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Good morning,
I'm encountering a problem with Illustrator CC2014 (under Windows10), I'm trying to create a logo using Live Paint, as a practical exercise. But I have a problem with the angle of the shadings:I created customized shadings on the side, including specific angles, and added them in my color swatch. I tested them on other shapes on the side, and there was no problem.
But when I try to apply these shadings with live paint they automatically appear with a 0 degree angle.
I tried to create new files to test shading in live paint on other shapes, and I discovered that as soon as the shading wasn't applied to all the parts of the live paint, it became impossible to adjust the shading angle.
Is that a normal limit to the live paint, or is there another problem with my software? And if it is a normal issue, is there a solution, other than re-doing the whole shape without using live paint?
(disclaimer: I'm not a native english speaker, so I apologize for any language mistake)
What do you mean by 'shading' here? Gradients?
Can you show a screenshot of your artwork?
But when I try to apply these shadings with live paint they automatically appear with a 0 degree angle.
Is that a normal limit to the live paint . . . ?
It's a limitation of gradients in general. Gradient angle is an object-level property. It doesn't apply to gradient swatches.
To "save" a gradient at its current angle other than 0°, drag your reference shape to the Graphic Styles panel. The graphic style will function effectively as your gradient-angle swatch . . . although you won't b
...The live paint bucket applies swatches, and the gradient angle is not saved as part of the swatch information (EDIT: Happy to be corrected here by Kurt, see posts below).
You can apply the angles using the live paint selection tool:
Select the part of the live paint group you want to change and either adjust it in the gradient panel or use the eyedropper from your reference shapes.
The gradient angles actually are parts of the gradient swatch definitions.
With common paths you can Alt click the swatch to get the right angles (or you can click twice). With selected fill areas of live paint groups it only works by clicking twice.
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What do you mean by 'shading' here? Gradients?
Can you show a screenshot of your artwork?
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Ah sorry, yes I meant gradients, I really am not familiar with the english technical words for Illustrator.I wanted to correct my post but it seems like it isn't possible. (?)
Here's what my work looks like, I'm trying to recreate famous paintings as stylized vectorial drawings. On the right are my custom gradients, on the right is logo I made using the live paint bucket. You can see for example that the light blue gradient doesn't have the same angle in the logo as in the reference shape. And I have the same problem with every linear gradient.
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The live paint bucket applies swatches, and the gradient angle is not saved as part of the swatch information (EDIT: Happy to be corrected here by Kurt, see posts below).
You can apply the angles using the live paint selection tool:
Select the part of the live paint group you want to change and either adjust it in the gradient panel or use the eyedropper from your reference shapes.
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Thank you very much, the live paint selection tool allowed me to change the angles exactly as I wanted! I still have to fiddle around with the settings and the eyedropper to really master it, but that's a good beginning.
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But when I try to apply these shadings with live paint they automatically appear with a 0 degree angle.
Is that a normal limit to the live paint . . . ?
It's a limitation of gradients in general. Gradient angle is an object-level property. It doesn't apply to gradient swatches.
To "save" a gradient at its current angle other than 0°, drag your reference shape to the Graphic Styles panel. The graphic style will function effectively as your gradient-angle swatch . . . although you won't be able to apply it via the Live Paint bucket. I'm not sure how you produce the shapes you're filling, but if Live Paint is the only way to make them fill-eligible (it may be better to avoid Live Paint if you don't need it), you could make the initial Live Paint Group, fill the Live Paint objects with (any) color, then Expand the Live Paint Group, ungroup the objects and then apply Graphic Styles selectively.
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In fact this logo was a practical exercize to work with the live paint bucket tool, because I have almost never use it. But you're right that in this case it would probably be easier to work on regular objects to able to adjust the gradients more precisely. Thanks a lot for the advice!
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The gradient angles actually are parts of the gradient swatch definitions.
With common paths you can Alt click the swatch to get the right angles (or you can click twice). With selected fill areas of live paint groups it only works by clicking twice.
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Wow, excellent. Also led me to something else I have been missing: alt-clicking on other swatches replaces the selected gradient stop.