How to Match One Path to Another? v24.1.3

[whamalamaboom]

I can't post screenshots so please just try to answer best you can. Is there any built-in way to match one path to another? 

Example: I draw a circle with a fill and stroke. Then I copy the circle to a new layer because I want to apply different swatches or effects to it and change the blend mode so it interacts with the bottom circle the way I want.

Issue: I later decide to change the shape of the original circle. Maybe I add a little bump to it, so now the stroke path is different. I want to mimic that change in the second circle as well to keep things consistent. Is there an exact way to do that after the fact?

Meaning not just fumbling to try to get the paths to match up manually but a built-in way to actually match them? Or am I out of luck?

I didn't mean to only change the path on the original shape. I meant to select both and do it and didn't realize until afterward that I only made the changes to one. I picked a circle as an easy example. The actual shape I'm using is complex and handdrawn, and so are the changes I made to the stroke, which is why I'm hoping there's a quick way to just duplicate it to the second version.

Thanks!

ETA: If my example is confusing, just answer the question is there a built-in way to match one pre-existing path to another since that's all I'm trying to do.

[Kurt Gold]

Are there any inevitable reasons why you cannot post screenshots that may clarify your request?

Just asking because I think it would help if you were able to show something that explains what you are going to do.

[pixxxelschubser]

Hi @whamalamaboom,

maybe it's not what you're looking for - but do you know what the Appearance panel can do? You can add multiple fills and strokes (and / or blend modes or effects to each fill / stroke) to an object. All changes to the base object are live for each fill / stroke.

[whamalamaboom · Accepted solution]

Hi and thanks for the response! It isn't what I was looking for but I appreciate it. When I say "match paths", I don't mean its visual attributes. I mean the path itself (e.g. the points that make it up, where they are, and how they're connected).

I asked around a few other tech and design places as well when I posted this though and all agreed there isn't a built-in way to do it. One person did suggest there are scripts that can pull the data from a path and transfer it to another path that already exists.

The end result would be what I'm looking for, turning two different paths into identical ones (as if you copied and pasted one of them), but it'd be complicated even with a script beyond usefulness, so I haven't looked more into that. Thanks again!