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James_233
James_233
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What is the best way to draw this diagram - circles within circles?

Apr 8, 2012 4:29 AM

Optimising diagram.png

Please don't draw it for me - I need instructions as I come across this sort of diagram often and feel helpless and stressed whenever I see them!

 

It should be easy - circles within circles which are then chopped up.

 

Many thanks

639 Views   8 Replies   Latest reply: Jacob Bugge, Apr 9, 2012 2:09 AM
 
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  • Mylenium
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    1. Mylenium,
    Apr 8, 2012 7:05 AM   in reply to James_233
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    Well, the smart thing to do woul be do buy VectorScribe. It has parametric objects, which include partial drawing of slices/ sectors. Makes this a million times easier than anything AI offers natively.

     

    Mylenium

     
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  • James_233
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    2. James_233,
    Apr 8, 2012 7:52 AM   in reply to Mylenium
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    Thank you, I've downloaded it to check it out (after messing about a lot with the scissor tool and finding that the Join command is very particular about which ends to join ). If it does what I want, I'll let you know.

     
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  • Wade_Zimmerman
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    3. Wade_Zimmerman,
    Apr 8, 2012 8:20 AM   in reply to James_233
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    You can use the Polar grid but be warned you have to use more division than you need in order to combine smaller units to make larger ones and you have to increase the storke width of the dividers in order to outline them so you can use the pathfinders divide feature to then eliminate unwanted parts.And you might have to maually add a spoke or two back.It is a bit of work it would be good to have an update to the graph tool so charts like this could also be made. That is not likely to happen.

     

    Screen Shot 2012-04-08 at 11.14.58 AM.png

     
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  • CarlosCanto
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    4. CarlosCanto,
    Apr 8, 2012 11:29 AM   in reply to James_233
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    one way to do it the long way, would be to use the Live Paint Bucket Tool, or if you're in CS5 you could use the Shape Builder Tool.

     

    draw your circles and cutting lines

    livePaint1.png

    then, use the Live Paint Bucket Tool / Shape Builder Tool on each segment

    livePaint2.png

     
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  • Jacob Bugge
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    5. Jacob Bugge,
    Apr 8, 2012 12:37 PM   in reply to James_233
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    James,

     

    For simple divisions of concentric circular rings like the ones in the OP you may:

     

    1) Create the needed concentric circles (including duplicates) and create full rings,

    2) Drag from the centre with the Line Tool where you want to cut and Object>Path>Divide Objects below.

     

    Before dividing, hide/lock the parts not to be cut, such as the Analyze ring.

     

    This works in all versions.

     
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  • Kurt Gold
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    6. Kurt Gold,
    Apr 8, 2012 2:32 PM   in reply to James_233
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    As mentioned by other contributors, this is basic construction work, plus Type on Path objects. If you need it often, consider preparing symbol libraries for that task.

     

    I don't see any important reason to buy a plugin in order to do that kind of illustration.

     
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  • James_233
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    7. James_233,
    Apr 8, 2012 5:04 PM   in reply to James_233
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    Thank you everyone who answered. Jacob helped me the most with the Object>Path>Divide Objects below, then I used Carlos's suggestion to paint the colours in. I had to do everything several times before I got a reasonable result, but that's the learning process. Also the "Divide Objects below" did not always divide properly - probably I was doing something wrong. I made some of the divided objects compound paths to make them fillable in the right direction.

     

    I'll be able to use these techniques in other projects. I quite often get diagrams and the circular ones are the most tricky for me, though I surprise myself sometimes when get the right result from the bezier curves I drew.

     

    I'll also look into the software suggested and have downloaded it already. It might be the easiest solution but I have to learn it first and not enough time to learn for my client's work which (being done on Easter weekend) was in overrun time.

     
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  • Jacob Bugge
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    8. Jacob Bugge,
    Apr 9, 2012 2:09 AM   in reply to James_233
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    For my part you are welcome, James.

     
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