the layers look like.

In the old days Merge would merge all like colors that are visible and delete anything behind them. Now it divides and leave colors behind so there's a ton of extra, useless, objects left behind that get in the way when I'm forced to unite the mess together manually afterwards.

But even with simple blocks of color, not that many points, no groups, and a mere 15 objects merge won't work.

If anyone has any solutions to this you'd earn my undying gratitude.

Thanks.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Monika Gause

Here's a Google Drive link. Thanks for the help.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EgkI8qN1drhLMZLDCNoKMPEpXJjEcTlJ


OK, thank you.

You have Overprint turned on for your objects. Turn it off and it works (even when there's no effect applied)

1 reply

Monika Gause
Community Expert
Monika GauseCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 5, 2019

Is this a web document?

In that case even if there is no stroke, it will still be aligned to the inside. What you need to do is apply a stroke, set it to centered and then turn it off again.

Then the pathfinder will work.

I would consider this an issue, so please report it on http://illustrator.uservoice.com

A
Aaron-A-RonAuthor
Participating Frequently
March 6, 2019

I don't know if it's a web or print document, but it is in CMYK so I assume print.

That said I tried copying the objects onto expressly print and web documents and both of them have their strokes default to centered. regardless, I tried as you suggested and got the same result.

I also noticed some people saying that using Effects > Pathfinder > Merge might work but when I try it I get the error "Pathfinder effects should usually be applied to groups, layers or type objects. This may not have any effect on the current selection". True to it's word, it has no effect at all on the objects. It doesn't even cut them up like the pathfinder panel. I can get around the error by grouping some objects together but it still doesn't do anything. Even so, Pathfinder never cared if objects were grouped or not before so I don't know what's changed now.

I'll definitely send the error to the link though.

Monika Gause
Community Expert
Monika GauseCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 6, 2019

Can you post that document to Dropbox or the like?

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