Need help with filling blanks (country areas) on a map

[Lyse]

Hi everyone,

I have a PDF file with a blank map of EU countries and I would like to fill in some countries with colours. The file is attached.

I opened in Illustrator but I cannot transform it in Live Paint to use the bucket tool.

Could anyone help?

Thank you!

Lise

[Jacob Bugge]

Lise,

How about Live paint Group?

https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/live-paint-groups.html

[tromboniator]

Select and lock the type objects, then Select All and try the Live Paint Bucket again. Live Paint only works on paths and compound paths.

Peter

[Lyse]

Thank you trombinator!

I managed to go Live Paint by doing so:

- select all (ctrl + A)

- object < group

- object < expand

- object < live paint < make

I hope that's what you meant. Anyway it worked!

I still have one problem: I can easily fill in all the country areas, but not the ocean/background.

Any idea why and how to overcome this?

Thank you!

Lise

[tromboniator]

Hi, Lise,

Using the Paint Bucket forms a Live Paint Group, which makes it unnecessary for the group and expand steps, but no harm done.

You simply need to draw paths to enclose the open areas such as the ocean, and if you want to color Russia, Azerbaijan, etc., you need to enclose them as well. I used straight lines (a rectangle around everything) to enclose the northern and eastern part of that region, but you may use whatever shapes you like, as long as they're closed. Please note that I did not close the gap between Russia and Azerbaijan, and I've left some other small gaps so as it stands some adjacent countries would receive the same color.

Peter