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still need help with stroke in Illustrator

[Illustrator] -  
7K views 17 replies 8 participants last post by  miktoxic 
#1 ·
OK.... I still can't figure this out. In AI when you add a stroke to text how do you get the outline to be at just the edge of the stroke and not on the outer and inner of the stroke?? This is what I'm running in to: when i create text, then create outline, then add stroke and expand, it looks right but when click on just the stroke layer it doesn't have just the outer stroke lines there's like 4 different lines.. so when i go to cut it out it cuts around the outside, then how ever thick I made the stroke it cuts there and if the letters were close together and the stroke overlapped it cuts thru the letters too. I don't know if any of that made sense.. sorry.

I am trying to cut name and numbers out on my plotter and press on to jerseys. So I need to cut out 2 layers, one thats bigger that has the stroke included for the outline and another to lay on top in different color.

sorry if I'm all over the place, I'm new at this whole thing... If anybody can help me out that would be awesome... thanks a lot
 
#2 ·
I think this is what you are describing:



If so, select it and go to Effect > Pathfinder > Add; then go to Object > Expand Appearance.

That will leave you with this:




It's easier to make a copy of the text before you add the stroke and outline it. That way when you are done with the above step you just lay it on top so it looks like this:



I hope that makes sense.
 
#12 ·
There is an easier better way to achieve multiple storkes without all the fuss.

You need to use your appearance palette. You can access this through your window menu item.

Once your appearance palette is open select the text or item you want to add multiple strokes to using your arrow tool, either selection tool will work depending on what you want to do.

On the top left corner of the appearance dialog box there is a little black triangle, click it. You should see the option to add new fill, add new stroke... ect.

Select add new stroke

You will notice that it will bring up an empty stroke box, but it will also bring an empty fill box... Select the color you want for the fill and the stroke.

To make the stroke appear only on the outside edges of your object, click (inside the appearance dialog box) and move the stroke layer underneath the fill layer. The appearance dialog box works just like your layers palette. It holds all your stroke and fill information (when selected through the appearance palette) it even holds all your filter settings so you can remove them later or reedit without starting all over...

The appearance palette seems to be an afterthought in illustrator when you start out, but after being in the program for a while, you will live and die by the appearance palette. Learn it! Use it! Love it!
 
#16 ·
I wouldn't recommend the Appearance pallet for this. The appearance pallet is kind of a "specialized" illustrator thing and I'm not sure his plotter will recognize it. It will easily give the appearance as described, but may not plot properly. It would have to be expanded and require more explanation. It's best to handle this with simplicity. Take a work with no stroke. Copy it to the clip board, then paste in back, (Control B) to put a copy of it behind itself. Then stroke this one with a larger stroke of a different color. Copy that one to the clip board, then paste in back again. Now add an even larger stroke to this one and color it a different color. This gives exactly the effect shown on the images above and can safely be printed. Now, to simplify it more, grab everything and do outline stroke so all the strokes become fills so the printer doesn't even have to deal with strokes. There's one more thing you could do if you needed to. You can use the art on top to "knock out" the art underneath. Select everything again and in the pathfinder pallet, click "Trim". This is as simple as the art can get I believe and should be problem free for your printer/plotter.
 
#17 ·
i'm not sure if this will help, i don't use a plotter..but i do stroke alot of my logos. and i'm not currently using cs3 either, so i don't know if it will be the same? i usually use the layers option, and copy and paste the same logo ontop of itself, stroking the underlying copies. like 3 copies, one with the outline, second the space between, and then the logo itself. then i use these 5 steps > 1. object / path / outline stroke 2. pathfinder / divide 3. object / ungroup 4. select same / fill and stroke 5. select all (same color) / merge
 
#18 ·
the techniques that queerrep and prometheus said above are right if i understand what you are trying to achieve.

i use the cut studio plug-in with illustrator on my mac connected to a gx-24. i had been getting the undesired cuts as well until i understood that every single path/line i see in the cut studio window will be cut. which made me realize i had to construct designs differently instead of as if going to a desktop printer. (i.e. a square atop a circle will have all cuts unless you edit the paths using the pathfinder or the other method below).

i find the easiest way to look at your design before sending to the cutting program is as prometheus suggested, switch your view>to outline or wireframe. command y. you will see exactly what your cutting program sees. if you want to get rid of the multiple stroke lines within your type (after turning your type to outlines)use the direct selection tool to go in to each undesirable line and delete.

for multiple colors save different versions as different file names for each color or do it via the layers palette (each color cut on different layer) and send to cutter as cut 'this' layer only option.

i hope i made sense. good luck. -peace.
 
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