Issue with basic paintbrush lines.

[LostGotham]

I am an experienced Adobe user (20+ years at this point?), but I have a neuro-atypical student I am tutoring who is having an issue I cannot solve.  It is frustrating because (I hope) someone will just say - "It's this, un-check this box" - and it will be embarrassingly basic.

When he paints a line, with the brush set to Basic, and changes the Width Profile - instead of getting crisp clean corners everything is rounded like a second stroke is automatically being applied?  It is only happening in one file that he created, but I can't figure out what he might have done.  I can't recreate it, so I can't figure out how to fix it.  Thoughts?

[Doug A Roberts]

Please share a screenshot with the object selected and the layers and appearance panels visible.

[LostGotham]

I will try to do that tomorrow when I meet with him again, but I have already looked and everything looks normal.

[Met1]

using Oval or Round brush instead of Flat brush?

[Monika Gause]

If you want to apply width profiles, don't use the brush tool.

Use the pencil tool.

"Basic" is not a brush. It deletes the brush. The brush tool won't work without a brush, so it will always apply a brush. Setting the brush to"Basic" and then starting to use the brush tool makes no sense. Use the pencil tool.

[LostGotham]

He has learning difficulties, I have tried to stear him towards other tools and techniques slowly, but he started working this way before he met me because that is how they did it in some YouTube videos he watched.  He isn't great with change.

[Monika Gause]

He can either use the pencil tool or spend his time deleting calligraphy brushes from his paths.

When using the brush tool, Illustrator will apply the first brush in the panel, which by default is a calligraphy brush. Those don't work with width profiles. What you are seeing is probably the result of pressure - you can check it in the appearance panel.

[LostGotham]

You are failing to grasp his challenges.  He sometimes gets flustered and has trouble remembering right and left.  I understand what you are saying and for the most part I agree.  But him selecting a couple of lines and clicking a couple of options is preferable to trying to convince him to use a different tool.  He only alters the profile of a couple of lines here and there - and your responses have nothing to do with the problem I originally posted about.

No, it is not the result of pressure, but thank you for making that suggestion.

[Monika Gause]

Then you can only advie him to check the appearance panel, delete whatever got applied and apply just a simple stroke and then a wdith profile.