Overlapping path order

[prw71]

Hi all,

New to Illustrator (but a veteran of Photoshop, so it's not completely alien).

I've been tasked with recreating a school logo that appears to have been originally hand drawn and not really suitable for modern purposes. Here's the main element of the original.

To replicate this rope I created a path that followed the original and then stroked it with a rope brush. So far so good. Here's the result.

The issue is that if you follow the rope from left to right, at the bottom it crosses over the top instead of passing underneath like it does in the original. The two other crossovers are both correct so simply flipping the image would result in the other two being wrong.

Can anybody tell me how to fix this? In Photoshop I'd probably just cut another part of the rope and then paste it over the top and manipulate it until it matched, but I'd like to be able to keep this in a vector format as much as possible and not resort to that kind of pixel based trickery.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Paul

[Kurt Gold]

Which version of Illustrator are you using?

Can you perhaps share a sample .ai file, so one may have a look at it?

[Jeff Witchel, ACI · Accepted solution]

Try Object > Path > Reverse Path Direction.

It's makes it as if you drew the path in the opposite direction.

[Jeff Witchel, ACI · Accepted solution]

In looking at this again, my suggested fix messes up the other overlaps.

1. What you may need to do is to copy this rope pretzel shape and then Paste in Front (Edit > Paste in Front) of the original.
2. With this top rope still selected, reverse the direction as I suggested in my previous post (Object > Path > Reverse Path Direction).
3. Draw a circle around the intersection of rope you wish to change.
4. Select the top rope and the circle and go to Object > Cipping Mask

When I tried this it worked. But I'm not sure if the rope will line up right when you try it.

[Ton Frederiks · Accepted solution]

You may try to expand the brush with Object > Expand Appearance and use the Shape Builder tool to merge the rope pieces.

[Jeff Witchel, ACI]

Nice!

@prw71: If you need to see how the Shape Build Works, here's a old video: http://www.jeffwitchel.net/2011/12/geared-up-for-shape-builder

[prw71]

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions. I'll give them a go later when I get chance and let you know how I get on.

[tromboniator · Accepted solution]

Expand the appearance of the path with a rope brush applied, then ungroup the result. Select a sufficient number of brush segments (the way this brush was built, two) and Object menu > Arrange > Bring to Front, or Send to Back if you selected segments in the upper portion of the rope.

Peter

[Ton Frederiks]

That is actually much easier!

[Jacob Bugge]

A great solution, Peter; and proof that Illy has also known the ropes all along (and still knows her way round).

[kphotopage]

I simply cut the path with scissor tool and moved to the top in the layer panel.

It's still a stroke with the rope pattern brush applied.

K

[Ton Frederiks]

That's another simple solution!

[tromboniator]

Error, sorry.

[tromboniator]

Honestly, this forum is giving me fits.